Magic Online - EDH is basically the worst format. There, I said it.

ChaosHat

So, many of you are probably familiar with Magic: The Gathering. Did you also know there's also an online client? Magic Online brings all the awesome fun of Magic to the computer, so you can play in your underwear at midnight while watching The Tonight Show and no one will be the wiser! The game has cards from Invasions block to the current latest set (Alara Reborn) so it's fully compatible with just about every format except vintage/classic.

F.A.Q.

Q: Where can I procure this game?
A: Right here, at the official Wizards site.

Q: What does the game look like? Warning, you'll need the world's best processor and graphics card to run this. (Lie)
A: Here are some screenshots (spoilered).

Q: What is there to do in the game?
A: More like what ISN'T there to do in the game! The game provides access to tournaments in standard, extended, mtgo classic, vanguard, pauper, singleton, prismatic, block constructed, limited (booster drafts, sealed deck) as well as trading, chat, and just casual play of all kinds around the clock. No matter what aspect of Magic you liked the most, there's something here for you. Unless you liked the feeling of cardboard in your hands the most, to which I say get with the times old man.

Q: Okay, sounds fun! Is it hard to learn? I find learning a bajillion cards and all these rules COMPLICATED!
A: It's really not as bad as it seems. 90% of the rules are pretty easy to understand, and all the cards have little reminder text to tell you what the abilities do. Here is a good starting point. If you're struggling, we Penny Arcadians would be happy to lend a hand either in game or in this thread. We're also pretty friendly and helpful, and Magic Online has an awesome free demo, so feel free to jump in and dick around.

Q: How much is this shit going to cost me?
A: There is a free demo, and while new accounts cost ten dollars, you get a free voucher for ten dollars in cards, so the account is effectively cheap as free! If you want to know the price of the cards, check the spoiler.

Preconstructed Starter Deck: 12.29 (41 card deck, comes with 15 card booster)
Tournament Pack: 9.99 (Only for older sets apparently, 75 cards, 20 something are lands)
Booster: 3.99 (15 random cards, 1 rare, some uncommons, some commons)

Q: Where are good places to buy singles?
A: I recommend CardHoarder as they are consistently pretty cheap. MTGO Traders is also very very nice.

Q: How could anyone pay that much for fake cards?
A: I hate you so much.

Q: Is there somewhere I can learn all about the online game?
A: Here is the official Wizards of the Coast (WotC) FAQ. You can try that.

Q: I'm ready for some advanced tactics! What do you have for that?
A: StarCityGames has long been a repository of competitive magic info although they have gone the vile way of subscriptions. Channel Fireball is a pretty good site too.

Q: I just got this! Where the hell do I get lands?
A: You get a bunch of lands for free for signing up. Check out your collection and open the pack.

Q: Is there somewhere I can hang out to play some casual matches and just all around hang out?
A: We've claimed the Anything Goes room as our own, so try there!

Q: How do I link cards in the chat windows?
A: Just put the card name in curly brackets. Like this. {Terror} Or like this {Elspeth, Knight-Errant}

League F.A.Q.

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Limited Questions

Q: I need help building a deck? Is there anything that can be done?
A: Iolo has contributed a fantastic guide below:

Iolo wrote: »

Some Sealed Deck basics for new players:

1. On average a sealed deck will have 22-23 creatures & spells and 17-18 lands. Alara block is actually a little screwy in this regard with all the special lands, mana producing artifacts, and other shenanigans. But that ratio is a good starting point. Take it on faith that you should play 40 cards.
2. In constructed Magic creature light or even creature-less decks are viable. In limited, with very few exceptions, you will be doing most of your killing of an opponent in the combat phase. A common newbie mistake is to fall in love with cool spells and neglect creatures when deck building. Be very wary of having fewer than 13-14 creatures in your deck, and more is okay.
3. Removal is important. Spells that kill or 'imprison' creatures are, generally, quite good. A good rookie sealed deck strategy is to see what color combination gives you the most removal from your pool and build your deck around that.
4. Evasion is good. Creatures that fly, are unblockable, or have trample (basically green's form of evasion) can get damage through a ground stall.
5. Watch your "mana curve." In the deck screen, right click to sort your cards by converted mana cost. Be sure you have plenty of two and three mana plays. If you deck is top-heavy, meaning most of your cards cost 4-5 mana or more, you will usually be too far behind by the time you are able to start casting your spells.
6. There's a handy "Stats" button unobtrusively at the top of the deck building screen. It counts colored mana in the costs of your cards and can give you things like probabilities of drawing a certain number of lands by a certain turn.
7. You can "goldfish" a deck (play it against yourself) by making a new game set to "Solitaire." This can be useful to just run through some opening hands, check to see if you are getting enough mana and in the colors you need, make sure you have enough plays in the early turn, etc.
8. For more, there are some good articles here and here.

If that's failed you, you can always post your cardlist in the forum and ask for help from the forums.

Q: Drafting is hard, how can I do it?
A: Superbrew wrote this super long and intense guide.

invisiblespaceninja wrote: »

Ok, at long last, here is the Superbrew M10 Draft Strategy. This is very much an open document, so feel free to write suggestions, argue about choices, or provide your own experiences. If people have a specific card they want added or discussed that would be pretty cool too. I'm not currently discussing mana bases in here but I could add it.

This should be usable for any Core Set, or any set where there is a lot of accumulation on the board (i.e. not Zendikar). For other sets, this should give you a point of comparison for what you need to change to be successful.

Also, this will be mostly targeted at newer people but hopefully provide some specific ideas for everyone. We can edit it later if I get too pedantic =P. Formatting help would also be appreciated.

M10 Draft Strategy

There are two separate points about draft strategy in general I should address before I get into M10 specifics, Win-Loss ratio and BREAD.

Basic Drafting Stuff

When you draft, unless you are only drafting Swiss (which is good if you just want to play games but not as good for learning / winning rewards), your win/loss ratio will be surpressed. Imagine that you are playing 8/4s and that you typically win 2 matches for every one you lose. Your records might look like this:

lose-win-win
win-lose-win
win-win-lose
and just because you're awesome,
win-win win.

Except that you don't get to play games after you lose. So your record after the first 3 drafts will be 3-3, and if you get lucky, you'll be back to 6-3. By the same token, if you're worse than a 50/50 player you never lose twice in one draft, but we can ignore that since we can assume you want to be better than 50/50 .

I bring this up for two reasons: 1, don't get discouraged when you wipe out early. It happens to everybody, and 2, don't forgive yourself for making mistakes by saying "oh well, it happens to everbody!" Contradictory, I know, but your main goal in playing drafts is to learn how to be a better drafter.

