Magic the Gathering Blog
Top 10 Cards Most Likely to Be Reprinted in Rise of the Eldrazi
You know, in order to stay one step ahead of the Magic blogging pack, you need to be prepared to go out on a limb. Which is why I'm going to speculate not on Worldwake, but on the next set, Rise of the Eldrazi.
This speculation is on the basis of two cards in Worldwake, both also speculation themselves:
Walking Atlas, (2), Creature - Construct
You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Eye of Ugin, Legendary Land
Colorless Eldrazi spells cost 2 less to cast.
7, T : Search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it and put it in your hand. Then shuffle your library.
These two cards imply there will be colourless non-artifact creatures in Rise of the Eldrazi. Eye of Ugin has also been referenced by another card, Ghostfire, which is itself colourless. This implies a colourless theme in Rise of the Eldrazi.
So on that basis, let's speculate on Top 10 Cards Most Likely to Be Reprinted in Rise of the Eldrazi.
1. Ghostfire (Future Sight): Chance Almost certain. The orignal coloulress colored non-permanent spell. It references the Eye of Ugin. Thirdly, it's time shifted. What more convincing do you need?
2. Thran Lens (Urza's Legacy): Chance Sounds good. Thran Lens does one thing and does it well: All permanents are colorless. If the Eldrazi encourage colourless permanents, surely they'd have a Thran Lens or two lying around.
3. Moonlace (Time Spiral): Chance Good, if only because WotC hate us all. You could see this becoming a draft pick or part of some rediculous combo, as it targets both spells and permanents, making them colourless. Here's hoping not.
4. Celestial Dawn (6th Ed): Chance Possible. It has a land-flavoured theme, and in the current standard Plains matter, as it combos nicely with Iona the Sky Ruin and helps combat colourless permanents. Certainly one to watch.
5. Mycosynth Lattice (Darksteel): Chance Possible. The opposite of Celestial Dawn, makes everything colourless. Could be just what the Eldrazi ordered. Would make the EDH crew happy.
6. Ghostly Flame (Ice Age): Chance Perhaps. It's a narrow Mycosynth Latice and could be a very interesting addition to the set. Mirrors Ghostfire nicely.
7. Helm of Kaldra, Sword of Kaldra, and Shield of Kaldra: Chance Unlikely. It makes a colourless Legendary Avatar, and it would be great to see a reprint, but I'm not holding my breath.
8. Ancient Kavu (Invasion): Chance Possible. WotC love their Kavus, and this one's ancient, and the Eldrazi are ancient, and the original flavour text links to Phyrexia... it's a long bow to draw, isn't it?
9. Ersatz Gnomes (Mirage): Chance Slim. When was the last time WotC printed a gnome? Maybe Rise of the Eldrazi will be their big comeback... and maybe not. Perhaps a functional reprint will be seen instead.
10. Sliver Queen, Ghostflame Sliver, Brood Sliver: Chance Unlikely If slivers return, these three will definitely be among them. There has been some chatter on the boards that the Eldrazi were the creators of the Sliver race. Plus, WotC have released the Premium Sliver deck and are releasing the new dual decks Phyrexia vs. the Coalition. If WotC's marketing gears are working well then maybe we'll see them back. With MtG you should never say 'never'. Except when saying it about saying 'never'.
And there you have it. Absolute, utter, wild speculation. Go out and buy those Moonlaces, everyone!
Note: Please don't go out and by any Moonlaces, ever.
You know, in order to stay one step ahead of the Magic blogging pack, you need to be prepared to go out on a limb. Which is why I'm going to speculate not on Worldwake, but on the next set, Rise of the Eldrazi.
This speculation is on the basis of two cards in Worldwake, both also speculation themselves:
Walking Atlas, (2), Creature - Construct
You may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Eye of Ugin, Legendary Land
Colorless Eldrazi spells cost 2 less to cast.
7, T : Search your library for a colorless creature card, reveal it and put it in your hand. Then shuffle your library.
These two cards imply there will be colourless non-artifact creatures in Rise of the Eldrazi. Eye of Ugin has also been referenced by another card, Ghostfire, which is itself colourless. This implies a colourless theme in Rise of the Eldrazi.
So on that basis, let's speculate on Top 10 Cards Most Likely to Be Reprinted in Rise of the Eldrazi.
1. Ghostfire (Future Sight): Chance Almost certain. The orignal coloulress colored non-permanent spell. It references the Eye of Ugin. Thirdly, it's time shifted. What more convincing do you need?
2. Thran Lens (Urza's Legacy): Chance Sounds good. Thran Lens does one thing and does it well: All permanents are colorless. If the Eldrazi encourage colourless permanents, surely they'd have a Thran Lens or two lying around.
3. Moonlace (Time Spiral): Chance Good, if only because WotC hate us all. You could see this becoming a draft pick or part of some rediculous combo, as it targets both spells and permanents, making them colourless. Here's hoping not.
4. Celestial Dawn (6th Ed): Chance Possible. It has a land-flavoured theme, and in the current standard Plains matter, as it combos nicely with Iona the Sky Ruin and helps combat colourless permanents. Certainly one to watch.
5. Mycosynth Lattice (Darksteel): Chance Possible. The opposite of Celestial Dawn, makes everything colourless. Could be just what the Eldrazi ordered. Would make the EDH crew happy.
6. Ghostly Flame (Ice Age): Chance Perhaps. It's a narrow Mycosynth Latice and could be a very interesting addition to the set. Mirrors Ghostfire nicely.
7. Helm of Kaldra, Sword of Kaldra, and Shield of Kaldra: Chance Unlikely. It makes a colourless Legendary Avatar, and it would be great to see a reprint, but I'm not holding my breath.
8. Ancient Kavu (Invasion): Chance Possible. WotC love their Kavus, and this one's ancient, and the Eldrazi are ancient, and the original flavour text links to Phyrexia... it's a long bow to draw, isn't it?
9. Ersatz Gnomes (Mirage): Chance Slim. When was the last time WotC printed a gnome? Maybe Rise of the Eldrazi will be their big comeback... and maybe not. Perhaps a functional reprint will be seen instead.
10. Sliver Queen, Ghostflame Sliver, Brood Sliver: Chance Unlikely If slivers return, these three will definitely be among them. There has been some chatter on the boards that the Eldrazi were the creators of the Sliver race. Plus, WotC have released the Premium Sliver deck and are releasing the new dual decks Phyrexia vs. the Coalition. If WotC's marketing gears are working well then maybe we'll see them back. With MtG you should never say 'never'. Except when saying it about saying 'never'.
And there you have it. Absolute, utter, wild speculation. Go out and buy those Moonlaces, everyone!
Note: Please don't go out and by any Moonlaces, ever.
Labels: mtgo, Rise of the Eldrazi, speculation
Goblins, Goblins, Goblins
Today I'm going to talk a little about three goblin decks kicking around at the moment.
Here's the first, which went 4-0 in a recent MtGO daily event.
dbuchan's Goblins (4-0)
Constructed Standard Event #749420 on 12/06/2009 in Daily Events
4 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
4 Burst Lightning
4 Elemental Appeal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Arid Mesa
12 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Teetering Peaks
3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Sideboard
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Goblin Shortcutter
3 Inferno Trap
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Volcanic Fallout
Points of interest:
* No less than 8 "elementals" in the mainboard. Although this minimised the impact of the Warren Instigator, it gives the deck some reach that other goblin decks don't have.
* Shortcutters in the sidebard. Personally, I really like Shortcutters, as a Shortcutter plus a Lightning Bolt almost guarantees a Warren Instigator hit. However, with 8 less goblin cards, Instigator is a little less important in this deck.
* 3 Valakut mainboard and one in the sideboard. I've been playing Goblins for a while with two Valakut mainboard, but have never dealt anyone damage with them - the game simply has never gone on long enough.
