The meta is not very forgiving of jank right now. Pretty much all of your games are going to be against mono colored hyper efficient decks (RDW, WW, mono-u) or esper. There are other decks that can exist, but I think the power level of those decks is so much higher than everything else there isn't much room for brews especially in Bo1.
On the one hand, Dominaria Sealed is a mess of a format.
On the other hand... 7 wins with this.
Funny how I was in the same colors as you and had hardly any overlap. I had far less removal than you, just my 2x Settle the Score, and the Bloodtallow Candle that I kept recurring (really late game with Muldrotha) but I went 7-1. I bet your deck coulda beat mine.
For whatever reason no one seemed to have removal left when my Muldrotha hit the board. I'm completely new to Sealed but even I knew to save at least one removal spell for an opponent's bomb.
Funny, that I never even swinged in with Muldrotha since that seemed like a big risk. And honestly not one match, did I actually 0 out the opponents' health. It was all just concessions to inevitability.
And my gain 10 life kicked Druid was key in dragging out to two matches.
Did you win much with stolen creatures from Eldest Reborn?
They all scooped before the third chapter, or had an answer to it. One game I got to Icy a Darigaaz while at 2 life. When they started to roped me, I Fungal Infectioned my own saproling with Slimefoot out, then Cast Down the other one for the win. Another game my opponent had Traxos, Evra, and Chainer's Torment that made a 10/10 Horror. I Eviserated Evra, Freezed Traxos, and made Slimefoot an 12/13 with Blackblade. Also had Eldest Reborn on the field. GG.
This was actually my second sealed pool. My first one had Lyra, Arvad, Aryel, Dread Shade, Helm of the Host, Eldest Reborn, 2x Banishing Lights... and a bunch of dregs. Think I went 1-3, probably should have splashed red for cheap removal.
I'm trying to think of the best deck to counter both RDW and esper.
I'm thinking it is an esper list running 4x bascillica bell-haunts + negates + devious cover ups. Bell-Haunts are a pretty bad card against the mirror. You don't want to ever spend 4 mana to play a creature in the early to midgame. But the card is such a hard counter to RDW you can afford to run a stronger anti esper package.
Alternatively, you can go the Kaya route. Kaya also provides a headache for mono-u if it resolves (unlikely). She shuts down chem insights, provides a head ache for drakes, and keeps azcanta from flipping. And against a deck that runs no creatures she has to trade for vraska or a counter spell/thought erasure. Against RDW.
Alternatively, you can go another route and run something like gruul aggro or WW. I think both are slightly favored against both decks.
I don't think there are many other options for Bo1 right now sadly. Sucks that the best anti-meta deck is just a meta deck.
furbat on
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
BO3 I've run into mono blue, esper, sultai, weird janky builds that actually work sometimes, white weenie, azorious, gruul stuff, etc. It feels very diverse!
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
BO3 I've run into mono blue, esper, sultai, weird janky builds that actually work sometimes, white weenie, azorious, gruul stuff, etc. It feels very diverse!
That’s great. I escaped Hearthstone because it got so stale.
I’ve been staying away from bo3 because I don’t really have the cards for sideboarding but maybe that doesn’t matter as much.
BO3 I've run into mono blue, esper, sultai, weird janky builds that actually work sometimes, white weenie, azorious, gruul stuff, etc. It feels very diverse!
That’s great. I escaped Hearthstone because it got so stale.
I’ve been staying away from bo3 because I don’t really have the cards for sideboarding but maybe that doesn’t matter as much.
Even if you can't match the sideboards perfectly, you can put utility cards you do have in there and build them out as you earn wildcards.
Because wildcards are the way to build specific decks that you are currently working on, not ICRs.
BO3 is a longer time commitment, both in terms of research (you delve into the whole sideboarding thing) and in terms of play. I like playing it (because this is primarily how Paper Magic goes), but I also like the fast BO1 games for a quick fix and to plow right through drafts and tournaments.
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KayWhat we need...Is a little bit of PANIC.Registered Userregular
BO1 is fine when you don't have much time to play and all, but when you devote as much time as needed to get 15 wins most days, you're probably better off playing BO3 for the increased deck diversity, and the percentage points you'll gain through sideboarding correctly.
BO3 is a longer time commitment, both in terms of research (you delve into the whole sideboarding thing) and in terms of play. I like playing it (because this is primarily how Paper Magic goes), but I also like the fast BO1 games for a quick fix and to plow right through drafts and tournaments.
I like Bo3 in paper but Arena players are assholes (oh I'm losing I'm going to rope you, etc) which makes it a bit less compelling.