For both the draft and playing the rounds, the key to limited play is to minimize mistakes.

There is way to much to go into here about watching for mistakes/solid play/whatever. I recommend reading http://strategy.channelfireball.com/ when you can to learn more about that. Just know you'll play better by paying careful attention to each decision, and try to learn something from every match.

The other general draft tip is a strategy known as BREAD (or modified to BREAD-CC) which is a rough order of when you should take which cards. BREAD stands for:

B- Bombs. When you play this card, you will likely EVENTUALLY win the game unless the opponent has a specific answer. Having this card doesn't give you license to do something stupid. Identifying what counts as a bomb in various sets is a huge step in becoming successful and most of this guide focuses on that.

R- Removal. Either reusable (Blinding mage), conditional (Entangling Vines), or awesome (Doom Blade), you should put a premium on being able to deal with problem creatues.

E- Evasion. This may be the wrong place to bury this statement, so I'll make it a separate sentence:

Most M10 games reach a state of gridlock on the board.

You're less likely to die in a race on turn 4 and more likely to each have 3 or 4 creatures that can't attack profitably. Evasion is a way to force damage through gridlock, and it helps you close out games. Some people call the ability to close out games "reach". Each color has it's own form of evasion/reach:

White - Fliers, first strikers
Blue - Fliers + Phantom Warrior (unblockable)
Black - Some fliers, First strikers, + Dread Warlock, + lots of removal
Red - Direct Damage (Prodigal Pyromancer, Lava Axe), rare and uncommon Fliers, haste.
Green - Shroud, Trample, Regeneration (Cudgel Troll)

A- Abilities. There are plenty of creatures with non-combat abilities that can really swing a game. Merfolk Looter, Sage Owl, and Llanowar Elves are all examples of this. You can't win a game with just these guys, but they make it easier for your other dudes to win the game. You can also put "Accessories" into this category, things like Mind Rot and Oakenform. In some formats Equipment would go in this tier, but I find that in M10 the only equipment are bombs.

I'm not sure where to put this part either, but I want to include a word on "Pants", which means beneficial creature enchantments. Pacifism, Ice Cage, and Weakness are not in this category. The problem with pants is that you have to have a creature in play already and that if the enchanted creature dies, it's like losing two creatures.

However, there are many times where 1 5/5 creature is way better than a 2/2 and a 3/3. This comes up a lot in Green because of Oakenform. (The best Enchantments are Oakenform, Armored Ascension, and Unholy Strength). So how and when do you use them? In my experience, you have to know what you expect to get out of an enchantment before you evaluate if it's right for your deck. For example, you can imagine that Unholy Strength reads ,"B, Sorcery. Target unblocked creature does 2 extra damage this turn." That's not horrible in an aggressive deck, but that alone isn't going to break through a stalemate. Unholy Strength is a lot better on a Flyer or a Black knight, because it helps the creature survive better and can force damage through. Armored Ascension though, is just fine as a single-use sorcery because it can end the game when you cast it. At worst, it's a white Lava Axe. Oakenform is somewhere in between but is usually good as a sorcery or on a dude w/ an ability, especially Deadly Recluse or Cudgel Troll.

and finally,

D - Dudes. Boring dudes with no abilities, like Bears (any 2/2) and Hill Giants (any 3/3) Most decks need at least 12 creatures or you run the risk of not drawing enough and getting killed before you get a chance to block. Because green has better creatures than spells, it's common to have 17 creatures in a green deck. Getting enough cheap dudes is important to stabilizing the board so that your better cards can make an impact.

Take the following situation: We have no cards in hand, I have a 3/3, you have a 2/2 and 1/1. If I attack, you have to block with both to kill my guy, and they all die. If I hang back, you can't attack, because I'll kill one guy and then counter attack. I control the board until something changes because I decide if I want everything to die or the stalemate to persist. Now, lets say I have a 3/3 and you have 2 2/2s. You can't attack because I can kill one and counter attack. I can't attack because you can either kill it by double blocking and still have a 2/2 left, or you can take the damage and race me. In this case, the board is locked up. Now, if you have a 2/2 and a 2/1, the situation changes just a little bit. I can still kill both your guys, but you can now race me by not blocking. If I have the 3/3 I'm still in control because I decide which of those two things I want to happen. This is why having dudes that are at the appropriate power and toughness along your mana curve are important, because it helps keep your smaller guys from becoming obsolete via double blocking, chump blocking, and alpha strikes.

The CC stands for Color & Curve. It's important to remember those as you make your picks, because ending up with 5 bombs of all different colors doesn't help you win, and neither does having a mono-colored deck where half your cards have a CMC of 5. Card rarity is also important. This is specifically important with Red, which I'll get to below. Red is the weakest main color in M10 and this partially explains why.

My numbers may be wrong here, but as a rule of thumb there will on average be one of each uncommon in a draft. You'll probably see 2-3 rares in each of your colors, and 1 of them for each that doesn't suck. You need to be in at least 1 color that has good commons and easy to cast uncommons or you wont have enough gas to close out games.

Hoping to get a Shivan dragon in pack 3 to tie your red deck together is a bad idea.

The rest of this strategy will break down M10 specifically into colors and archetypes and how that lets us figure out which cards and color combinations are Bombs and Duds.


The interesting thing about M10 is that each color is "true to itself", meaning you get the effects you think you would from each color, i.e. white has pacifism, black has doom blade, blue has common flyers, green has big dudes, red has direct damage.

The other thing about M10 is that, except for Red, each color has at least 1 common that can neutralize a bomb creature. Not all bombs are creatures, but 99% of M10 games come down to attacking and blocking. This means that whatever color you are in, you're not "locked out" of having outs against any other color, although it can be hard sometimes. This is typically important if you are playing Green which LOOKS removal light. So you're not automatically screwed if the other guy rips a Baneslayer. Just think about what cards you have that can answer it, and try to hold one in hand as long as necessary in the second game.

And now the colors:

Artifacts

Just a quick note on artifacts. Many pros have said otherwise, but I find all 3 pieces of equipment in M10 to be awesome (Gorgon Flail, Magebane Armor, and Whispersilk Cloak) because they can all take a worthless creature and make it usable. Green especially wants Whispersilk Cloak, and Gorgon Flail partners well with first strikers, Prodigal Pyromancer, and Goblin Artillery. It makes any chump 1/1 into a lethal threat. In late picks, I like to pick up the life gain artifacts (like Dragon's Claw) if there's nothing else on the board, but I rarely put them in. Platinum Angel is basically a free draft win. Darksteel Colossus will never be cast. Some people play Rod of Ruin, I don't. Coat of Arms is risky because it works for their guys too and does nothing on its own. It's an alternative to Overrun, I guess, but each color usually has its own option that's better. I'd want at least 8-9 creatures that share a type before I play it, and at least 3 of them in play.

