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The Lord of Hats posted:I dunno, in a format with 13 damage in one or two places, it'd be really nasty in limited, though I suppose that would be a reason to print it. I'm guessing it was a flavor issue. Well, yeah, it's good in Limited, but that's the point. And yeah, I guess it's a voodoo doll and not Chucky, but that seems to fit just as well in a horror set. Especially since Creepy Doll seems to be a clear homage, but sucks, and to my memory Stuffy Doll was pretty popular.
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Nov 22, 2011 07:41
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The Lord of Hats posted:I dunno, in a format with 13 damage in one or two places, it'd be really nasty in limited You know they printed this right after Stuffy Doll? edit: Why they didn't print Stuffy Doll is perfectly obvious. If it's not
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Nov 22, 2011 08:47
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DontMockMySmock posted:edit: Why they didn't print Stuffy Doll is perfectly obvious. If it's not If a living, indestructible voodoo doll that harms itself in order to inflict pain on its opponents can't be made horrific, then Wizards needs to fire Creative.
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Nov 22, 2011 08:53
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Mornacale posted:If a living, indestructible voodoo doll that harms itself in order to inflict pain on its opponents can't be made horrific, then Wizards needs to fire Creative. It's... kind of horror, but not the same flavor of horror that they're going for. You could get it in there, but it would take some reskinning, and the name will always be a bit silly. Also yes, I already knew about Shivan Meteor. It probably wouldn't be too strong, as I was somehow under the impression that Into the Maw of Hell was a common. It really probably was the flavor issue (and the fact that they wanted *Creepy* Doll) that kept it out.
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Nov 22, 2011 09:00
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edit: dammit, missed the last page, nvm
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Nov 22, 2011 09:50
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Mornacale posted:If a living, indestructible voodoo doll that harms itself in order to inflict pain on its opponents can't be made horrific, then Wizards needs to fire Creative. Voodoo doesn't really fit the Germanic/Gothic flavor of the block. That's basically the entire reason they made a new version of it instead of a reprint. The End.
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Nov 22, 2011 16:36
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Am I missing something, the main reason I see for them printing Creepy Doll over reprinting Stuffy Doll is that the former is very much a different card than the latter in a pure gameplay viewpoint? (that said, Into the Maw of Hell on your own Stuffy Doll would pretty much rule as a limited play)
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Nov 22, 2011 16:55
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Lunael posted:(that said, Into the Maw of Hell on your own Stuffy Doll would pretty much rule as a limited play) Stuffy Doll + Rage Thrower + Blasphemous Act 
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Nov 22, 2011 22:00
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Mastiff posted:Just popping in to say that if you can manage to draft two Burning Vengeances on top of some cool flashback cards like Grasp of Phantoms then I wholeheartedly recommend doing so. I made a crucial timing error that may have cost me the finals, but I had so much fun. I saw someone with three Vengenances and 13 flashback cards, he even got all three out some games.
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Nov 22, 2011 22:26
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Drafting when you're depressed is a really bad idea. That's the third 8-4 in a row I've lost in the second match, game 3. I had my opponent down to 2 life when he stabilized.Ingenium posted:I saw someone with three Vengenances and 13 flashback cards, he even got all three out some games. That sounds awesome.  I want that.
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Nov 23, 2011 05:39
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So how do you use that raredraft site? I wanted to upload a draft I just did to get some critique. I drafted a W/G deck that really didn't seem that great. I was passed two Burning Vengeance in a row but I didn't want to commit to something like that in the first pack so I second picked Travel Preparations. I don't really feel like I got passed anything amazing, but that could just be my inexperience. I ended up going 2-1, but I still feel like I did really bad.
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Nov 23, 2011 23:33
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soscannonballs posted:So how do you use that raredraft site? I wanted to upload a draft I just did to get some critique. I drafted a W/G deck that really didn't seem that great. I was passed two Burning Vengeance in a row but I didn't want to commit to something like that in the first pack so I second picked Travel Preparations. I don't really feel like I got passed anything amazing, but that could just be my inexperience. I ended up going 2-1, but I still feel like I did really bad. Make sure you have the Draft Recorder enabled in your MTGO options menu. If it's enabled, then by default it'll dump text file records of your drafts to a folder in the Games folder in your My Documents folder in windows. Those text files are what raredraft parses to make the draft viewers.