BO3 is a longer time commitment, both in terms of research (you delve into the whole sideboarding thing) and in terms of play. I like playing it (because this is primarily how Paper Magic goes), but I also like the fast BO1 games for a quick fix and to plow right through drafts and tournaments.
I like Bo3 in paper but Arena players are assholes (oh I'm losing I'm going to rope you, etc) which makes it a bit less compelling.
I'm still amazed this is happening to people. I have been roped maybe twice? Ever?
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
edited March 2019
Every once in a while I think, "I don't want to get too invested, so I'm just gonna play some bo1 ranked" and then it fucking sucks and I immediately regret my decision and go back to bo3. I can't stand not having the chance to sideboard or make mulligan decisions based on my opponent's deck.
I only play bo1 for unranked constructed to finish quests or for ranked drafts, and I wish I didn't have to play it for ranked drafts.
BO3 is a longer time commitment, both in terms of research (you delve into the whole sideboarding thing) and in terms of play. I like playing it (because this is primarily how Paper Magic goes), but I also like the fast BO1 games for a quick fix and to plow right through drafts and tournaments.
I like Bo3 in paper but Arena players are assholes (oh I'm losing I'm going to rope you, etc) which makes it a bit less compelling.
I've run into a lot more players who lost game 1 and then conceded the whole thing than players who actively trolled me in bo3.
I think I've only been deliberately roped in unranked bo1 and unranked draft.
I play BO1 because 3 takes a long time. If I get blown out I get blown out and I play someone else,
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
Bo3 in my experience doesn't take that much longer. I initially shied away from it due to that fear but I find most matches are 30 minutes or less. The fact that it's digital and takes care of the shuffling means you aren't looking at 50 minute rounds or whatever like you would at FNM. Also the pairing is instant, you don't have to walk around the store and pick up your playmat and shit.
I think one could reasonably assuming it would take ~3 times longer
It actually hardly ever does though. Going 2-1 or 1-2 is rarer than 2-0 and the sideboard tends to sway things in one direction or another. Plus you have less issues of land screw or flood losing you those ranked pips.
BO3 is a longer time commitment, both in terms of research (you delve into the whole sideboarding thing) and in terms of play. I like playing it (because this is primarily how Paper Magic goes), but I also like the fast BO1 games for a quick fix and to plow right through drafts and tournaments.
I like Bo3 in paper but Arena players are assholes (oh I'm losing I'm going to rope you, etc) which makes it a bit less compelling.
I'm still amazed this is happening to people. I have been roped maybe twice? Ever?
I dunno I think I get a very different que than most people here, due to time played, or ??. I don't see most of the decks people talk about, and the deck distribution is fairly even. I saw Nexus of Fate I think once, ever?
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Yeah I just never feel like our game was "over" after a bo1. We were playing blind, saw so little of the others' deck, and none of their sideboard plans.
I crafted a version of this without going all in on the rares and mythic rares, crafted two each of the shock lands for future flexibility, and 1-2 additional copies of the rares I needed. I also had 2 Venerated Loxodons so they went into the deck, along with a Shalai.
First game, against mono red. I won pretty handily holding them off with healing until I could get 4 angels on the board and there was really nothing they could do after that.
Second game was against some kind of black sacrifice deck which pulled a big ass demon and turn 3. Never seen it before, may have been some test jank. I don’t have any fliers so I filed the board with weenies and buffed them with loxodon. Never drew DV but didn’t need it. Opponent was too afraid to tap or sacrifice creatures because he was on a short clock. Lots of back and forth but eventually I was able to push through and win.
So it’s a token deck with some blue splash and DV, I’m sure there are more efficient versions of that but for now I’m content to keep pushing with this and testing some new cards when I can afford them.
I’m pumped! I may have crafted something that is fun and not complete garbage!
Not terribly different from my W/g token deck. Think I have Trosani discordant instead of the Sprouting Renewals and some legion's landings but thats about it
I just learned the hard way that when stealing a bunch of cards with Thief of Sanity and Hostage Taker, you should *not* play out the Trostani Discordant that you just stole... That was kind of embarassing...
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
This deck didn't look like a 7-0, but it sure was.
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Siege-Gang Commander did obvious work. The wizard package was excellent. I mised a couple games off of kicked Keldon Overseer -- including one where I was at 3 life and facing a 7/7 flying trampling dragon when I top-decked the overseer and swung for ~18 damage against their 16 life -- but for the most part it was just early aggro into mid and late game value + reach. The highlight was by far kicking a Ghitu Chronicler with Naban in play to rebuy Divination and Radiating Lightning.
We have reached a strange bizzaro world where kaya is run maindeck in every Bo1 esper deck on the ladder. She is without a doubt the most surprising card of the expansion.