Green

Green is both the most linear color and the most difficult to successfully build. Because of this, it usually goes underdrafted and you have your pick of cards. Green typically ramps up fast, has great creatures at every part of the curve, and then gets locked up because it can't get damage through and you get killed by fliers. To avoid this, you either need really huge dudes (Kalonian Beheamoth, Enormous Baloth), trample effects (Overrun, Garruk Wildspeaker, Stampeding Rhino) or Cudgel Troll. There aren't that many dudes that can block a Cudgel Troll every turn. The only real exception to this need is if you get an Ant Queen, which is a huge bomb. Green really likes getting Whispersilk Cloak. If Green is your main color, you should try to get Stampeding Rhinos. It's easy to overlook because it isn't sexy, but it gets the job done.

When Green is your main color, you're mostly just looking to splash for a bomb or removal. A pacifism or ice cage w/ an alpha strike can be the game. Sleep is a huge bomb in this format and is always overlooked. Levitation and Prized Unicorn are second tier but you should play them if you have no other way to get damage through. Entangling Vines is important for mono green because it's going to be your only way of dealing with a problem creature like Blinding Mage, Royal Assassin, or a big flier (Serra Angel owns you). Deadly Recluse is the "Green Terror" and helps a lot. Windstorm is a great option and worth picking up, though I usually start it in the sideboard.

Green makes an excellent support color because of its color fixing, acceleration and cheap dudes. Big green dudes typically only have G or GG, so it doesn't interfere with your curve. Green supports black well b/c you can use Rampant Growth and Borderland Ranger to power out more swamps for Tendrils of Corruption and Looming Shade. If green is your support, you should value accelerants more than just curving out early dudes.

Red

Red is the worst main color in M10. This is because the good red cards are easy to splash (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Earthquake), there are no good cards at common that other people can't splash, and the red cards you do get can interfere with your color curve (Dragon Whelp, Goblin Artillery, Seismic Strike). I readily splash red but typically won't have more than 2 red cards unless I open a bomb red rare by pack 2 pick 2. Red bombs include Shivan Dragon, Chandra Nalaar, and Bogardan Hellkite (2 of which are mythic, yuck!). Red is great with Gorgon Flail and it makes committing to red a lot more palatable. Siege Gang Commander can close out a game but typically isn't enough on its own. Inferno Elemental and Berserkers of Blood Ridge fill out your curve, but they are easy to chump block, leaving you open. If you see a fireball, it doesn't matter what colors you are in, you should play it. Magma Phoenix sucks. You don't have many creatures that can survive its blast, and your opponent probably has removal for it. You usually end up wrathing yourself and then eating a counter attack.

As a support color, red goes well with Green and White. Green wants other fast creatures like Lightning Elemental, and ways to close out like Lava Axe, Trumpet Blast, or Panic Attack. White wants mid-range creatures that fit into its curve well, like Viashino Spearhunter and Prodigal Pyromancer. White can also set up a good defense and then use Prodigal Pyromancer and Goblin Artillery to put damage on creatures that will then be killed by your first strikers. White also doesn't care if it plays red cards past their normal spot in the curve, like Dragon Whelp, because it has other cheap fliers.

Black

Black has the best removal. Doom blade, Assassinate, Tendrils of Corruption, and Weakness are all commons. The black uncommons and rares have a decent color commitment (Howling Banshee, Nightmare, Royal Assassin) that makes them hard to splash, so it's more likely they are passed to you. Looming Shade gets better the deeper you get in Black. Picking up Drudge Skeletons is a great value because they block so well and are devastating with a Gorgon Flail. Drudge Skeletons also combos with Capricious Efreet, as you can put a regeneration shield on the Skeletons before the Efreet effect resolves. You should be able to deal with most of their dudes, and Tendrils of Corruption in mono-black is such a huge swing. If you do get stuck on getting guys through, having one Dread Warlock and one Bog Wraith can help you go the distance. Vampire Aristocrat is ok, but good opponents will try to trick you into 2 for 1-ing yourself. Gravedigger is really good because it's a 2 for 1. If you have 2 Gravediggers you can really depress an opponent, I recommend it. I also like to run 1 duress and 1 mind rot if I have space.

I used to like Kelinore Bat but find I was getting beat because it's a turn too slow. There's some rule of thumb I can't remember about how you want a creature to attack/block/use its ability 3 times (or was it 5 times?) before it dies. Well, Kelinore Bat is made obsolete by just about every 4 drop. I still like Child of Night but frequently don't get a chance to pick one up. The first Drudge Skeletons is better than the first of either of these.

Black-White is a horrible color combination. It seems good because you have all the enemy colors covered and have good spells. The problem is you can't play things at the right part of the curve. If you have White Knight / Black Knight, you're in a bad spot. Then Looming Shade, Tendrils of Corruption, and Armored Ascension aren't as good either. The only way I would ever play Black / White is with Royal Assassin and multiple Blinding Mages.

Black is supported well by Green acceleration, Blue fliers, or Red direct damage. Black makes a poor support color because of its heavy color commitment, but splashing black for Doom Blade / Assassinate can be a great move if you have some color fixing.

Black has 3 weaknesses: Great Sable Stag, White Knight, and Undead Slayer. It's easy to play around Undead Slayer, just save removal for it and board out unnecessary Skeletons / Zombies / Vampires. Great Sable Stag is rare, but White Knight is uncommon. It's not necessary, but having at least one off-color blocker or removal option makes a difference, otherwise you have to race. White Knight + Armored Ascension or Oakenform is game over for you.

Blue

Before I go any further, Sleep is an absolute house. It wins at least as many games as Overrun, and it can buy you an extra draw step when you're behind. If you're in blue, play Sleep. Likewise Mind Control is almost always a 2 for 1 or better (as they have to use their own spell to kill their own creature.) Opening a Mind Control is a reason to play blue. Air Elemental and the other big fliers are bombs as well and you should color commit for them.

Blue decks tend to be a little slower because the common flyers are a little fragile and the bombs are very expensive. Because of this, cards like Horned Turtle and especially Wall of Frost help keep you around. Wall of Frost is incredibly good. Negate, Essence Scatter, and Cancel are all good, but don't play too many Cancels. Essence Scatter is the best of the three for the early game, as if you leave mana open to play Cancel before you stabilize, you take a lot of damage, but skipping your 2 drop to counter their 3 drop w/ Essence Scatter and then playing your own 3 drop is a big swing, and then you can leave mana up for Cancel after that. Leaving mana up to counter an early spell with Negate is only good for Oakenform or Doom Blade, and Unsummon is a better card for that situation. You're better off saving Negate for game changers like Overrun, Fireball, or Planeswalkers.