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Nov 24, 2011 09:27
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raredraft is down and has been for some time
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Nov 24, 2011 10:12
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Unfortunately yeah, given how last set update there (on the draft info options, of course it uses Gatherer for images) was New Phyrexia I'm guessing the site maintainer lost interest or is otherwise AWOL. Shame, it is a really handy site. Temporary solution, if you have web space is just to use the HTML converter here: http://www.zizibaloob.com/
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Nov 24, 2011 11:36
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Raredraft isn't exactly down; it uses Google App Engine for its backend, and they recently changed their allowance system in a way which means raredraft hits its quota within an hour or two each day. As I understand it, the admin is looking for a solution, but hasn't yet managed one.
Citizen Psmith fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Nov 24, 2011 |
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Nov 24, 2011 17:22
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So I decided to jump into a draft today: I'm less concerned with the actual picks (although I think I managed to pick up a really good pile) but with the mana base -- does 16 lands (and the color spread) make sense for the deck?
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Nov 24, 2011 23:39
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CharlieFoxtrot posted:I'm less concerned with the actual picks (although I think I managed to pick up a really good pile) but with the mana base -- does 16 lands (and the color spread) make sense for the deck? The deck looks great but the mana is kind of bad. I'd probably swap out Spectral Rider for a Silver-Inlaid Dagger, and then switch maybe two Plains for Forests. If you insist on the Rider (it is, admittedly, potentially very good in the deck,) I'd probably still swap out the two Plains for Forests. You can't really afford to not have green mana.
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Nov 24, 2011 23:49
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I really don't like Rebuke in decks like that though. Its so bad in tempo decks.
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Nov 24, 2011 23:58
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Count posted:I really don't like Rebuke in decks like that though. Its so bad in tempo decks. That's a good point, probably toss the Rebuke for the Dagger.
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Nov 25, 2011 00:02
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I boarded in those suggestions every match and they really helped to smooth things out. I thought I would be able to steamroll with the deck, but every game was a desperate fight for survival. I went 1-2, although it feels like it could easily have ended up 3-0 or 0-3, since every single game came down to literally 1 point of damage either way. I only managed to win the last match when my opponent made a bad block and so I was able to flash in a Bell-Ringer and tap Mikaeus to pump +2 damage on the board, which also sent him to the graveyard and let me Brimstone Volley for exact lethal.
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Nov 25, 2011 01:44
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Going to FNM at my local Waterstone's tomorrow, my first Limited since starting playing Magic a month or so ago, so concerned about committing some kind of faux pas. It's a draft with 3 Innistrad boosters, so I wanted to check what I should be thinking when I draft? As I understand it, Innistrad is based on 5 creature type "factions", should I pick one and go for complimentary colours? So if I pick a vampire from the first pack I go red/black? What should be going through my head when I've got the first booster in hand? Just concerned the guys next to me might try to go the same way and I end up struggle to get a coherent deck together.
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Nov 25, 2011 02:02
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What's a good way to post a non-MTGO sealed pool?
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Nov 25, 2011 03:20
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BizarroAzrael posted:Going to FNM at my local Waterstone's tomorrow, my first Limited since starting playing Magic a month or so ago, so concerned about committing some kind of faux pas. It's a draft with 3 Innistrad boosters, so I wanted to check what I should be thinking when I draft? As I understand it, Innistrad is based on 5 creature type "factions", should I pick one and go for complimentary colours? So if I pick a vampire from the first pack I go red/black? What should be going through my head when I've got the first booster in hand? Just concerned the guys next to me might try to go the same way and I end up struggle to get a coherent deck together. The creature factions are usually not a big deal. Archetype-wise, RB aggro is a thing, GW aggro with Travel Preparations is a thing, UB mill-yourself is a thing, but any combination of colors can result in playable decks. More importantly, though, if you've never drafted: remember the mnemonic "BREAD" for your pick order - bombs/removal/evasion/attack/defense (or "advantage/dudes", the first three are more important).