* 3 Volcanic Fallout sideboard. These are very punishing vs. Boros and help one of your worst matchups - but holding back your dudes is important.
* 3 Inferno Traps for those playing Turbo Fog.
I wonder if a Lavaball trap might not also get the job done against Jund. Regardless, a great deck and one to watch.
Here's a second Standard deck:
Tim's Green Goblins
4th Place - Magic Game Day (Standard) - Georgia - Carrollton
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Razerunners
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
2 Intimidation Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Sarkhan Vol
2 Volcanic Fallout
4 Arid Mesa
9 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard
2 Day of Judgment
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Pithing Needle
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Volcanic Fallout
Tim takes the approach of splashing for Green and White, making it really Naya Goblins. Points of interest:
* 2 Sarkhan Vol maindeck. People hate on Sarkhan, but he really shines in this deck, able to pump tokens, remove a blocker for Instigator, or just win games long term.
* Goblin Razerunners. Very difficult to play around, but not a lot of synergy with Siege-Gang Commander
* 4 Path to Exile. This is the type of deck that doesn't care how many lands your opponent has, because they're already dead. Path seems like another good way of pushing an Instigator through.
* 3 Vines of Vastwood. Vines is an excellent "counterspell" vs. removal to protect your Siege Gang Commanders and Warren Instigators.
* 2 Qasali Pridemage. Very interesting choice, but I would of guessed difficult to play.
* 3 Pithing Needle. Needle deals with so much, but shutting down Planeswalkers would be my best guess at to it's main calling.
I think either splashing Red, White or Black are all doable with Goblins at the moment, but splashing two colours seems a little dangerous. Maybe a Boros Goblins deck is the way to go
And finally, here's a MtGO Classic goblins deck:
Chaos Goblins
MtGO Classic Deck
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Æther Vial
2 Pithing Needle
4 Wasteland
5 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Seal of Primordium
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Pyrokinesis
Chaos has done a fair bit of testing with this build. He tried Instigator, but found it simply wasn't fast enough! Some notes:
* Goblin Guide is a tentative card. Mogg Fanatic may actually be better in the slot, as it can also shut down Bridge From Below maindeck.
* Pithing Needles maindeck are superstars and are a must keep.
* Tin Street Hooligan is tutorable via Matron and is a silver bullet vs. certain decks.
* The same goes for Sharpshooter vs. decks like Elves!
* The sideboard has some heavy play against Engineered Plague with 3 Seal of Primordium and a Krosan Grip.
* Chalice is a brilliant choice with Æther Vial and can shut your opponent down beautifully.
Goblins are alive and well in both Standard and Classic. Although many will always see them as a Teir 1.5 deck, the moment you forget about the Red Menace, is the moment they secretly have you by the short and curlies.
Today I'm going to talk a little about three goblin decks kicking around at the moment.
Here's the first, which went 4-0 in a recent MtGO daily event.
dbuchan's Goblins (4-0)
Constructed Standard Event #749420 on 12/06/2009 in Daily Events
4 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
4 Burst Lightning
4 Elemental Appeal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Arid Mesa
12 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Teetering Peaks
3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Sideboard
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Goblin Shortcutter
3 Inferno Trap
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Volcanic Fallout
Points of interest:
* No less than 8 "elementals" in the mainboard. Although this minimised the impact of the Warren Instigator, it gives the deck some reach that other goblin decks don't have.
* Shortcutters in the sidebard. Personally, I really like Shortcutters, as a Shortcutter plus a Lightning Bolt almost guarantees a Warren Instigator hit. However, with 8 less goblin cards, Instigator is a little less important in this deck.
* 3 Valakut mainboard and one in the sideboard. I've been playing Goblins for a while with two Valakut mainboard, but have never dealt anyone damage with them - the game simply has never gone on long enough.
* 3 Volcanic Fallout sideboard. These are very punishing vs. Boros and help one of your worst matchups - but holding back your dudes is important.
* 3 Inferno Traps for those playing Turbo Fog.
I wonder if a Lavaball trap might not also get the job done against Jund. Regardless, a great deck and one to watch.
Here's a second Standard deck:
Tim's Green Goblins
4th Place - Magic Game Day (Standard) - Georgia - Carrollton
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Razerunners
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
2 Intimidation Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Sarkhan Vol
2 Volcanic Fallout
4 Arid Mesa
9 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard
2 Day of Judgment
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Pithing Needle
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Volcanic Fallout
Tim takes the approach of splashing for Green and White, making it really Naya Goblins. Points of interest:
* 2 Sarkhan Vol maindeck. People hate on Sarkhan, but he really shines in this deck, able to pump tokens, remove a blocker for Instigator, or just win games long term.
* Goblin Razerunners. Very difficult to play around, but not a lot of synergy with Siege-Gang Commander
* 4 Path to Exile. This is the type of deck that doesn't care how many lands your opponent has, because they're already dead. Path seems like another good way of pushing an Instigator through.
* 3 Vines of Vastwood. Vines is an excellent "counterspell" vs. removal to protect your Siege Gang Commanders and Warren Instigators.
* 2 Qasali Pridemage. Very interesting choice, but I would of guessed difficult to play.
* 3 Pithing Needle. Needle deals with so much, but shutting down Planeswalkers would be my best guess at to it's main calling.
I think either splashing Red, White or Black are all doable with Goblins at the moment, but splashing two colours seems a little dangerous. Maybe a Boros Goblins deck is the way to go
And finally, here's a MtGO Classic goblins deck:
Chaos Goblins
MtGO Classic Deck
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Æther Vial
2 Pithing Needle
4 Wasteland
5 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Seal of Primordium
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Pyrokinesis
Chaos has done a fair bit of testing with this build. He tried Instigator, but found it simply wasn't fast enough! Some notes:
* Goblin Guide is a tentative card. Mogg Fanatic may actually be better in the slot, as it can also shut down Bridge From Below maindeck.
* Pithing Needles maindeck are superstars and are a must keep.
* Tin Street Hooligan is tutorable via Matron and is a silver bullet vs. certain decks.
* The same goes for Sharpshooter vs. decks like Elves!
* The sideboard has some heavy play against Engineered Plague with 3 Seal of Primordium and a Krosan Grip.
* Chalice is a brilliant choice with Æther Vial and can shut your opponent down beautifully.
Goblins are alive and well in both Standard and Classic. Although many will always see them as a Teir 1.5 deck, the moment you forget about the Red Menace, is the moment they secretly have you by the short and curlies.
Labels: analysis, classic, deckbuilding, goblins, magic, mtgo, standard
Standard Goblins :: The Most Fun You Can Have In An MtGO Window With Your Pants On
At the beginning of the week I plonked down enough tickets to buy a playset of Goblin Guides and Warren Instigators - about 20 tickets in total. I'm an old-time Classic goblins lover (I have the full deck on MtGO as well) so picking up Standard Goblins at some point was inevitable.
Here's the deck I've been running all week:
Main Deck
[28 Creatures (Goblins)]
4 x Goblin Guide
4 x Goblin Bushwacker
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Ruinblaster
4 x Goblin Chieftan
4 x Siege Gang Commander
[10 Instants]
4 x Lightning Bolt
4 x Burst Lightning
2 x Punishing Fire
[22 Lands]
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Arid Mesa
14 x Mountain
Sideboard
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
General Sideboarding Technique
In:
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
Out:
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Chieftan
3 x Siege Gang Commander
This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun decks you can play at the moment. It is fast, furious and frenetic. It most often wins on Turns 4 or 5, but is resiliant enough to win turns 10-12 as well.
It is the only deck in Standard I've ever felt completely comfortable about keeping a one-land hand with. Of the last ten games I played with a one-land hand, I won eight of them. If the hand is fast enough, mulliganing a one-lander is almost always the wrong decision.
It is, without a doubt, brutally fast. Here are some sample starts I've had:
T1. Mountain, Goblin Guide, bash for 2.