Essence Scatter is really fun with Rise from the Grave .

Card draw is a big deal in limited, and it's worth cutting a few average dudes for Divination and Merfolk Looter. There is no landfall, so once you have enough land Merfolk Looter helps your late game significantly by discarding lands for spells.

There is the possibility of playing a mill deck with Traumautize and Tome Scour, but I easily beat the only person I ever saw try it. It's too easy to get tunnel vision and miss plays that will help you actually win.

With Blue, be careful with Illusionary Servant and Ice Cage. One or 2 of each is good, but more than that and you can get blown out by creature enchantments or other targeting tricks (equipment, Prodigal Pyromancer, Blinding Mage). Try to have options that you can side these out for if you have to. Likewise if you are playing against a Blue deck, board in Panic Attack, Giant Growth, or Holy Strength to beat these cards.

Blue combos well with White and Green. Blinding Mage, Pacifism, and even Holy Strength can help your fliers get through their 1 blocker with reach/flying, and Green has the fast drops to help soak damage and accelerate your big spells.

Blue can also support Black, but the casting costs can get awkward. If you go this route, be sure to have good cheap blockers.

White

White is my favorite color to play in M10. The only unusably bad white cards are Open the Vaults, Silence, and usually Mesa Enchantress. Honor of the Pure and the various soldiers keep your guys relevant long after their mana cost would normally have made them obsolete. Guardian Seraph, Serra Angel, Captain of the Watch, and Armored Ascension are all bombs. Pacifism and Blinding Mage should be early picks because they are way cheaper than the cards you are using them to stop. Blinding Mage is incredibly good.

Harms Way is very good but the targeting is funky so be sure you understand it. When you target harms Way, the first thing you pick is where you want the damage to GO. The second thing you pick is where you want the damage to come FROM. Also, it will only redirect damage done to you or your creatures, so you can't redirect damage from your unblocked Serra Angel to his Royal Assassin, or whatever. You can still target Harm's Way to do this, it just wont do anything.

Indestructibility can give you inevitability if the board gets locked up. Planar Cleansing is hard to use because by turn 6 you're either killing a lot of your own stuff as well, or you're almost dead because you had no board presence. Divine Verdict and Excommunicate are both solid but can be tough to learn to use. It's easy to play around Divine Verdict so you should use it after you have board presence rather than to try and take out one of their early guys. Excommunicate can be used as a time walk if you can get more attacks through or to get rid of a guy that is enchanted or has a tap ability.

White can be paired with Blue or Green, or supported by Red, but the color balance is important. It's hard to run out a curve in white without being Mono-White, so it's better to end up picking efficient cards like Soul Warden, Stormfront Pegasus and removal, rather than mid-range cards like White Knight or Vetran Armorsmith if you're in Blue as well. For example, Soul Warden-Pegasus-Wall of Frost is way better than Soul Warden - White Knight - Nothing - Wall of Frost. Of course, if you can fill in the whole curve, then you should cut out the cheap off-color spells and just keep the releavant blue bombs (like Mind Control and Sleep). Armored Ascension is a bomb as soon as you have 2 plains out so don't be afraid to run it even if you only have 7 plains.

White can both race and block well. Don't underestimate Siege Mastodon.

A few other cards I wanted to point out:

Mythic Rares: I avoided bringing this up because they are so sporadic, but so awesome. The only Mythic I wouldn't play is Darksteel Colossus and the only one that I wouldn't Color-commit for is Time Warp. One lone Time Warp just doesn't do enough to change the board state because it takes all your mana and doesn't get damage through. Sleep and Mind Control are better in limited. I would play it if I was already in Blue but wouldn't go blue for it. Vampire Nocturnus is good enough on his own even if you don't have any other Vampires.

X Spells: Fireball, Earthquake, Protean Hydra, Mind Spring, Mind Shatter, Windstorm, Consume Spirit. X spells win games (Windstorm is conditional though).

Diabolic Tutor, Clone, Rise from the Grave, Nature's Spiral: Typically these cards are only as good as the best card you have already seen or have left in your deck and so are very situational. Diabolic Tutor is good if you have at least one bomb creature and one bomb removal spell / other card. Note I said BOMB, and not "average". Doom Blade + Nightmare + Fireball, play the tutor. If you're going to get the same card every time, it's not as good as a second copy of the card or a creature on it's own.

There are no Legends in M10, so clone is not a removal spell. Have a Serra Angel, Air Elemental, or better to play Clone, though you can pick clone before you see those other cards. Nature's Spiral is incredible if you have a planeswalker, or after sideboarding if you have equipment. Otherwise it's better if you have a gap in your game plan (i.e. only 1 deadly recluse or only 1 big creature) rather than as a way to squeeze in an extra copy of something. It's slow and it's not card advantage, unlike Gravedigger.

Rise from the Grave is a little different because Black already has such amazing removal as well as discard. Essence Scatter or Mind Rot + Rise from the Grave is really demoralizing to an opponent. I'd want at least 1 good rise from the Grave target in my own deck before counting on the opponent providing something I want.

Color hosers:
The main color hosers in M10 are Celestial Purge, Flashfreeze, Deathmark, Ignite Disorder, and Mold Adder. Mold Adder is fine if you need an extra early drop and is a house against blue/black. For the rest, I will main deck a hate card if I am not in either of the colors that the hate card is for. Otherwise, they are quite nice to have in the sideboard. Remember that on average you'll play more sideboarded games than non-sideboarded games so you can draft these a little higher than another random 2/2.

Thanks for reading!

Constructed
Constructed is any format in which you bring your own deck premade (as opposed to limited formats, where you build a deck out of a limited card pool). For the most popular formats, you must build at least a sixty card deck, with an optional fifteen card sideboard. Right now, the new hip thing here is Alara Block Constructed, and you should jump in on that.

Q: What's a sideboard?
A: A sideboard consists of exactly fifteen cards, that you may substitute in for other cards in between rounds of a game (not in between matches) to give your deck advantages (or remove disadvantages) against a certain player's deck. It is completely optional, but recommended.

Q: What other constructed formats should I know about?
A: There are lots, but the main ones you'll see bandied about in this thread are Block Constructed, Standard, Extended, Pauper, and occasionally Vintage.