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Nov 25, 2011 03:40
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UW Spirits is mostly definitely also a thing. Pick up some Feeling of Dread and Grasp of Phantoms to back up a deck of Battleground Geists, Gallows Wardens (both are uncommon but grab em if you can), Mausoleum Guard, Lantern Spirit, Moon Heron, Doomed Traveler, Dearly Departed, etc.
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Nov 25, 2011 07:43
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BizarroAzrael posted:Going to FNM at my local Waterstone's tomorrow, my first Limited since starting playing Magic a month or so ago, so concerned about committing some kind of faux pas. It's a draft with 3 Innistrad boosters, so I wanted to check what I should be thinking when I draft? As I understand it, Innistrad is based on 5 creature type "factions", should I pick one and go for complimentary colours? So if I pick a vampire from the first pack I go red/black? What should be going through my head when I've got the first booster in hand? Just concerned the guys next to me might try to go the same way and I end up struggle to get a coherent deck together. Here's what I would tell you: Do not worry too hard about committing a "faux pas." If you have any questions at all, ask the tournament organizer or the other people at the table. If they give you a bad time over it then don't feel like you're to blame; that just means it's a lovely tournament venue. As others have mentioned, tribal effects aren't the be-all end-all of Innistrad draft; you should put together whatever works best from the packs that are coming to you (and it will probably take you many drafts to get a good feel for what sort of thing that is). A general rule of thumb is to take what you think is the strongest card from your first pack, obviously (there are exceptions to that rule, don't worry about them now though) but don't feel like you're married to either the color or the synergies, if any, of your first pick. As an example, if you take a first pick Olivia Voldaren (a B/R vampire and pretty much the biggest bomb in the format) but you only get passed lovely red and black after that while you get passed a lot of good blue and white, ultimately you can and should grit your teeth and draft the blue-white deck. That is a simplistic example and it often won't be so clear-cut, but try to keep things like that in the back of your head. Good luck! 
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Nov 25, 2011 07:58
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JerryLee posted:Here's what I would tell you: Yeah, I play Red/Black Vampires anyway so if Olivia shows up I'm taking her no matter what. I'm just naturally bias towards that since I'm after stuff like Bloodline Keepers and Stromkirk Nobles. I'm probably too worried about the number of colours I end up drawing, since I'll be using around half of the 45 I draw.
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Nov 25, 2011 09:18
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Tried my first MTGO draft today. Got my rear end handed to me despite getting (what I think as) pretty drat good cards. Is there anything I should have done better? My first game I completely tore the guy up, second and 3rd though, I took good opening hands, but Victim of Night took out some of my threats, and a stupid mistake (Traitorous Blood on a creature that had a torch on it, that I was going to sacrifice to kill his deathtouch rats, that I didn't know I couldn't do that because I am stupid as hell) ended up keeping me from winning. Are 8-4s the only drafts I should be doing because of the cost/reward? Ninja-Edit: Never once drew an Inquisitor or Mentor
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Nov 25, 2011 10:25
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ProfessionalNinja posted:Tried my first MTGO draft today. Got my rear end handed to me despite getting (what I think as) pretty drat good cards. I don't understand splashing Corpse Lunge while leaving Harvest Pyres in the side. In this deck, Harvest Pyre is generally going to be better than Lunge, even ignoring the whole "third color" aspect. You only have 4 creatures with power above 2. There's also no possible excuse for leaving Skirsdaag Cultist out, it's one of your best creatures. I'd consider playing the Scourge as well, but he is at least debatable. You can go 16 lands, I think, your curve is fairly low. And drop the Amulet, since there's really no point in splashing here. quote:a stupid mistake (Traitorous Blood on a creature that had a torch on it, that I was going to sacrifice to kill his deathtouch rats, that I didn't know I couldn't do that because I am stupid as hell) Wow, this hinges on a really subtle rules point that I had to look up. This isn't a stupid mistake, there's no way I would have known this, either. Ashenai fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Nov 25, 2011 |