T2. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, bash for 5.
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, bash for 7.
T4. Win.
And
T1. Mountain. EOT, bolt the opponent's 1 drop.
T2. Mountain, Warren Instigator
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, drop double Siege Gang Commander off the Instigator.
T4. Win
The deck sounds like it should just fold to Jund and Naya, but it can capitalise on Jund's terrible manabase and Naya's large creatures by simply winning before they go into action. Dropping your hand in turns 2-3 means discard is largley irrelevant. And I've yet to lose a single game to Vampires.
The deck sports a largely transformational sideboard, where the sweepers and maelstrom pulses your opponent sided in are suddently irrelevant. The sideboard slows the deck down slightly - you can't keep those one land hands any more - but it's pretty brutal.
The beauty of the deck is the ability to have 3-6 creatures out before your opponent knows what's happening, with a clutch of removal against anything they throw at you. I've managed to pull off the ungodly Instigator into double Siege Gang Commander twice, but often the better drop is Goblin Chieftan on the first strike trigger, allowing you to pump every goblin swinging for the normal combat damage, then dropping Siege Gang Commander afterwards.
Goblin Shortcutter is a surprise hero in this deck, often allowing Warren Instigator to pass some otherwise insurmountable blocker and gain an infinite advantage over your opponent.
Here's some matchups:
Jund
Jund is, of course, a dog of a matchup. However you can capitalise on their slowness, their self harm (Putrid Leech, occassionally Sign In Blood), and their terrible manabase. Ruinblaster is a hero if you can kill a lone Mountain or Forest. Knowing when to drop your hand or to sand-bag lands against Blightning is important, as is when to attack into Putrid Leech and when not to. The basic Elemental sideboard plan applies here.
Naya Lightsaber
Naya is, surprisingly, not that hard to beat. You make sure to Bolt any Noble Heirarchs you see and then get in before they stabalise. You'll want to keep as many Lightning Bolts and Bursts back as possible so that when the inevitable Baneslayer shows up, you can remove it and keep going. Unless you know they're running Day of Judgment, I'd largely stay as the core Goblin deck when sideboarding. But the gameplan really is to kill them before Baneslayer drops.
Boros Bushwacker
The only deck that can match up for speed, this is a cat'n'mouse game of who gets the best removal fastest. Their Skyfishers are brutal against you and deserve your Bolts, but in general their ability to block is terrible. Shortcutter is a superstar in this matchup, allowing you to avoid their first strikers and get your Warren Instigator in quickly. However, this is a terrible attrition war, with Seige Gang Commander sometimes your only out. If, for some reason, they board in Baneslayer, you'll have a very hard time of it.
Crypt/Dredge
This deck is stone-cold dead to you. Definitely bring in the Elemental plan, as you then also negate the effectiveness of their Rotting Rats and incidental removal Game 2.
Vampires
The deck has a surprising amount of game against Vampires, and I've yet to lose a match. They need to acknowledge that they are playing control to your aggro, or they just flat out lose. You rarely care about Gatekeeper (though you need to watch for T3 Gatekeeper vs your T2 Instigator, if it's the only goblin you've played), and almost never about Mind Sludge. Save your Bolts for their Nighthawks and your Blasts for kicking against their Bloodwitches.
As I've said, this deck is a bundle of fun to play, and very, very fast. I'm really looking forward to seeing what goblins Worldwake brings to add to this deck.
At the beginning of the week I plonked down enough tickets to buy a playset of Goblin Guides and Warren Instigators - about 20 tickets in total. I'm an old-time Classic goblins lover (I have the full deck on MtGO as well) so picking up Standard Goblins at some point was inevitable.
Here's the deck I've been running all week:
Main Deck
[28 Creatures (Goblins)]
4 x Goblin Guide
4 x Goblin Bushwacker
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Ruinblaster
4 x Goblin Chieftan
4 x Siege Gang Commander
[10 Instants]
4 x Lightning Bolt
4 x Burst Lightning
2 x Punishing Fire
[22 Lands]
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Arid Mesa
14 x Mountain
Sideboard
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
General Sideboarding Technique
In:
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
Out:
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Chieftan
3 x Siege Gang Commander
This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun decks you can play at the moment. It is fast, furious and frenetic. It most often wins on Turns 4 or 5, but is resiliant enough to win turns 10-12 as well.
It is the only deck in Standard I've ever felt completely comfortable about keeping a one-land hand with. Of the last ten games I played with a one-land hand, I won eight of them. If the hand is fast enough, mulliganing a one-lander is almost always the wrong decision.
It is, without a doubt, brutally fast. Here are some sample starts I've had:
T1. Mountain, Goblin Guide, bash for 2.
T2. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, bash for 5.
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, bash for 7.
T4. Win.
And
T1. Mountain. EOT, bolt the opponent's 1 drop.
T2. Mountain, Warren Instigator
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, drop double Siege Gang Commander off the Instigator.
T4. Win
The deck sounds like it should just fold to Jund and Naya, but it can capitalise on Jund's terrible manabase and Naya's large creatures by simply winning before they go into action. Dropping your hand in turns 2-3 means discard is largley irrelevant. And I've yet to lose a single game to Vampires.
The deck sports a largely transformational sideboard, where the sweepers and maelstrom pulses your opponent sided in are suddently irrelevant. The sideboard slows the deck down slightly - you can't keep those one land hands any more - but it's pretty brutal.
The beauty of the deck is the ability to have 3-6 creatures out before your opponent knows what's happening, with a clutch of removal against anything they throw at you. I've managed to pull off the ungodly Instigator into double Siege Gang Commander twice, but often the better drop is Goblin Chieftan on the first strike trigger, allowing you to pump every goblin swinging for the normal combat damage, then dropping Siege Gang Commander afterwards.
Goblin Shortcutter is a surprise hero in this deck, often allowing Warren Instigator to pass some otherwise insurmountable blocker and gain an infinite advantage over your opponent.
Here's some matchups:
Jund
Jund is, of course, a dog of a matchup. However you can capitalise on their slowness, their self harm (Putrid Leech, occassionally Sign In Blood), and their terrible manabase. Ruinblaster is a hero if you can kill a lone Mountain or Forest. Knowing when to drop your hand or to sand-bag lands against Blightning is important, as is when to attack into Putrid Leech and when not to. The basic Elemental sideboard plan applies here.
Naya Lightsaber
Naya is, surprisingly, not that hard to beat. You make sure to Bolt any Noble Heirarchs you see and then get in before they stabalise. You'll want to keep as many Lightning Bolts and Bursts back as possible so that when the inevitable Baneslayer shows up, you can remove it and keep going. Unless you know they're running Day of Judgment, I'd largely stay as the core Goblin deck when sideboarding. But the gameplan really is to kill them before Baneslayer drops.
Boros Bushwacker
The only deck that can match up for speed, this is a cat'n'mouse game of who gets the best removal fastest. Their Skyfishers are brutal against you and deserve your Bolts, but in general their ability to block is terrible. Shortcutter is a superstar in this matchup, allowing you to avoid their first strikers and get your Warren Instigator in quickly. However, this is a terrible attrition war, with Seige Gang Commander sometimes your only out. If, for some reason, they board in Baneslayer, you'll have a very hard time of it.
Crypt/Dredge
This deck is stone-cold dead to you. Definitely bring in the Elemental plan, as you then also negate the effectiveness of their Rotting Rats and incidental removal Game 2.
Vampires
The deck has a surprising amount of game against Vampires, and I've yet to lose a match. They need to acknowledge that they are playing control to your aggro, or they just flat out lose. You rarely care about Gatekeeper (though you need to watch for T3 Gatekeeper vs your T2 Instigator, if it's the only goblin you've played), and almost never about Mind Sludge. Save your Bolts for their Nighthawks and your Blasts for kicking against their Bloodwitches.