Q: What is Standard?
A: Standard (also known as "type 2") is the most popular competitive magic format, as it is a little more stable than Block, but more interesting and dynamic than classic/extended. When playing type 2, you may use cards from the two most recent blocks and the two most recent MXX Core Sets. So right now, Type 2 is Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide, Magic 2010, Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn. When Zendikar comes out, Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor and Eventide will all rotate out and will no longer be legal for Type 2 play. When Magic 2011 comes out, it will be legal with 2010.

Q: What are Extended and Vintage?
A: Extended and Classic are the bigger formats. Extended basically consists of every set from the last seven years. This would mean that out of the core sets, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Magic 2010 are all legal. From expert level expansions, Onslaught, Mirrodin, Kamigawa, Ravnica, Time Spiral, Lorwyn and Alara blocks are all legal. Classic is similar to extended, but differs in that EVERY set is legal. There are banned and restricted lists for these formats, so you should keep those in mind when making a deck. Restricted means you can only use one copy of a card in your deck, banned means you may not use any!

Q: Okay, what's Pauper?
A: Pauper uses all the above formats (extended, vintage, type 2, etc) but with one big caveat: you may only use commons when building a deck.

Q: Where can I get deck ideas?
A: Deckcheck.net is a good spot for most constructed formats.

We don't have a list of total players right now, since we just use one big happy clan to keep track of who is on and about. This also makes your friend list very nice and tidy.

Foomy

mmm new thread smell.

so, we needs to get some signups for standard going, theres like at least 8 of us with decks so far and a little league would be fun.

TheUnsane1

I guess league time is official now. Let's do this.

metaghost

Lots of games have been completed.

I'm 2 - 1 in this first week.

Tabris bested me in a wild game of G/U/x control decks. Like 50 Whiplash Traps got played.

Elba and Superbrew suffered horrible deaths at the hands of Vampire Nighthawk, as neither could stick their stupid Hellkites. (Neiner neiner boo boo.)

TheBlackWind

I was thinking about selling a bunch of my paper cards to fund my online habit, since there aren't any comic shops to play at closer than an hour out. I started digging through my old rare boxes to see if I might have stuff worth the trouble, and found no less than 6 Tarmogyfs, 3 of which are foil.

I should probably make an Ebay account...

JeffH

drafted this clunker last night, i know it's horrible, but it managed to get to the finals at least so i'm still going infi on zendikar. apparently windborn charge isn't the signal it should be

steppe lynx x 2

into the roil
welkin tern
journey to nowhere
kor aeronaut
kor skyfisher
cliff threader
kor outfitter
tempest owl

narrow escape
kor hookmaster
reckless scholar
paralyzing grasp

windborn charge x 2
kor cartographer
merfolk seastalkers
summoners bane

arrow volley trap
conquerors pledge
whiplash trap

marsh flats
sejiri refuge
plains x 9
island x 7

deck sucks real bad but give me some props for finalling with that mess! also somehow beat jar jar sphinx twice with this to get there

metaghost

PROPS!

Last draft I played, drafted the tits Vamps deck and got iced first first round by some dude playing 8 counterspells (2 Summoner's Bane, 3 Cancel, 3 Spell Pierce). Game two I had dealt the full 20 on t4! But the other two games were just me getting frustrated as fuck.

Dropping Loads

metaghost wrote: »

Lots of games have been completed.

I'm 2 - 1 in this first week.

Tabris bested me in a wild game of G/U/x control decks. Like 50 Whiplash Traps got played.

Elba and Superbrew suffered horrible deaths at the hands of Vampire Nighthawk, as neither could stick their stupid Hellkites. (Neiner neiner boo boo.)

Although game 3 was FAR from being a race to the Hellkite. I had what, 5 cards left in my deck at the end of that one?

Edit: Great games, by the way.

metaghost

Yeah, I think we were each at ~7 cards, which is pretty ridiculous considering we were both B/R Aggro.

Go Go Plethora of Removal!

Dropping Loads

metaghost wrote: »

Yeah, I think we were each at ~7 cards, which is pretty ridiculous considering we were both B/R Aggro.

Go Go Plethora of Removal!

After that first game, I was so sure you had no red creature threats that I took OUT two hideous ends, =P. Don't know what that would have done to game 3, but yeah, there was even MORE removal to go around.

tabris814

I am 1-2 this week, and I don't think my deck is capable of competing with the 8243298 B/R agro decks in the league. Is it possible to enter in another pool? No way in hell am I going with yet another B/R agro pool, just something a bit more competitive from a different sealed I've done. As it stands I think I could open the fucking Power 9 in my next pack and not be able to stand up to some of the decks I've played against.

metaghost

Frankly, I really don't mind people changing pools as long as what you're playing with is in fact a sealed pool. I mean, it's not long anyone is gonna really be able to tell that you changed pools if you're all "Oh, this is a different build!"

It may sound like I'm endorsing cheating, but really I just want this to be fun AND competitive, so the more each player feels they can stand up to the best decks, I'm sure more fun will be had.

TheUnsane1

I wish I could justify buying a 3rd pool, so far Zen sealed is a bit like being duped into buying a cardboard cutout of a ferrari thinking it's a ferrari. I want it to be really fun... but so far its just horribly broken and really not fun. Dare I say it but thus far M10 sealeds were more fun, and not just the good pools. I keep getting sealed pools that either demand 3 colors or force me to play like no dudes.

Hopefully I can come up with a functioning build from my second sealed event because on paper the build looked ok, in practice I don't think I am ever gonna build green as a main color in my sealeds again.

metaghost

Yeah, so far draft has been infinitely more awesome than sealed, which I think is generally true, as even though it's generally accepted that Black and Red are the superior colors, it's definitely possible to build a variety of awesome draft decks, but that's not so true in sealed.

But as far as ZEN sealed being worse than M10 sealed, you're just bullshittin'. M10 Limited is fucking wack as all hell. And M10 sealed was all about da bombs.

TheUnsane1

See I like bombs.... I don't like well I lost control of this one and there's nothing in this pile of blah that can really help me get out of this situation.

It also should be noted that in 2 sealeds I have also pulled a total of 4 of the rare cycle lands (w/r in first g/r in second) 2 roil elementals (1 in each) and generally meh rares in general. I'll post both my pools in a post once I get home and edit the second into colors so all can see the poor quality.... I think the second pool might be playable in a different build layout but I got suckered into WG removalless landfall that didn't really work out like I hopped.

cshadow42

Fooms beat me in our league match 0-2

Elbasunu

Game 3 was nuts, meta. I think with better equipping I could have pulled out a victory. Also, drawing a hellkite would have been nice.

Also, all you folks with less than satisfying sealed pools, don't forget that you might crack open a really sweet pack that fixes "Everything"! Maybe not, but who knows!