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Nov 25, 2011 11:19
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BizarroAzrael posted:Going to FNM at my local Waterstone's tomorrow, my first Limited since starting playing Magic a month or so ago, so concerned about committing some kind of faux pas. It's a draft with 3 Innistrad boosters, so I wanted to check what I should be thinking when I draft? As I understand it, Innistrad is based on 5 creature type "factions", should I pick one and go for complimentary colours? So if I pick a vampire from the first pack I go red/black? What should be going through my head when I've got the first booster in hand? Just concerned the guys next to me might try to go the same way and I end up struggle to get a coherent deck together. Alright, so there's obviously not a lot of time to study up on Limited, so I'm going to give you some bare bones advice. General tips: 1) Play 17 lands. Once you gain experience, this can be modified in some circumstances, but for now just do this. 2) Play 40 cards. Always. Seriously. 3) Try to be two colors, sometimes with a "splash" of a third (no more than 3 cards) 4) Creatures are super important: they're the most consistent source of damage, and the best defense against your opponent. If you have fewer than 13 in your final deck, you probably have a bad deck. 15 or more is preferable. Obviously, you can't change this after you draft, so if you find yourself taking a lot of non-creatures early, try to start prioritizing them higher. 5) As someone already mentioned, BREAD is your key guideline. 6) Typical newbie errors: playing too many 1-drops (1/1s for 1 quickly become irrelevant unless they have a good ability); playing lifegain, mill, and other do-nothing cards (Innistrad has a major mill theme, but trying to win games by milling your opponent is an advanced maneuver and I advise avoiding it [milling yourself is fine]); defensive drafting (drafting a card that you can't play over a card you might play because it's good; the chances of any specific card beating you is much lower than of a card you can play helping you) not knowing who the beatdown is during play (go read Who's The Beatdown). A newbie draft strategy Okay, I'm going to try to walk you through a sort of "default" plan for how to draft. For each step, I'm going to talk about what you should be looking to take, and then include an "advanced option": some extra things to consider if you're not already feeling overwhelmed. This is a lot of info to take in, so if it ever seems like too much, just try to simplify and get the gist of things. Obviously, I have to leave it in your hands to figure out which cards are good and which are bad. This is nowhere near a definitive guide to drafting, because there is none; it's intended to help you out with your first few drafts by going into it with some kind of plan, but if the cards fall differently just try to keep your cool and stick to the general ideas above. (NB: "Early" is roughly the first three picks of a pack; "Middle" picks 4-8; and "Late" picks 9-15. These aren't hard and fast numbers, but sort of guidelines so you can check in with yourself about how things are going.) 1) First Pick: Well, this is "easy": just find the best card and take it. Advanced: Check out the next one or two best cards in the pack. These are what will likely be taken by the players next to you. If one of them is in the color of your first pick, prioritize that color a little higher (to try to get them to keep out of it); otherwise, prioritize those colors a little lower (so you're not fighting them in pack two). 2) Early Pack 1: Figure out the best card in your colors ("in your colors" also includes colorless cards) and the best card not in your color(s). If the card in your colors is in the same/higher BREAD category as the one out of your color(s) (and isn't clearly much worse) take it; otherwise take the other card. Advanced: Continue to pay attention to what good cards you pass. If you're consistently sending strong cards of one color, it'll get more dangerous to switch into it later. Also start to look for patterns in the colors you're receiving. 3) Mid Pack 1: Continue as step 2, but with more emphasis on staying in the colors you already have. Try to take note if you're consistently seeing no good cards in a color; similarly, try to pay attention to any colors you are consistently seeing good stuff in. By the end of this step, you should hopefully have completely eliminated one color from consideration for your deck (even if you have a card of that color already). Advanced: Nothing here, this is the hardest part of a draft imo. You've got to balance your desire to play the good cards you picked in Steps 1 and 2 with the desire to get into the colors that are being passed to you. 4) Late Pack 1: Now, use what you learned from the last couple steps to guide you. If you noticed that one of your colors wasn't coming, then get out of it into one of the ones that was. You've seen every pack at the table, so there should be no surprises. Just try to grab some solid cards and firm up your choices. Advanced: If you can remember the cards that you passed, then you know what cards were taken. This can give you a rough guess about how many players at the table are in each color. End Pack 1: Whew! That's a lot of stuff to think about. But the hardest part is behind you. By the end of pack 1, you should have one color that you're sure you're in, and two that you know you're not in. If you know both of your colors, great, but it's okay to be a little flexible going into pack 2. Take a little breather. 