Bo1 being almost completely mono-colored aggro/tempo decks running a ton of one drop creatures makes her surprisingly valuable, though aside from technically being a win condition I'd still rather just play copies 5 & 6 of Moment of Craving
Bo1 being almost completely mono-colored aggro/tempo decks running a ton of one drop creatures makes her surprisingly valuable, though aside from technically being a win condition I'd still rather just play copies 5 & 6 of Moment of Craving
She isn't a dead card against the mirror unlike 5 and 6 of craving. The healing per turn also lets you run cast down over moment of craving which actually hits benalish marshals, whirly boys, djins, evolved pterimanders and so on.
If you rely on 4 copies of moment of craving, you are leaving yourself pretty open to things not mono colored.
Bo1 being almost completely mono-colored aggro/tempo decks running a ton of one drop creatures makes her surprisingly valuable, though aside from technically being a win condition I'd still rather just play copies 5 & 6 of Moment of Craving
She isn't a dead card against the mirror unlike 5 and 6 of craving. The healing per turn also lets you run cast down over moment of craving which actually hits benalish marshals, whirly boys, djins, evolved pterimanders and so on.
If you rely on 4 copies of moment of craving, you are leaving yourself pretty open to things not mono colored.
I mean, esper control mirrors she's a pretty dead card, isn't she? Esper midrange isn't prevalent enough to really worry about.
I've got one of her in my esper control sideboard and she comes in against some stuff but overall has just been fine, not amazing. There's probably better stuff to use her for.
Also I have been slacking on my ranked grind. Up to plat 2 with majority esper control games. They just take so long
Feels real good when I beat a mirror though. Especially via thief of sanity hitting their teferis
Bo1 being almost completely mono-colored aggro/tempo decks running a ton of one drop creatures makes her surprisingly valuable, though aside from technically being a win condition I'd still rather just play copies 5 & 6 of Moment of Craving
She isn't a dead card against the mirror unlike 5 and 6 of craving. The healing per turn also lets you run cast down over moment of craving which actually hits benalish marshals, whirly boys, djins, evolved pterimanders and so on.
If you rely on 4 copies of moment of craving, you are leaving yourself pretty open to things not mono colored.
Teching for decks that aren't common at the cost of being worse against common decks isn't a good gameplan.
In Esper control mirrors you tap out for her to prevent Azcanta from flipping, and then they tap out for Karn if they're running him. If I cared about Esper control mirrors I'd be running Sinister Sabotage and Chemister's Insight, but I don't because they're such a small fraction of the games I play.
In other matchups, the lifegain from craving is more relevant than having two-mana kill spells from Cast Down, since everything you mentioned as a threat is 3+ mana and so Mortify or Absorb is fine to deal with it.
The amount of times I've had Moment of Craving and really needed a cast down is far, far, far lower than the number of Adanto Vanguards I've killed or red decks I've beaten while going to 1-3 life.
What's more, each of these 36 Planeswalkers will have a planeswalker card in War of the Spark. (The card art will be different, though—in fact, these stained-glass versions aren't appearing on cards at all!) You'll have to wait for War of the Spark previews in April to see the new cards, but each booster pack will contain a planeswalker so you should have no trouble getting your hands on them when the set is released.
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The meta is not very forgiving of jank right now. Pretty much all of your games are going to be against mono colored hyper efficient decks (RDW, WW, mono-u) or esper. There are other decks that can exist, but I think the power level of those decks is so much higher than everything else there isn't much room for brews especially in Bo1.
They all scooped before the third chapter, or had an answer to it. One game I got to Icy a Darigaaz while at 2 life. When they started to roped me, I Fungal Infectioned my own saproling with Slimefoot out, then Cast Down the other one for the win. Another game my opponent had Traxos, Evra, and Chainer's Torment that made a 10/10 Horror. I Eviserated Evra, Freezed Traxos, and made Slimefoot an 12/13 with Blackblade. Also had Eldest Reborn on the field. GG.
This was actually my second sealed pool. My first one had Lyra, Arvad, Aryel, Dread Shade, Helm of the Host, Eldest Reborn, 2x Banishing Lights... and a bunch of dregs. Think I went 1-3, probably should have splashed red for cheap removal.
I'm thinking it is an esper list running 4x bascillica bell-haunts + negates + devious cover ups. Bell-Haunts are a pretty bad card against the mirror. You don't want to ever spend 4 mana to play a creature in the early to midgame. But the card is such a hard counter to RDW you can afford to run a stronger anti esper package.