Dropping Loads

I've said this to a couple people individually already, but I love my deck, and it is almost completely different from the deck I built for the actual sealed tournament. With the time pressure, I just sucked. I'm all for people opening new sealed sets so they can have more fun, but if cash is limiting for you, I'd spend a little time messing around with different decks to see if you can find something you like. I'm sure there are still people left that need to get games in that would be happy to play you.

tabris814

I wouldn't buy another pool, I'd just use one I played with before hand. I was on quite a streak during the pre-release for a while so I haven't yet spent a dime on Zendikar packs or buying any tickets up to this point.

Here is the pool:

TheUnsane1

Here's my new pool, I played GW and think it was a huge mistake...

White
1 Emeria Angel
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Makindi Shieldmate
1 Narrow Escape
1 Shieldmate's Blessing
1 Sunspring Expedition
2 Caravan Hurda
2 Noble Vestige
3 Steppe Lynx

Blue
1 Geyser Glider
1 Hedron Crab
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
1 Merfolk Seastalkers
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Roil Elemental
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Spreading Seas
1 Tempest Owl
1 Trapfinder's Trick
1 Whiplash Trap
2 Caller of Gales
2 Umara Raptor

Black
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Desecrated Earth
1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Hagra Crocodile
1 Hideous End
1 Mind Sludge
1 Mindless Null
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Surrakar Marauder
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Soul Stair Expedition
3 Crypt Ripper

Red
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Goblin Shortcutter
1 Goblin War Paint
1 Inferno Trap
1 Molten Ravager
1 Murasa Pyromancer
1 Savage Silhouette
1 Seismic Shudder
1 Unstable Footing
2 Quest for Pure Flame
2 Torch Slinger

Green
1 Baloth Woodcrasher
1 Harrow
1 Joraga Bard
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Primal Bellow
1 Tanglesap
1 Territorial Baloth
1 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Vastwood Gorger

Other
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Blade of the Bloodchief
1 Explorer's Scope
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Stonework Puma
1 Trailblazer's Boots
1 Turntimber Grove
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Teetering Peaks
3 Expedition Map

Edit clearly I should have played:

Qty Card Name
1 Blade of the Bloodchief
1 Bloodchief Ascension
2 Caravan Hurda
3 Crypt Ripper
1 Emeria Angel
1 Expedition Map
1 Explorer's Scope
1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Hideous End
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Mind Sludge
1 Noble Vestige
1 Noble Vestige
7 Plains
1 Shieldmate's Blessing
3 Steppe Lynx
1 Surrakar Marauder
9 Swamp
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Vampire Nighthawk

Dropping Loads

It's a shame you don't have the red creatures to match those support cards. Maybe later in the season.

metaghost

So I just want you guys to know that I dropped Iona, Shield of Emeria on a mono-red player in round one of an 8-4 tonight and that shit was fucking glorious.


EDIT - P.S. Opponent was a little bitch and simply stalled for 10 minutes instead of conceding. Motherfucker didn't even disconnect, he just sat there moaning about how lucky I was.

DOUBLE EDIT - How the fuck is there so much goddamn red to pass? Round one AND Round two opponents are both mono-red? WTF?!?!?

Tommatt

So, finally made my league deck. I think my first pool was probably better, but I had sold off a few of the cards, so went with my second one, which with the right draw might work!

1 Primal Bellow
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Trusty Machete
1 Spidersilk Net
1 Terra Stomper
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Joraga Bard
1 Molten Ravager
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Spire Barrage
1 Teetering Peaks
1 River Boa
1 Nissa's Chosen
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Blazing Torch
1 Mold Shambler
1 Zektar Shrine Expedition
3 Forest
3 Forest
1 Forest
2 Tuktuk Grunts
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Harrow
1 Magma Rift
2 Forest
4 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Grim Discovery
1 Graypelt Refuge
1 Vampire's Bite
1 Merfolk Seastalkers
1 Spell Pierce
1 Cliff Threader
2 Zendikar Farguide
1 Nimana Sell-Sword
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Crypt Ripper
1 Relic Crush
1 Island
1 Lethargy Trap
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Tanglesap
1 Cobra Trap
1 Elemental Appeal
2 Expedition Map
1 Baloth Cage Trap
1 Sunspring Expedition
2 Needlebite Trap
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
2 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Island
1 Unstable Footing
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Bog Tatters
1 Quest for Ancient Secrets
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Hagra Crocodile
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Desecrated Earth
1 Bold Defense
1 Windrider Eel
1 Welkin Tern
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Piranha Marsh
1 Demolish
1 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Swamp
1 Umara Raptor
1 Lullmage Mentor
1 Mire Blight
2 Torch Slinger
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Frontier Guide
3 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Narrow Escape
1 Pillarfield Ox
1 Shatterskull Giant
4 Island
7 Forest
1 Kor Outfitter
1 Swamp
1 Living Tsunami

Did I miss something in building my deck?

Pjstelford

metaghost wrote: »

So I just want you guys to know that I dropped Iona, Shield of Emeria on a mono-red player in round one of an 8-4 tonight and that shit was fucking glorious.


EDIT - P.S. Opponent was a little bitch and simply stalled for 10 minutes instead of conceding. Motherfucker didn't even disconnect, he just sat there moaning about how lucky I was.

DOUBLE EDIT - How the fuck is there so much goddamn red to pass? Round one AND Round two opponents are both mono-red? WTF?!?!?

Mono-red is fun to force.

Iolo

What's this thread? Roomy, well appointed. Nice place to post.

Take 2:

Wow, it's not often that the spotlight of the PA front page is shown on our little corner of the gaming world:

Tycho wrote:

Magic: The Gathering Tactics
Tuesday, November 3 2009 - 1:54 PM
by: Tycho

Historically, we've had a strange relationship with SOE's John Smedley - though I think it's more or less reached equilibrium now. We received a press release for a new game he's catalyzed over there, namely Magic: The Gathering Tactics, but since we don't run press releases there's no place for that. This being established, I think a lot of their work out of their Tucson and Denver studios is woefully underappreciated, and I want to show some support. I gave him a call yesterday to see if I could find anything out, and while I don't know if I succeeded especially well, if you share my vague enthusiasm for this currently mysterious game, read on. I have taken the liberty of adding smileys where I believe he was being ironical.

Me: Your press release contains no information. That's not a question, so much as a statement. You can't just say there's a Tactical Magic: The Gathering game, swirl your cape, and then leave!

Smed: Sorry.

Maybe this will help. It's a turn-based strategy game based not just on Magic, but the idea of Magic.