5) Early Pack 2: Hopefully you open/get passed some awesome stuff in your colors. Basically, your goal here is to take the best cards you can in your colors, hopefully good enough to have them locked in. Advanced: From here on, the major extra layer of complexity is paying attention to what cards make the best deck rather than just are objectively best. In your first draft, it's probably best if you just try to pick good cards, but if you can think a little about the creature count and the mana curve, that could help. 6) Mid Pack 2: Hopefully you can just do the easy thing and take the best cards of your colors. It's pretty much imperative that you have your two colors determined by the end of this. 7) The Rest: At this point, you're pretty much on your own. Take the best cards in your colors. If you've done a good job in the earlier steps, then you should hopefully be getting good stuff here. If not, then things will be dicier. However, unless there's an incredibly clear signal to switch colors, avoid it: you'll win more games with mediocre cards that you can play than some mishmash of colors with better spells. So, that's...a lot more than I expected to write. Sorry, it's probably way too much. Again, if it's overwhelming, just try to get the gist and keep it as simple as you need.
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Nov 25, 2011 11:22
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That look like a great primer to me! Overall, though, just don't sweat it, drafting can be very hard at first, it takes a while to "get it." There are also a ton of free draft videos you can watch on http://http://www.channelfireball.com. I recommend watching some LSV vides, both because he's one of the best players in the world and because he does a great job of explaining what he's thinking.
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Nov 25, 2011 11:35
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BizarroAzrael posted:Yeah, I play Red/Black Vampires anyway so if Olivia shows up I'm taking her no matter what. I'm just naturally bias towards that since I'm after stuff like Bloodline Keepers and Stromkirk Nobles. I'm probably too worried about the number of colours I end up drawing, since I'll be using around half of the 45 I draw. Before you start worrying about picking cards that you want to keep, make sure that the shop doesn't do a rare re-draft afterward. If so, then you won't get to keep what you pick anyway. If not, then for goodness sake if you open a pricy rare, throw out everyone's advice and take it! Also, I saw your posts in the main thread and it sounded like you might not be sure about the actual mechanics of draft. In case you're not, here's the deal: everyone gets 3 packs. Everyone opens their first pack, chooses a card, then passes it to their left, chooses another card and passes left, etc. Once all the cards are taken, open pack 2; this time pass right. Finally, pack 3 is passed left again. You'll notice that a lot of my primer was about trying to figure out what the people to your right aren't taking; this is because they'll be picking before you in two out of three packs. If you can also manage to keep the people to your left out of your colors, then they'll pass you the goods pack 2. But of course, if you open Olivia Voldaren pick 1, then you grab her and do everything you can to play R/B. Also, I want to reiterate one more time not to stress out too much! Take your time, don't feel like you have to rush, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Be nice, let people know it's your first draft, and they'll (hopefully) be understanding if you take a little longer to look at packs. Keep your cool, take an extra moment to make sure you're passing the right stack of cards & picking up packs in the right order (each should have one fewer card than the last). Most of all, have fun! \  /
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Nov 25, 2011 12:45
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I have a question. What is a tempo deck, exactly? I basically had the same deck as that G/W player earlier in the page, and I had a lot of trouble as well. I went 2-1, but each battle was some incredible struggle. I did have a few highlights, though, such as Make a Wishing back a Fiend Hunter and Slayer of the Wicket against a red removal deck with werewolves.