As I've said, this deck is a bundle of fun to play, and very, very fast. I'm really looking forward to seeing what goblins Worldwake brings to add to this deck.
Labels: deckbuilding, goblins, mtgo, standard
Building a Digital Card Collection on MtGO
I was recently (today!) asked on Twitter various questions about MtGO. These included questions around trading, safety, pricing, boosters, singles, etc.
So firstly some upfront links. Read 'em, then come back here:
* Official WoTC MtGO page
* Wikipedia page on Magic Online
* LSV: Going Infinite on MTGO
* Historical article by Ben Bleiweiss: The Current Economic State of Magic Online
* Jeroen Aga: Going Infinite drafting on Magic Online... A Myth?
About my Digital Habits
No, I’m talking about picking my nose. Before I begin, I think I should disclose how I play MtGO before I recommend you do anything. Here's a snapshot of me as a digital player:
* I have a high level of disposable income, some of which I budget for MtGO
* I invest far more in paper Magic than MtGO.
* I live at least half-an-hour away from the nearest store that runs events.
* I buy a draft set and six tickets at the beginning of the week and see how far I can get without buying more
* I am slowly investing in the cards needed to play constructed but don't currently play in the constructed queues
* I redeem often. Most of my paper cards are through redemption. This is largely the reason why I don't play a lot of constructed online.
* I don’t care for foil cards, either online or off.
* My online collection is small but tactical.
* I have only recently attempted to trade for profit.
With that in mind, here's my advice regarding MtGO.
The ‘Players’ Involved
The following is a lazy snapshot of the ‘players’ involved in the MtGO community:
* The casual players – these are the people who make up the vast bulk of the MtGO community. They spend a lot of time in the casual room or tournament practice room, but not necessarily in the queues.
* The hard-core players – these are people who aim for the prize payouts in constructed and limited events online. They generally attempt to make a profit off MtGO through prize support.
* The traders & bot owners –these are the people who attempt to make a profit through trading cards
* The bots – these are the machines who make the healthy trading community possible, essentially automated scripts that allow a human to trade cards and tickets with a machine.
* The ORCs – These are WoTC employed staff that monitor the chat rooms and provide support online.
Currency
The major currency of Magic Online are Event Tickets. Event tickets are sold by WoTC as digital objects in lieu of trading money online. In essence, US$1 = 1 Ticket, although it doesn’t always work out that way. Depending on the number of Nix Tix events (where no tickets are used), Nix Pax events (where ONLY tickets are used, not product) and current prize payouts, you can ‘buy’ Event Tickets through the bots for less than US$1, often through paypal websites. Event Tickets has shrunk as low as .89, but are usually around the mid-to-high .90s.
New booster packs generally cost US$3.99, or 4 tickets, from a bot. As boosters go out of the store, their cost in the bots grows. Often the bots sell boosters available in the store for less than 4 tickets, as they have bought them off players who have won events, not the store itself. The rare exception to this was M10 product, which clung onto the 4 ticket value due to the expected Earned Value from every M10 packet.
Cards themselves have a broad range of value. However, the commonly acknowledged pricing structure for normal-value, non-foil commons, uncommons and rares is as follows:
* Commons :: .02 - .05 tickets
* Uncommons :: .08 -.20 tickets
* Rares :: .25 to 1 tickets
Once a card is a ‘chase’ card online, the price will spike significantly. For example:
* Gush, a common, has only been issued in the “Jace vs Chandra’ Duel Set and goes for 3 tickets
* Daze, a common, has only been issued in the “Jace vs. Chandra’ Duel Set and goes for 9 tickets
* Spell Snare, an uncommon, goes for .40 of a ticket
* Bloodbraid Elf, an uncommon, goes for 2 tickets
* Mana Drain, a rare, has only been issued in Masters Edition 3 and goes for 15 tickets
* Force of Will, a rare, has only been issued in Masters Edition and goes for 64 tickets
Many of the bots use a credit system; if you only spend .43 of a ticket, the other .57 will be reserved against your account name for future purchases. As many of the bots are tied together, you may find your credits extend across multiple bots; this is a secondary currency market within MtGO. Some bots have various promotions they use that allow for discounts over time, like frequent flyer miles. I suggest doing a lot of research into the bots if you want to get the most out of them.
Starting a Collection
Firstly, begin with the end in mind. What format do you intend on playing in? On MtGO there are four major constructed formats; Classic, Extended, Standard and Pauper. I would rate the cost of these in the following order, from most expensive to cheapest:
Classic > Standard > Extended > Pauper
Here are some recommendations for building a collection within a format:
* If you intend on playing in the constructed queues for profit, build a Pauper deck first. It requires the least dollar investment to create a great Pauper deck, you can learn how to play in-game properly, and if you hate MtGO you can get out with as little loss as possible. A great primer for creating and pricing a pauper deck can be found here at puremtgo.com.
* Drafting will build a collection, but it will cost you an absolute fortune. Unless you have a 1900+ rating and know what the hell you’re doing, don’t do it.
* Understand what is redeemable and what is not. That Standard deck you just built? Redeemable for the next four years. That Classic deck with the Tropical Islands and Flooded Strands? You’ll never be able to redeem it. If you don’t care about redemption, the ‘perennial’ cards, such as Birds of Paradise, have high variance in price depending on the set. Cards from old sets that are not redeemable, but still being printed in new sets, are generally cheaper than newer editions (but not always).
* Thanks to the wonders of having digital cards, you don’t need more than four of any card. Ever. No matter how many decks you use that card in, or how many formats that card exists in. If you have anything over four of a certain card, unless you’re holding back and waiting for a spike rise, you may as well trade the excess away.
* Build in the off-season of the equivalent paper magic tournaments. Many paper players will build equivalent decks online, thus forcing the prices of tickets up at that time. The recent Dark Depths increase is an excellent example of this – a single Extended Pro-Tour drove the price up from 2 tickets to 15 tickets.
* Understand the bots are not your friends. They are there to make money. They will try to rip you off if they have the chance. Be a smart shopper – compare prices, do searches online, search the classifieds page for the lowest price. I recommend doing a quick browse of Cardhoarder.com, Abugames.com, and, essentially, mtgolibrary.com, which has a wonderful search engine across the people that use its bot service to find card prices.
* There are some non-widely-known chat areas, such as the auction area. This can be accessed by typing /join auction or /join auction2. Players run their own auctions for bulk card lots in the chat. This is a highly cost-effective way of picking up cards.
With those recommendations in mind, once you’ve chosen a format you wish to build a collection for, here’s my advice:
* Concentrate on getting the mana base first. The mana base will likely be the most expensive part of any non-pauper deck you play, and as a result you may not realise the cost of the constructed deck until you get to buying the mana base at the end, and then your budget will be screwed or your deck won’t be competitive.
* Once you have your mana base, it’s wise to try to get the staple artifacts out of the way. I’d suggest the following artifacts are must-haves, depending on your intended format – Aether Vial, Pithing Needle, Chrome Mox, Engineered Explosives, Tormod’s Crypt, Umezawa’s Jitte, Relic of Progenitus, Chalice of the Void, Vedalken Shackles, Crucible of Worlds.
* Once you’ve got your land and your artifacts, it’s only a matter of pulling together a deck. I certainly can’t recommend a deck for you, but you can be assured the more popular the deck, the more popular it will be online. Sometimes the best thing you can do is build the deck that beats the popular deck and get rich off that. Metagaming is a time-honoured tradition, never more so than on MtGO.
Hopefully this should give you a good idea on how to get a collection started on MtGO. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on twitter, or find me in game – weirdly enough my handle in MtGO is wrongwaygoback. See you online.
I was recently (today!) asked on Twitter various questions about MtGO. These included questions around trading, safety, pricing, boosters, singles, etc.