Me: Are you saying that the existing interpretations don't communicate the entire game? Like Duels of the Planeswalkers, for example, which is more like Magic: The Gathering recast as a fighting game?

Smed: First and foremost, we're trying to retain the core idea of Magic, or at least what we think it is. The whole idea is that we can provide the depth and variety of the card game online. Players will tell us if we've done it right, but I think they'll agree with us that deckbuilding is core to the experience of playing Magic. The idea that you never really know your opponent's true capabilities is so important - what's on the table doesn't represent everything they can do. Obviously we'll have dueling, and we'll investigate other ways to use your cards, but the single player experience is also very important to us. Long term, campaigns are a major focus.

Me: I'm glad to hear that. I own decks and cards for a ton of games from SOE Denver and SOE Tucson, but going online to be obliterated by strangers isn't something that really appeals to me.

Smed: You're in the majority, about seventy percent of Legends of Norrath and PoxNora players play it that way.

Me: Really? I guess you would know. Actually, there is one game that I duel online in, which is Free Realms - but that's only because I feel like I'll probably be matched against a child, who I'll be able destroy.

Smed: I don’t know. Some of those kids could probably destroy you!


Me: Well, let's not dwell on it. When I think about games that are online, tactical, and collectible though, I think immediately about SOE Tucson's Pox Nora, which we both got into back when they were still Octopi. Did SOE Denver seek their input in creating Magic: The Gathering Tactics?

Smed: The design was completely collaborative in fact, and it's not just a reskin of our existing games. It's a completely new codebase, something we made from the ground up to live on the PC and the PlayStation3. The PS3 version comes out a little later, but obviously they're both very important to us.

Me: Will the two versions share an account? i.e., can I play the PC version at work when I should be working, and then jump on the PS3 version when I get home? All my decks will be intact and so forth?

Smed: Absolutely.

Me: Yeah, I've been trying to figure out when you would start doing things on the PS3. You've been pretty good about the "Online Entertainment" part of SOE, but maybe not so hot on the "Sony."

Smed: Well, we do have three MMOs in development, all launching next year on the PS3. Our strategy is very broad, and it's taken a long time to arrive there, but we're getting close.

Me: How should tweens refer to the game, when referencing it in their tweets? Is it the straight up M:TGT, or will Sony Online Entertainment be insisting on the hyphen?

Smed: M:TGT ought to be fine

Still not that much more info. The good news for me is that it's a turn-based game, which at least means its something that could be a good fit for me. I sometimes fall into the trap of coveting or even buying an RTS, and I always end up regretting it. Something about RTS gameplay and I just don't mix.

Hopefully there'll be some substantive info about the game before too long. Plus, you know, hopefully it will be good.

Also, in more MTGO specific news, the revamped MTGO web page actually appears to be useful. The draft premiere event coverage in particular is a real plus.

Dropping Loads

So when we open our weekly pack for league play, does the minimum deck size requirement go up or stay at 40?

Edit: Also, Meta, having benefited myself from Mythic Rares in drafting, I do have to say I hate what they do to the nature of the draft. On the other hand, smacking down Mono-drafters is awesome

Dropping Loads

Tommatt wrote: »

So, finally made my league deck. I think my first pool was probably better, but I had sold off a few of the cards, so went with my second one, which with the right draw might work!

1 Primal Bellow
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Grazing Gladehart
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Trusty Machete
1 Spidersilk Net
1 Terra Stomper
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Joraga Bard
1 Molten Ravager
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Spire Barrage
1 Teetering Peaks
1 River Boa
1 Nissa's Chosen
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Blazing Torch
1 Mold Shambler
1 Zektar Shrine Expedition
3 Forest
3 Forest
1 Forest
2 Tuktuk Grunts
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Harrow
1 Magma Rift
2 Forest
4 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Grim Discovery
1 Graypelt Refuge
1 Vampire's Bite
1 Merfolk Seastalkers
1 Spell Pierce
1 Cliff Threader
2 Zendikar Farguide
1 Nimana Sell-Sword
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Crypt Ripper
1 Relic Crush
1 Island
1 Lethargy Trap
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Tanglesap
1 Cobra Trap
1 Elemental Appeal
2 Expedition Map
1 Baloth Cage Trap
1 Sunspring Expedition
2 Needlebite Trap
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
2 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Island
1 Unstable Footing
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Bog Tatters
1 Quest for Ancient Secrets
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Hagra Crocodile
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Desecrated Earth
1 Bold Defense
1 Windrider Eel
1 Welkin Tern
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Piranha Marsh
1 Demolish
1 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Swamp
1 Umara Raptor
1 Lullmage Mentor
1 Mire Blight
2 Torch Slinger
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Frontier Guide
3 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Narrow Escape
1 Pillarfield Ox
1 Shatterskull Giant
4 Island
7 Forest
1 Kor Outfitter
1 Swamp
1 Living Tsunami

Did I miss something in building my deck?

You have a decent amount of blue flyers, including a Living Tsunami. With landfall, returning a land to your hand isn't a drawback, it's a GODSEND. You could play Kabria crossroads and gain 2 life every turn, make that 4 if your grazing gladeheart is in play. I really like the landfall mechanic and built my deck around it. You also have Merfolk Seastalkers, which is useful both in mid-game defense and in setting up an alpha strike. Basically the only red you'd be giving up is spire barrage. I'd TRY a U/G deck, maybe get some practice games in and see if you like it.

JeffH

can we put in the OP something to the effect of "if you want help on your sealed pools, sort it"? I've said it before, I love looking at pools and comparing builds, but it's pretty hard when you can't eliminate a given color from a quick glance.

metaghost

invisiblespaceninja wrote: »

So when we open our weekly pack for league play, does the minimum deck size requirement go up or stay at 40?

Edit: Also, Meta, having benefited myself from Mythic Rares in drafting, I do have to say I hate what they do to the nature of the draft. On the other hand, smacking down Mono-drafters is awesome

Minimum deck size will stay the same until Week 3. Broken card density shouldn't be too great until then...although I do happen to have 3 Vampire Nighthawks already. :?

Also, I mean shit, it's homeboy's fault he let me live to 9 fucking mana. If you can't close that shit out you deserve to get shut down by Iona.

But I was angrier that the next dude had a fully functional Mono-red deck and wrecked me. I've been doing my best to explore non-b/r oriented draft archetypes, and the pros like to claim that draft formats are self-correcting because the best archetypes will get overdrafted and no longer be the best, but the depth of b/r is such that it apparently CAN'T be overdrafted.

Dropping Loads

I agree that it doesn't seem like uncommons/commons are balanced around equal color representation in drafts. Seriously, wtf?
Edit: 3 fucking nighthawks? Geez.