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Nov 25, 2011 13:18
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Captain Capitalism posted:I have a question. What is a tempo deck, exactly? I basically had the same deck as that G/W player earlier in the page, and I had a lot of trouble as well. I went 2-1, but each battle was some incredible struggle. The point of a tempo deck is that your cards are cheaper and more efficient than your opponent's. The aim is to make powerful early attacks and take him down before he can get his (more powerful, but more expensive) cards online. If that plan fails, and your opponent has better creatures out than you, Plan B is to remove his remaining life with burn spells, unblockable shenanigans (Nightbird's Clutches etc), or just remove what blockers you can, and finish him off with a final all-out attack. If plan B also fails, you lose: a tempo deck cannot win a long game. I don't know exactly what the problem with your deck was without looking at it: there are a lot of possible ways a tempo deck can fail. It's even possible to lose if you have the right deck, just by playing it the wrong way: the philosophies of tempo and control are very different, and if you're used to control decks and try to play a tempo deck the way you're used to playing, you will lose. Ashenai fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Nov 25, 2011 |
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Nov 25, 2011 13:31
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I think that was my issue. I had been watching drafts online and I think I was playing it more like a control deck. Most of my creatures cost 3 or less, but I only had 13. I'm reconstructing it in my head since I don't have the decklist on this computer: 1 Silver Inlaid Dagger 1 Butcher's Cleaver 1 Sharpened Pitchfork 1 One Eyed Scarecrow 2 Elder Cathar 1 Doomed Traveller 1 Voiceless Spirit 1 Chapel Geist 1 Abbey Griffon 1 Slayer of the Wicket 1 Fiend Hunter 1 Daybreak Ranger 1 Villagers of Erstwald 1 Festerhide Boar 1 Unknown Card 2 Travel Preparations 1 Ranger's Guile 1 Moment of Heroism 1 Rebuke 1 Make a Wish 1 Spidery Grasp 1 Morbid Spider. 1 Mountain 6 Forest 9 Plains In later rounds, I swapped out Unnamed Card for Cobbled wings, since I was playing against opponents without flyers. The mountain was a flat out mistake. Yeah, I wanted to be able to use Daybreak Ranger's transformed ability, but I never really did. I would've loved a Hamlet Captain or two.
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Nov 25, 2011 14:19
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Captain Capitalism posted:1 Slayer of the Wicket I wish this was a card. Anyway, cards like Rebuke and One-Eyed Scarecrow are much worse in aggro decks like this one. Looks like a decent deck overall, but yeah, I think it definitely needs more creatures that can attack.
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Nov 25, 2011 14:24
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Ashenai posted:
A fairly fundemental rule in Magic is that you can't sacrifice something you don't own, so I don't know if I would call it really subtle.
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Nov 25, 2011 15:34
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MrBling posted:A fairly fundemental rule in Magic is that you can't sacrifice something you don't own, so I don't know if I would call it really subtle. I think you mean "control", not own. You definitely can Altar's Reap a creature that you don't own, but do control from say Traitorous Blood. I wouldn't fault your average player for not knowing that Blazing Torch interaction from top of his head, that kind of situations don't come up that often anyway.
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Nov 25, 2011 15:39
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MrBling posted:A fairly fundemental rule in Magic is that you can't sacrifice something you don't own, so I don't know if I would call it really subtle. Sure, and a more fundamental rule is that if something a card says contradicts the general rules, the card wins. And Blazing Torch specifically gives the creature the ability to sacrifice the Torch. I'm still not actually sure that the Blazing Torch ruling follows organically from the rules.
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Nov 25, 2011 15:46
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Burning Vengeance is the most fun draft thing. I hope they reprint it in Dark Ascent. Holy poo poo. First pick first pack: Slayer of the Wicked or Burning Vengeance? Obviously Burning Vengeance
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Nov 25, 2011 17:13
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I don't understand what you guys mean by the Blazing Torch thing. Doesn't the equipment give the creature the ability? Why can't you use it? e: nm, I got it. derp.
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Nov 25, 2011 17:27
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