So firstly some upfront links. Read 'em, then come back here:
* Official WoTC MtGO page
* Wikipedia page on Magic Online
* LSV: Going Infinite on MTGO
* Historical article by Ben Bleiweiss: The Current Economic State of Magic Online
* Jeroen Aga: Going Infinite drafting on Magic Online... A Myth?
About my Digital Habits
No, I’m talking about picking my nose. Before I begin, I think I should disclose how I play MtGO before I recommend you do anything. Here's a snapshot of me as a digital player:
* I have a high level of disposable income, some of which I budget for MtGO
* I invest far more in paper Magic than MtGO.
* I live at least half-an-hour away from the nearest store that runs events.
* I buy a draft set and six tickets at the beginning of the week and see how far I can get without buying more
* I am slowly investing in the cards needed to play constructed but don't currently play in the constructed queues
* I redeem often. Most of my paper cards are through redemption. This is largely the reason why I don't play a lot of constructed online.
* I don’t care for foil cards, either online or off.
* My online collection is small but tactical.
* I have only recently attempted to trade for profit.
With that in mind, here's my advice regarding MtGO.
The ‘Players’ Involved
The following is a lazy snapshot of the ‘players’ involved in the MtGO community:
* The casual players – these are the people who make up the vast bulk of the MtGO community. They spend a lot of time in the casual room or tournament practice room, but not necessarily in the queues.
* The hard-core players – these are people who aim for the prize payouts in constructed and limited events online. They generally attempt to make a profit off MtGO through prize support.
* The traders & bot owners –these are the people who attempt to make a profit through trading cards
* The bots – these are the machines who make the healthy trading community possible, essentially automated scripts that allow a human to trade cards and tickets with a machine.
* The ORCs – These are WoTC employed staff that monitor the chat rooms and provide support online.
Currency
The major currency of Magic Online are Event Tickets. Event tickets are sold by WoTC as digital objects in lieu of trading money online. In essence, US$1 = 1 Ticket, although it doesn’t always work out that way. Depending on the number of Nix Tix events (where no tickets are used), Nix Pax events (where ONLY tickets are used, not product) and current prize payouts, you can ‘buy’ Event Tickets through the bots for less than US$1, often through paypal websites. Event Tickets has shrunk as low as .89, but are usually around the mid-to-high .90s.
New booster packs generally cost US$3.99, or 4 tickets, from a bot. As boosters go out of the store, their cost in the bots grows. Often the bots sell boosters available in the store for less than 4 tickets, as they have bought them off players who have won events, not the store itself. The rare exception to this was M10 product, which clung onto the 4 ticket value due to the expected Earned Value from every M10 packet.
Cards themselves have a broad range of value. However, the commonly acknowledged pricing structure for normal-value, non-foil commons, uncommons and rares is as follows:
* Commons :: .02 - .05 tickets
* Uncommons :: .08 -.20 tickets
* Rares :: .25 to 1 tickets
Once a card is a ‘chase’ card online, the price will spike significantly. For example:
* Gush, a common, has only been issued in the “Jace vs Chandra’ Duel Set and goes for 3 tickets
* Daze, a common, has only been issued in the “Jace vs. Chandra’ Duel Set and goes for 9 tickets
* Spell Snare, an uncommon, goes for .40 of a ticket
* Bloodbraid Elf, an uncommon, goes for 2 tickets
* Mana Drain, a rare, has only been issued in Masters Edition 3 and goes for 15 tickets
* Force of Will, a rare, has only been issued in Masters Edition and goes for 64 tickets
Many of the bots use a credit system; if you only spend .43 of a ticket, the other .57 will be reserved against your account name for future purchases. As many of the bots are tied together, you may find your credits extend across multiple bots; this is a secondary currency market within MtGO. Some bots have various promotions they use that allow for discounts over time, like frequent flyer miles. I suggest doing a lot of research into the bots if you want to get the most out of them.
Starting a Collection
Firstly, begin with the end in mind. What format do you intend on playing in? On MtGO there are four major constructed formats; Classic, Extended, Standard and Pauper. I would rate the cost of these in the following order, from most expensive to cheapest:
Classic > Standard > Extended > Pauper
Here are some recommendations for building a collection within a format:
* If you intend on playing in the constructed queues for profit, build a Pauper deck first. It requires the least dollar investment to create a great Pauper deck, you can learn how to play in-game properly, and if you hate MtGO you can get out with as little loss as possible. A great primer for creating and pricing a pauper deck can be found here at puremtgo.com.
* Drafting will build a collection, but it will cost you an absolute fortune. Unless you have a 1900+ rating and know what the hell you’re doing, don’t do it.
* Understand what is redeemable and what is not. That Standard deck you just built? Redeemable for the next four years. That Classic deck with the Tropical Islands and Flooded Strands? You’ll never be able to redeem it. If you don’t care about redemption, the ‘perennial’ cards, such as Birds of Paradise, have high variance in price depending on the set. Cards from old sets that are not redeemable, but still being printed in new sets, are generally cheaper than newer editions (but not always).
* Thanks to the wonders of having digital cards, you don’t need more than four of any card. Ever. No matter how many decks you use that card in, or how many formats that card exists in. If you have anything over four of a certain card, unless you’re holding back and waiting for a spike rise, you may as well trade the excess away.
* Build in the off-season of the equivalent paper magic tournaments. Many paper players will build equivalent decks online, thus forcing the prices of tickets up at that time. The recent Dark Depths increase is an excellent example of this – a single Extended Pro-Tour drove the price up from 2 tickets to 15 tickets.
* Understand the bots are not your friends. They are there to make money. They will try to rip you off if they have the chance. Be a smart shopper – compare prices, do searches online, search the classifieds page for the lowest price. I recommend doing a quick browse of Cardhoarder.com, Abugames.com, and, essentially, mtgolibrary.com, which has a wonderful search engine across the people that use its bot service to find card prices.
* There are some non-widely-known chat areas, such as the auction area. This can be accessed by typing /join auction or /join auction2. Players run their own auctions for bulk card lots in the chat. This is a highly cost-effective way of picking up cards.
With those recommendations in mind, once you’ve chosen a format you wish to build a collection for, here’s my advice:
* Concentrate on getting the mana base first. The mana base will likely be the most expensive part of any non-pauper deck you play, and as a result you may not realise the cost of the constructed deck until you get to buying the mana base at the end, and then your budget will be screwed or your deck won’t be competitive.
* Once you have your mana base, it’s wise to try to get the staple artifacts out of the way. I’d suggest the following artifacts are must-haves, depending on your intended format – Aether Vial, Pithing Needle, Chrome Mox, Engineered Explosives, Tormod’s Crypt, Umezawa’s Jitte, Relic of Progenitus, Chalice of the Void, Vedalken Shackles, Crucible of Worlds.
* Once you’ve got your land and your artifacts, it’s only a matter of pulling together a deck. I certainly can’t recommend a deck for you, but you can be assured the more popular the deck, the more popular it will be online. Sometimes the best thing you can do is build the deck that beats the popular deck and get rich off that. Metagaming is a time-honoured tradition, never more so than on MtGO.
Hopefully this should give you a good idea on how to get a collection started on MtGO. If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on twitter, or find me in game – weirdly enough my handle in MtGO is wrongwaygoback. See you online.
Adrenaline, Drafting MtG, and You
The scenario: You've joined an M10 Draft Queue on MtGO and after filling up quickly it's fired. You're in the hang time between the draft starting and the first pack being opened. Suddenly it appears, you see a crap rare and an Air Elemental, and you quickly grab the Elemental, and it's onto the next pack. Wait, what else was in that pack again?
You don't know. You looked, but you didn't really see the cards.
What just happened?
Let's break it down.
Between the queue firing and the first pack opening your brain engages in a classic adrenaline-flood experience. This is an automatic response that cannot be controlled (and, incidentally, is one of the defining features of why drafting is so fun and addictive - an article for another time). As your blood pressure, blood flow and heart rate increase, your pupils dilate, and most importantly blood shifts away from the frontal lobes of your brain to your motor cortex.