As a separate question, how did people come up with their individual preferences for 8/4, 4/3/2, or Swiss Drafts? I've only played Swiss so far just to guarantee more games that "mean something", though I've ended up in the finals of my last two drafts. I guess I'm a little concerned about getting ROFLstomped in my first game just by unlucky pairing.

metaghost

Well, it's generally perceived that the greater risk inherent to 8-4 leads to greater competition (along with the fact that winning leads to better compensation).

A lot of the time the skills that indicate a good drafter are for naught in a Swiss draft because so many people are rare-drafting retards that can't signal or perceive a signal for shit, and so Swiss will be a lot less fun.

JeffH

invisiblespaceninja wrote: »

I agree that it doesn't seem like uncommons/commons are balanced around equal color representation in drafts. Seriously, wtf?
Edit: 3 fucking nighthawks? Geez.

As a separate question, how did people come up with their individual preferences for 8/4, 4/3/2, or Swiss Drafts? I've only played Swiss so far just to guarantee more games that "mean something", though I've ended up in the finals of my last two drafts. I guess I'm a little concerned about getting ROFLstomped in my first game just by unlucky pairing.

I usually play a mix of 4322s and 84s, I never do swiss. I'll do 4322s often because I'm cheap and it's pretty easy to go infinite on them, as winning the first round of a 4322 is usually fairly easy. Even if I get knocked out in the second, I can sell off cards to get that third pack + 2 tix.

If I ever want good, competitive practice, i go to the 84s. You won't really get much better practice than drafting with pros. I've beaten Tiago Chan and Paul Rietzl, gotten stomped by Rich Hoaen, and probably played countless other pros in 8-4s whos screennames I don't recognize.

JeffH

metaghost wrote: »

Well, it's generally perceived that the greater risk inherent to 8-4 leads to greater competition (along with the fact that winning leads to better compensation).

A lot of the time the skills that indicate a good drafter are for naught in a Swiss draft because so many people are rare-drafting retards that can't signal or perceive a signal for shit, and so Swiss will be a lot less fun.

Yeah, that's another point. For all the 4322s that I get nutty decks, there are times now and then that peoples complete lack of signaling can cause what seems to be a good draft to go haywire. You get rewarded much more often for reading signals in 84s.

Dropping Loads

Just to be clear, by signaling you mean "The only way he would have passed X card is because he is completely committed to not using that color, so I should grab it." Is that right? Or do you mean intentionally sending signals as well?

metaghost

Right, the first thing you said is Signal Perception, but for that person whose signal you're perceiving, it was Signaling.

Me taking the only White card in pack of broken Red should hopefully get people to my left entrenched in Red so that they then pass me White in the 2nd pack.

Steel Angel

So, here's the sealed pool I'm likely to work with for our league.

1,Blazing Torch
1,Explorer's Scope
1,Spidersilk Net


3,Stonework Puma
1,Bladetusk Boar
1,Bog Tatters
2,Caravan Hurda
1,Devout Lightcaster
1,Goblin Bushwhacker
2,Goblin Ruinblaster
1,Goblin Shortcutter
1,Gomazoa
1,Grazing Gladehart
2,Guul Draz Vampire
1,Hagra Crocodile
1,Kor Hookmaster
1,Kor Skyfisher
1,Kraken Hatchling
1,Makindi Shieldmate
1,Mindless Null
1,Nissa's Chosen
1,Pillarfield Ox
1,Ruinous Minotaur
1,Shoal Serpent
1,Steppe Lynx
1,Surrakar Marauder
1,Tajuru Archer
1,Timbermaw Larva
1,Tuktuk Grunts
1,Vampire Lacerator
1,Vampire Nighthawk
1,Windrider Eel
1,Zendikar Farguide

1,Ior Ruin Expedition
1,Quest for the Holy Relic
1,Nimbus Wings
1,Paralyzing Grasp
2,Savage Silhouette
1,Spreading Seas

1,Brave the Elements
1,Burst Lightning
1,Cancel
1,Disfigure
1,Harrow
1,Hideous End
1,Relic Crush
1,Seismic Shudder
1,Shieldmate's Blessing
1,Slaughter Cry
1,Spell Pierce
1,Summoner's Bane
1,Tanglesap
1,Trapmaker's Snare
1,Vampire's Bite
2,Baloth Cage Trap
1,Lavaball Trap
1,Lethargy Trap
1,Whiplash Trap

1,Akoum Refuge
1,"Emeria, the Sky Ruin"
1,Jwar Isle Refuge
2,Kazandu Refuge
1,"Oran-Rief, the Vastwood"
2,Teetering Peaks
1,Turntimber Grove

1,Sorin Markov

1,Beast Hunt
1,Day of Judgment
1,Demolish
1,Feast of Blood
1,Grim Discovery
2,Magma Rift
1,Marsh Casualties

Obviously Black wants in, but I'd like some opinions on how what colors to match it with.

Dropping Loads

Steel, that's a REALLY hard to read list of cards. It's half sorted half not.

metaghost

It's organized by card type, which is kinda useful...

Steel, you sadly have shit for creatures outside of Black. I think your best bet is B/W, thanks to Day of Judgement and Skyfisher/Lynx, but there isn't a lot of synergy there.

Iolo

Man, I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I'm having an awfully nice run w/ ZZZ 8-4 drafts. I've done 4 and gone 3-0 (suicide vampire monoblack), 0-1 (removal-less BG w/ Cobra that paid for draft), 3-0 (UB control w/ MVP's Kraken Hatchling & Merfolk Seastalkers), and 3-0 (UR goodstuff). I haven't been this flush w/ packs since Kamigawa draft started and I was regularly getting Wicked Akubas, Cruel Deceivers and Devouring Greeds 9th+ picks.

The colors seem relatively balanced, w/ green maybe getting the short end of the draft stick (making up for it in sealed?). The format is pretty fast, but the tools seem in place to survive if you want to go control. Seismic Shudder is a great sideboard card (an Instant - who knew? ), I'm seeing Into the Roil and Whilplash Traps going around 5th and 6th picks, and Kraken Hatchling doesn't seem to be getting any respect for how much time he buys you.

Dropping Loads

Blue has been going way underdrafted. I think people just don't see synergy and by the time they pass through the first pack, they feel commited to something else.

I got SUPER burned in my last 4322 =( Opponent had 4 life left, I attack w/ Terra stomper. He blocks w/ 3 guys, I assign all damage to a 2/2 NONE of the damage carries over b/c I didn't click on the right icon. He wins, I mull death next game.

Elbasunu

I'm still wary of 8-4's...

Do you find it easier to draft skillfully in them?