Alternatively, you can go the Kaya route. Kaya also provides a headache for mono-u if it resolves (unlikely). She shuts down chem insights, provides a head ache for drakes, and keeps azcanta from flipping. And against a deck that runs no creatures she has to trade for vraska or a counter spell/thought erasure. Against RDW.
Alternatively, you can go another route and run something like gruul aggro or WW. I think both are slightly favored against both decks.
I don't think there are many other options for Bo1 right now sadly. Sucks that the best anti-meta deck is just a meta deck.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
That’s great. I escaped Hearthstone because it got so stale.
I’ve been staying away from bo3 because I don’t really have the cards for sideboarding but maybe that doesn’t matter as much.
Even if you can't match the sideboards perfectly, you can put utility cards you do have in there and build them out as you earn wildcards.
Because wildcards are the way to build specific decks that you are currently working on, not ICRs.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
I like Bo3 in paper but Arena players are assholes (oh I'm losing I'm going to rope you, etc) which makes it a bit less compelling.
I'm still amazed this is happening to people. I have been roped maybe twice? Ever?
I only play bo1 for unranked constructed to finish quests or for ranked drafts, and I wish I didn't have to play it for ranked drafts.
I've run into a lot more players who lost game 1 and then conceded the whole thing than players who actively trolled me in bo3.
I think I've only been deliberately roped in unranked bo1 and unranked draft.
And that seems fine maybe a sibling or cat got in the way.
It actually hardly ever does though. Going 2-1 or 1-2 is rarer than 2-0 and the sideboard tends to sway things in one direction or another. Plus you have less issues of land screw or flood losing you those ranked pips.
You didn't beat them yet, you just won round one. Now you switch sides and decide this thing for real!
I dunno I think I get a very different que than most people here, due to time played, or ??. I don't see most of the decks people talk about, and the deck distribution is fairly even. I saw Nexus of Fate I think once, ever?
I don't even understand the initial mindset. Lots of things are decided over a series of games. Best of one allows for a lot of variance.
I crafted a version of this without going all in on the rares and mythic rares, crafted two each of the shock lands for future flexibility, and 1-2 additional copies of the rares I needed. I also had 2 Venerated Loxodons so they went into the deck, along with a Shalai.
First game, against mono red. I won pretty handily holding them off with healing until I could get 4 angels on the board and there was really nothing they could do after that.
Second game was against some kind of black sacrifice deck which pulled a big ass demon and turn 3. Never seen it before, may have been some test jank. I don’t have any fliers so I filed the board with weenies and buffed them with loxodon. Never drew DV but didn’t need it. Opponent was too afraid to tap or sacrifice creatures because he was on a short clock. Lots of back and forth but eventually I was able to push through and win.
So it’s a token deck with some blue splash and DV, I’m sure there are more efficient versions of that but for now I’m content to keep pushing with this and testing some new cards when I can afford them.
I’m pumped! I may have crafted something that is fun and not complete garbage!
She isn't a dead card against the mirror unlike 5 and 6 of craving. The healing per turn also lets you run cast down over moment of craving which actually hits benalish marshals, whirly boys, djins, evolved pterimanders and so on.
If you rely on 4 copies of moment of craving, you are leaving yourself pretty open to things not mono colored.
I mean, esper control mirrors she's a pretty dead card, isn't she? Esper midrange isn't prevalent enough to really worry about.
I've got one of her in my esper control sideboard and she comes in against some stuff but overall has just been fine, not amazing. There's probably better stuff to use her for.
Also I have been slacking on my ranked grind. Up to plat 2 with majority esper control games. They just take so long
Feels real good when I beat a mirror though. Especially via thief of sanity hitting their teferis
Teching for decks that aren't common at the cost of being worse against common decks isn't a good gameplan.
In Esper control mirrors you tap out for her to prevent Azcanta from flipping, and then they tap out for Karn if they're running him. If I cared about Esper control mirrors I'd be running Sinister Sabotage and Chemister's Insight, but I don't because they're such a small fraction of the games I play.
In other matchups, the lifegain from craving is more relevant than having two-mana kill spells from Cast Down, since everything you mentioned as a threat is 3+ mana and so Mortify or Absorb is fine to deal with it.
The amount of times I've had Moment of Craving and really needed a cast down is far, far, far lower than the number of Adanto Vanguards I've killed or red decks I've beaten while going to 1-3 life.
because they just confirmed that there's a whole lotta planeswalkers in the next set
What
I hope you like Planeswalkers! I do! EVERY PACK
EVERY PACK
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/closer-look-stained-glass-planeswalkers-2019-03-08
War of the Spark contains 36 walkers, and there will be one PW in every pack.
This will be absurd
*crafts 8 more Vraska's Contempts*