This has several effects on your thought process.
(1) You can't think straight. For about the first 30 seconds or so your ability to make value judgements is gone. You will act on a combination of instinct and learnt behaviour from prior experiences.
(2) Your ability to long-term plan is impaired. The flight-or-fight instinct is nature's short term solution, you either survive or you don't. It doesn't care what's going to happen in an hour’s time.
(3) The effects of emotion on your decision-making process are increased. As it has been put, you have a need to do something, anything, immediately. Unfortunately, because of (1) and (2), your snap decision may not always be the right thing to do.
Here are some hypothetical examples of each.
(1) Your first pick was an easy choice, Captain of the Watch (letting a Blinding Mage go), and your second pick a Rhox Pikemaster (letting a Pacifism go). The third pick appears, and there's an Air Elemental, a Doom Blade, and a single white card, Stormfront Pegasus. Having had a lot of success with Air Elemental in the past you grab it, and end up with a rather clunky deck with a lot of double-coloured casting cost cards, while the person to your left drafts a fast white-weenie rush deck and the person to your left crafts a nice counter-blue skies deck.
(2) The pack opens and immediately see a crap rare, a Sierra Angel and an Air Elemental. Your experience is that Sierra Angel is the stronger flyer so you immediately pick it. However, you have ignored that the pack also has a Blinding Mage, a Pacifism, and no other blue cards. You missed the chance to send a clear signal to your neighbour, who will still likely go white, and also missed the chance to own all the blue in Pack 2. You end up drafting a White/Red deck with only one solid white card, the Sierra Angel.
(3) You open Pack Three and see a Great Sable Stag and a Tendrils of Corruption. You've drafted black so far, but that Stag is staring you in the face. You don't own any yet, and you really want a playset, and, hey, it's counter-drafting anyway, right? So you pick it. The Tendrils does not wheel, you don't end up playing the Stag, and you lose in the first game when the Tendrils could have got you there.
None of these decisions are entirely conscious, and not always the worst decision you could make, but they are judgement impaired decisions due to the adrenaline in your system and blood flowing out of your frontal lobes.
So what to do about it?
* Firstly, you can try to prevent it. Doing some sort of activity, such as light exercise, can get the initial adrenaline rush over with before the draft starts, thereby freeing your mind for when it’s needed.
* Secondly, the effect is pretty short. Depending on your “high”, the initial thought dampening will last around thirty seconds, with the total effect gone in around five minutes. You can speed this up by moving your arms and legs to get your blood flowing again.
* Thirdly, slow down, give yourself time. Do not make a first-pick within the first 30 seconds of the draft. Let your brain get over the initial flow of adrenaline and the flight-or-fight instinct wear off. Then you’ll be able to get back into rational decision-making mode.
* Lastly, talk out loud to yourself. I know that sounds weird, but it will re-engage your brain. Force yourself to reason out loud about why you are going to pick a particular card, including its advantages, disadvantages and what card in the pack is likely to wheel back to you. This forces your brain to logically step through why a card is good enough to choose, and if it sounds wrong when spoken out loud, take it as a warning sign that the pick may be wrong.
In summary, be aware of the tricks your body will pull on you, slow down, give your brain a chance to start thinking again, and then draft away.
The scenario: You've joined an M10 Draft Queue on MtGO and after filling up quickly it's fired. You're in the hang time between the draft starting and the first pack being opened. Suddenly it appears, you see a crap rare and an Air Elemental, and you quickly grab the Elemental, and it's onto the next pack. Wait, what else was in that pack again?
You don't know. You looked, but you didn't really see the cards.
What just happened?
Let's break it down.
Between the queue firing and the first pack opening your brain engages in a classic adrenaline-flood experience. This is an automatic response that cannot be controlled (and, incidentally, is one of the defining features of why drafting is so fun and addictive - an article for another time). As your blood pressure, blood flow and heart rate increase, your pupils dilate, and most importantly blood shifts away from the frontal lobes of your brain to your motor cortex.
This has several effects on your thought process.
(1) You can't think straight. For about the first 30 seconds or so your ability to make value judgements is gone. You will act on a combination of instinct and learnt behaviour from prior experiences.
(2) Your ability to long-term plan is impaired. The flight-or-fight instinct is nature's short term solution, you either survive or you don't. It doesn't care what's going to happen in an hour’s time.
(3) The effects of emotion on your decision-making process are increased. As it has been put, you have a need to do something, anything, immediately. Unfortunately, because of (1) and (2), your snap decision may not always be the right thing to do.
Here are some hypothetical examples of each.
(1) Your first pick was an easy choice, Captain of the Watch (letting a Blinding Mage go), and your second pick a Rhox Pikemaster (letting a Pacifism go). The third pick appears, and there's an Air Elemental, a Doom Blade, and a single white card, Stormfront Pegasus. Having had a lot of success with Air Elemental in the past you grab it, and end up with a rather clunky deck with a lot of double-coloured casting cost cards, while the person to your left drafts a fast white-weenie rush deck and the person to your left crafts a nice counter-blue skies deck.
(2) The pack opens and immediately see a crap rare, a Sierra Angel and an Air Elemental. Your experience is that Sierra Angel is the stronger flyer so you immediately pick it. However, you have ignored that the pack also has a Blinding Mage, a Pacifism, and no other blue cards. You missed the chance to send a clear signal to your neighbour, who will still likely go white, and also missed the chance to own all the blue in Pack 2. You end up drafting a White/Red deck with only one solid white card, the Sierra Angel.
(3) You open Pack Three and see a Great Sable Stag and a Tendrils of Corruption. You've drafted black so far, but that Stag is staring you in the face. You don't own any yet, and you really want a playset, and, hey, it's counter-drafting anyway, right? So you pick it. The Tendrils does not wheel, you don't end up playing the Stag, and you lose in the first game when the Tendrils could have got you there.
None of these decisions are entirely conscious, and not always the worst decision you could make, but they are judgement impaired decisions due to the adrenaline in your system and blood flowing out of your frontal lobes.
So what to do about it?
* Firstly, you can try to prevent it. Doing some sort of activity, such as light exercise, can get the initial adrenaline rush over with before the draft starts, thereby freeing your mind for when it’s needed.
* Secondly, the effect is pretty short. Depending on your “high”, the initial thought dampening will last around thirty seconds, with the total effect gone in around five minutes. You can speed this up by moving your arms and legs to get your blood flowing again.
* Thirdly, slow down, give yourself time. Do not make a first-pick within the first 30 seconds of the draft. Let your brain get over the initial flow of adrenaline and the flight-or-fight instinct wear off. Then you’ll be able to get back into rational decision-making mode.
* Lastly, talk out loud to yourself. I know that sounds weird, but it will re-engage your brain. Force yourself to reason out loud about why you are going to pick a particular card, including its advantages, disadvantages and what card in the pack is likely to wheel back to you. This forces your brain to logically step through why a card is good enough to choose, and if it sounds wrong when spoken out loud, take it as a warning sign that the pick may be wrong.
In summary, be aware of the tricks your body will pull on you, slow down, give your brain a chance to start thinking again, and then draft away.
Sometimes you draft what you think is a great deck.. and then it just doesn’t get there. Here’s what I drafted tonight.
Pack 1 pick 1:
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This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Here’s the deck:
2 Brackwater Elemental
3 Plains
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Manaforce Mace
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Esperzoa
1 Frontline Sage
6 Swamp
1 Windwright Mage
2 Tidehollow Strix
1 Parasitic Strix
2 Agony Warp
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Faerie Mechanist
1 Skeletal Kathari
1 Kathari Screecher
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Obelisk of Alara
7 Island
1 Salvage Titan
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Armillary Sphere
Match 1: Game 1: He’s playing Bant with some Esper flyers. He nails me fairly quickly in Game 1 when he lays a turn 3 Pancake Flipper and some exalted dudes and I can make no profitable trades.
Game 2: We trade for a bit. He makes a great play using unsummon to save one of his critters from Agony Warp, but eventually I take over the board with Inkwell Leviathan and Kederekt Leviathan.
Game 3: He comes out swinging. He uses Fatestitcher to great effect. I don’t even get a chance to play much that doesn’t either die quick or get turned on it’s side.
Although I didn’t win the game, I think I drafted pretty well. I had a good amount of playable cards, some obvious bombs, and an excellent set of removal. However, sometimes you just don’t get there.
Tomorrow’s another day.
Pack 1 pick 1:
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Pack 1 pick 2:
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My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Here’s the deck:
2 Brackwater Elemental
3 Plains
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Manaforce Mace
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Esperzoa
1 Frontline Sage
6 Swamp
1 Windwright Mage
2 Tidehollow Strix
1 Parasitic Strix
2 Agony Warp
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Faerie Mechanist
1 Skeletal Kathari
1 Kathari Screecher
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Obelisk of Alara
7 Island
1 Salvage Titan
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Armillary Sphere
Match 1: Game 1: He’s playing Bant with some Esper flyers. He nails me fairly quickly in Game 1 when he lays a turn 3 Pancake Flipper and some exalted dudes and I can make no profitable trades.
Game 2: We trade for a bit. He makes a great play using unsummon to save one of his critters from Agony Warp, but eventually I take over the board with Inkwell Leviathan and Kederekt Leviathan.
Game 3: He comes out swinging. He uses Fatestitcher to great effect. I don’t even get a chance to play much that doesn’t either die quick or get turned on it’s side.
Although I didn’t win the game, I think I drafted pretty well. I had a good amount of playable cards, some obvious bombs, and an excellent set of removal. However, sometimes you just don’t get there.
Tomorrow’s another day.
Another draft. I admit I drafted terribly. So many mistakes. See if you can count them all!
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Ok, I like Blightning. A lot. But clearly Skullmuncher, Naya Charm or Knight of the Skyward Eye or Resounding Thunder would have been better. Thunder would of signaled green was open and Blightning may of found it’s way back.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Yeah, and then I went and picked a green bomb.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
I didn’t know where I was headed, so I picked an early fixer.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Another early fixer. Maybe Dragger was the right choice.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
I think this was the right pick, allowing me to go five colour if I chose.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Okay. I seem to have been lucky with my P2P1 lately. Sarkhan was in my colours and the clear pick of choice.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Dear God I’m a fool.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Dear God I’m a total fool. I didn’t even run the Grixis Charms. I though I may splash for the blue. In retrospect I probably should have.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Yeah. Ridge Rannet. I know.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Happy with that.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Probably the Ancient Ziggurat is the better choice.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Alright, that was awful. What did I end up playing?
2 x Blightning
1 x Mycoloth
1 x Mosstodon
1 x Elvish Visionary
1 x Rip-Clan Crasher
1 x Sarkhan Vol
1 x Rockslide Elemental
1 x Sprouting Thrinax
1 x Dragon Fodder
1 x Ridge Rannet
1 x Oblisk of Jund
1 x Shambling Remains
2 x Pestilent Kathari
1 x Hellkite Hatchling
1 x Manaforce Mace
1 x Nacatal Savage
1 x Ember Weaver
2 x Yoke of the Damned
1 x Beacon Behemoth
1 x Blister Beetle
1 x Savage Lands
A bunch of basics.
Notice what’s missing? Quality removal. Just a bunch of dudes there, waiting to be killed.
Idiota!
Match 1: I played Grixis and played well enough to make it through to the next round, making one kill off a Blightning.
Match 2: I played against an Exalted build, which is where my lack of removal really showed. I got totally owned by Aven Squire + Valiant Guard + Fatestitcher + Angelic Benediction. Even with a Mycoloth, Hellkite and Ember Weaver in play I couldn’t do much against his ability to tap me out.
My lack of removal shone through. Even having a magma spray or extra Blister Beetle may have been enough to take out his flyer, but it was not to be, and I lost it in 2 games.
Perhaps I should of splashed blue and run the Grixis Charms. Maybe that would of made the difference. Ah well, live and learn.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Ok, I like Blightning. A lot. But clearly Skullmuncher, Naya Charm or Knight of the Skyward Eye or Resounding Thunder would have been better. Thunder would of signaled green was open and Blightning may of found it’s way back.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Yeah, and then I went and picked a green bomb.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
I didn’t know where I was headed, so I picked an early fixer.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Another early fixer. Maybe Dragger was the right choice.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
I think this was the right pick, allowing me to go five colour if I chose.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Okay. I seem to have been lucky with my P2P1 lately. Sarkhan was in my colours and the clear pick of choice.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Dear God I’m a fool.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Dear God I’m a total fool. I didn’t even run the Grixis Charms. I though I may splash for the blue. In retrospect I probably should have.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Yeah. Ridge Rannet. I know.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Happy with that.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Probably the Ancient Ziggurat is the better choice.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Alright, that was awful. What did I end up playing?
2 x Blightning
1 x Mycoloth
1 x Mosstodon
1 x Elvish Visionary
1 x Rip-Clan Crasher
1 x Sarkhan Vol
1 x Rockslide Elemental
1 x Sprouting Thrinax
1 x Dragon Fodder
1 x Ridge Rannet
1 x Oblisk of Jund
1 x Shambling Remains
2 x Pestilent Kathari
1 x Hellkite Hatchling
1 x Manaforce Mace
1 x Nacatal Savage
1 x Ember Weaver
2 x Yoke of the Damned
1 x Beacon Behemoth
1 x Blister Beetle
1 x Savage Lands
A bunch of basics.
Notice what’s missing? Quality removal. Just a bunch of dudes there, waiting to be killed.
Idiota!
Match 1: I played Grixis and played well enough to make it through to the next round, making one kill off a Blightning.
Match 2: I played against an Exalted build, which is where my lack of removal really showed. I got totally owned by Aven Squire + Valiant Guard + Fatestitcher + Angelic Benediction. Even with a Mycoloth, Hellkite and Ember Weaver in play I couldn’t do much against his ability to tap me out.
My lack of removal shone through. Even having a magma spray or extra Blister Beetle may have been enough to take out his flyer, but it was not to be, and I lost it in 2 games.
Perhaps I should of splashed blue and run the Grixis Charms. Maybe that would of made the difference. Ah well, live and learn.
I drafted a delicious (as opposed to tasty) Jund deck tonight: Here's the pool:
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Ok, not the worst bomb in the world. The RRR is a little restrictive, but I'm bound to pick up some mana fixers, right. Right?
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Bull Ceredon being my second dragon and edging me towards Naya.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
In retrospect, not the best pick. But playable if it came to it.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
At this point I thought I was heading to Naya so a combat trick seemed okay.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
And then I was in Jund. But mana fixers would come along and I'd be right. Right?
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I hear, post Conflux, some people don't like Deathraiders, but I really like them.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Happily taken pick 11...
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Okay, I'm not going to argue with that.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Totally hate drafted. I realise how terrible that is for a P2P2, but I knew I'd have a hard time dealing with it with what little removal I had.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
And then the removal started...
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Sweet.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
You take the rare, right?
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
At this point I was still searching for removal, so Drag Down seemed ok.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Oh yes! The Scepter is sweeet and totally in my colours.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Nice.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
I assume I'll be playing against flyers at some point.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Here's the deck:
1 x Predator Dragon
2 x Carrion Thrash
3 x Goblin Deathraiders
1 x Oblix of Jund
1 x Blightning
2 x Dredgescape Zombie
1 x Broodmate Dragon
1 x Fleshbag Maruader
1 x Vithian Stinger
2 x Blister Beetle
1 x Dragon Fodder
2 x Drag Down
1 x Absorb Vis
1 x Scepter of Fugue
1 x Dark Temper
1 x Mana Cylix
1 x Pestilent Kathari
7 x Mountain
3 x Forest
7 x Swamp
Match 1: Game 1: My opponent is in Grixis. We trade creatures while I Scepter my opponent's hand away for a while. Broodmate turns up and it's all over after that.
Game 2: An absolute nail biter. I have the board locked down with Stinger, but my opponent manages to draw into Blood Tyrant and a critter with Elder Mastery. In the meantime I've put down Broodmate Dragon and a 10/10 Voracious Dragon. My opponent puts a Manaforce Mace (the one I passed) and Talons on the Tyrant. I chump block it to go down to 2, and manage to find a way to get him down to 2... but 2 isn't zero and I concede.
Game 3: I come out all guns blazing. Dragon Fodder into Deathraiders into Oblix of Jund into Broodmate on turn 5. That's hard to keep up with and it's all over.
Match 2: Game 1: My opponent is in Jund as well. My opponent wins the roll but I have a quick start in the first game and it's a fast win with small guys.
Game 2: Necrogenesis comes out and it's a beating for my unearth guys. Plenty of my guys are shallow in the rump and the 1/1s ruin my army. My opponent starts recurring Sedraxis Spectre and Firefield Ogre and it's all over. I have the mana to play Voracious Dragon but hold back so my opponent doesn't know I have it.
Game 3: Thanks goodness for blazing starts. It's a grip of 3/1s and removal. I push fast and I'm rewarded with gutting my opponent before he can get any board position.
Match 3: Game 1: My opponent's playing 5 colour. The first game went for 13 rounds as we traded, but I basically lock the board down with Stinger, Scepter and removal until I can send a dragon in.
Game 2: My opponent gets mana fast and starts wiping my guys out. Necrogenesis makes another appearance and my board can't keep up my ability to unearth dead. My opponent wins after 13 rounds.
Game 3: We both mana ramp, playing nothing but alternate Oblix until Turn 4. We trade for a little. That's when I exploded into Scepter, Voracious Dragon (not devouring anything) and Broodmate. My opponent's necrogenesis can't keep up and I get the concession.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Ok, not the worst bomb in the world. The RRR is a little restrictive, but I'm bound to pick up some mana fixers, right. Right?
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Bull Ceredon being my second dragon and edging me towards Naya.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
In retrospect, not the best pick. But playable if it came to it.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
At this point I thought I was heading to Naya so a combat trick seemed okay.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
And then I was in Jund. But mana fixers would come along and I'd be right. Right?
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I hear, post Conflux, some people don't like Deathraiders, but I really like them.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Happily taken pick 11...
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Okay, I'm not going to argue with that.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Totally hate drafted. I realise how terrible that is for a P2P2, but I knew I'd have a hard time dealing with it with what little removal I had.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
And then the removal started...
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Sweet.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
You take the rare, right?
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
At this point I was still searching for removal, so Drag Down seemed ok.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Oh yes! The Scepter is sweeet and totally in my colours.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Nice.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
I assume I'll be playing against flyers at some point.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
Here's the deck:
1 x Predator Dragon
2 x Carrion Thrash
3 x Goblin Deathraiders
1 x Oblix of Jund
1 x Blightning
2 x Dredgescape Zombie
1 x Broodmate Dragon
1 x Fleshbag Maruader
1 x Vithian Stinger
2 x Blister Beetle
1 x Dragon Fodder
2 x Drag Down
1 x Absorb Vis
1 x Scepter of Fugue
1 x Dark Temper
1 x Mana Cylix
1 x Pestilent Kathari
7 x Mountain
3 x Forest
7 x Swamp
Match 1: Game 1: My opponent is in Grixis. We trade creatures while I Scepter my opponent's hand away for a while. Broodmate turns up and it's all over after that.
Game 2: An absolute nail biter. I have the board locked down with Stinger, but my opponent manages to draw into Blood Tyrant and a critter with Elder Mastery. In the meantime I've put down Broodmate Dragon and a 10/10 Voracious Dragon. My opponent puts a Manaforce Mace (the one I passed) and Talons on the Tyrant. I chump block it to go down to 2, and manage to find a way to get him down to 2... but 2 isn't zero and I concede.
Game 3: I come out all guns blazing. Dragon Fodder into Deathraiders into Oblix of Jund into Broodmate on turn 5. That's hard to keep up with and it's all over.
Match 2: Game 1: My opponent is in Jund as well. My opponent wins the roll but I have a quick start in the first game and it's a fast win with small guys.
Game 2: Necrogenesis comes out and it's a beating for my unearth guys. Plenty of my guys are shallow in the rump and the 1/1s ruin my army. My opponent starts recurring Sedraxis Spectre and Firefield Ogre and it's all over. I have the mana to play Voracious Dragon but hold back so my opponent doesn't know I have it.
Game 3: Thanks goodness for blazing starts. It's a grip of 3/1s and removal. I push fast and I'm rewarded with gutting my opponent before he can get any board position.
Match 3: Game 1: My opponent's playing 5 colour. The first game went for 13 rounds as we traded, but I basically lock the board down with Stinger, Scepter and removal until I can send a dragon in.
Game 2: My opponent gets mana fast and starts wiping my guys out. Necrogenesis makes another appearance and my board can't keep up my ability to unearth dead. My opponent wins after 13 rounds.
Game 3: We both mana ramp, playing nothing but alternate Oblix until Turn 4. We trade for a little. That's when I exploded into Scepter, Voracious Dragon (not devouring anything) and Broodmate. My opponent's necrogenesis can't keep up and I get the concession.
I love me some Pauper Magic (ie commons only). It takes the excessive expensive out of the game, and provides a real mental challenge on how to break the format.
There's a few basic arch-types, generally around what works in the extended format; affinity, ninja-control, zoo, burn and UG fish. I'm trying a different approach, based on the success of the Martyr of Sands deck in extended I saw floating around.
Trying to recur Martyr of Sands in pauper is a lot tougher in extended, in which there are many and various ways to do it - especially when you're trying to remain mono white. Eventually this is the deck I settled on:
20 Plains
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Leonin Squire
4 Auramancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Empyrial Armor
4 Angelic Renewal
4 Sunbeam Spellbomb
4 Unmake
The concept is pretty simple; draw off secluded steppe and sunbeam spellbomb / Leonin Squire, get to seven cards in hand and three mana, recur Martyr of Sands through Angelic Renewal / Auramancer, defend with recurable Sanctum Gargoyles, and eventually smash face with Empyrial Armor.
Most things work with the recursion engine, and the unmakes and o-rings provide a tonne of removal for most threats.
I've only just started testing it out. The trickiest part I've found is when exactly to start saccing the Martyr, especially against red burn. Timing, as usual, is everything.
There's a few basic arch-types, generally around what works in the extended format; affinity, ninja-control, zoo, burn and UG fish. I'm trying a different approach, based on the success of the Martyr of Sands deck in extended I saw floating around.
Trying to recur Martyr of Sands in pauper is a lot tougher in extended, in which there are many and various ways to do it - especially when you're trying to remain mono white. Eventually this is the deck I settled on:
20 Plains
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Leonin Squire
4 Auramancer
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Empyrial Armor
4 Angelic Renewal
4 Sunbeam Spellbomb
4 Unmake
The concept is pretty simple; draw off secluded steppe and sunbeam spellbomb / Leonin Squire, get to seven cards in hand and three mana, recur Martyr of Sands through Angelic Renewal / Auramancer, defend with recurable Sanctum Gargoyles, and eventually smash face with Empyrial Armor.
Most things work with the recursion engine, and the unmakes and o-rings provide a tonne of removal for most threats.
I've only just started testing it out. The trickiest part I've found is when exactly to start saccing the Martyr, especially against red burn. Timing, as usual, is everything.
Labels: magic, martyr of sands, mtgo, pauper
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