Obelisks - the 3 mana cost artifacts that let you grab one of 3 colors of mana...fun stuff.
Shards is interesting. A common 2/1 First Strike with Shroud for WU. Impressive fun - I do not like the 5c creatures with cycling. Reminds me of OLS.
More info as I get into Shards more.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Shards of Alara Premier Events tomorrow in MTGO
We've experienced casual drafting in Alara for a few days now. Folks are playing some interesting combos (much more colorful last few sets). The system seems to be stable and WOTC seems happy with the relative lack of issues.
I am taking a wait and see approach to this new set. We'll see how MPDC and TPDC hit *next* week (the 2nd week of Shards tech available to PDC players).
More updates as we see how Alara pans out in the next few weeks.
Rock on!
-tw
I am taking a wait and see approach to this new set. We'll see how MPDC and TPDC hit *next* week (the 2nd week of Shards tech available to PDC players).
More updates as we see how Alara pans out in the next few weeks.
Rock on!
-tw
Friday, October 17, 2008
Shards of Alara going Live Monday 10/20/2008
Be prepared Paupers - the new booster format and Shards of Alara hit Monday. We already had this week's patch Wednesday that prepared the live system for MTGO.
IPA/OTJ goes to Classic from Extended. Futex is now just Extended Pauper (OLS onward) and STD loses PLC/TS. I will miss Vampiric Link - was fun in my BlackRush beatdown STD pauper deck. I reteched my stuff into white (still BW hybrid) using the nice 0/1 Moth that gets +4 lifegain anytime it blocks (it stacks as you declare blocking so you get the 4 lifegain even if its burned).
We have a pesky PDC classic bug with the Flagbearers. Coaltion Honor Guard and Standard Bearer do not work properly against storm affects (Grapeshot and Temporal Fissure specifically). Proper way to function - gotta target CHG/SB if in play until they are removed *then* you can target player/controller/other creatures in play. Been noted, Wotc_Lee Sharpe is working with devs (its not an A1 priority but its in top 20%) to get it resolved eventually.
Classic is tough - wide format from 7th/ipa to X/alara starting next monday. Thousands of commons to choose from. With the Gold (multicolor) and hybrid (two unique colors) commons - IPA isn't the only solution anymore. Discard decks still have some great tech so WATCH OUT.
I want to thank Wildman, Newman and Spikeboy for all the game testing as of late - its been lots of fun and got me back into STD pauper gaming. Y'all rock!
Last note - I really dislike this new booster policy - 1 land in each booster of Shards/Alara going forward. Meaning we're stuck with a ton of land as veterans. A Much Simpler solution for paper and MTGO -- SELL LAND PACKS TO THE NEWBIES. ITS bad that I already have over 750 lands as it stands now. Less reasons for me to buy boosters as I'm not in the mood to buy land this way. I don't mind random lands (foils preferred lol). But get the land packs out to the newbies and don't punish/flood veterans with common basic land.
Rock on folks!
IPA/OTJ goes to Classic from Extended. Futex is now just Extended Pauper (OLS onward) and STD loses PLC/TS. I will miss Vampiric Link - was fun in my BlackRush beatdown STD pauper deck. I reteched my stuff into white (still BW hybrid) using the nice 0/1 Moth that gets +4 lifegain anytime it blocks (it stacks as you declare blocking so you get the 4 lifegain even if its burned).
We have a pesky PDC classic bug with the Flagbearers. Coaltion Honor Guard and Standard Bearer do not work properly against storm affects (Grapeshot and Temporal Fissure specifically). Proper way to function - gotta target CHG/SB if in play until they are removed *then* you can target player/controller/other creatures in play. Been noted, Wotc_Lee Sharpe is working with devs (its not an A1 priority but its in top 20%) to get it resolved eventually.
Classic is tough - wide format from 7th/ipa to X/alara starting next monday. Thousands of commons to choose from. With the Gold (multicolor) and hybrid (two unique colors) commons - IPA isn't the only solution anymore. Discard decks still have some great tech so WATCH OUT.
I want to thank Wildman, Newman and Spikeboy for all the game testing as of late - its been lots of fun and got me back into STD pauper gaming. Y'all rock!
Last note - I really dislike this new booster policy - 1 land in each booster of Shards/Alara going forward. Meaning we're stuck with a ton of land as veterans. A Much Simpler solution for paper and MTGO -- SELL LAND PACKS TO THE NEWBIES. ITS bad that I already have over 750 lands as it stands now. Less reasons for me to buy boosters as I'm not in the mood to buy land this way. I don't mind random lands (foils preferred lol). But get the land packs out to the newbies and don't punish/flood veterans with common basic land.
Rock on folks!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
TPDC - Classic Pauper can be rough
Thanks again to Lathspel for hosting TPDC. Was a fun event last night in /tpdc and /tpdc_results. Classic has over 2,000 unique commons to choose from in a cardbase from 7th/ipa to X/Shadowmoor.
First round I faced a very creative black deck. Had tough creatures that had some negative offsets (3/3s that gets -1/-1 for each spell casts til EOT or -1 life for every creature cast after etc). I had a hybrid black deck that had rats maindeck (chittering and relentless). Lost Game 1 but multiple Morning Thrulls for Games 2 and 3. Won 2-1.
2nd round was against my friend GSG. Very good deck - multicolor with Armadillo cloak, phantom tiger and a few nice trick cards. Hard to win game1. Took one of the games to 42 life but GG had enough cantrip/funk to keep my BHR classic deck under control. I had to prepare for work in any event - but it was fun!
Daily PDC free Pauper Events - occuring all over. Check PDCMAGIC.com or MTGO Boards PRE forums (Player Run Events) links on rightside of my blog.
First round I faced a very creative black deck. Had tough creatures that had some negative offsets (3/3s that gets -1/-1 for each spell casts til EOT or -1 life for every creature cast after etc). I had a hybrid black deck that had rats maindeck (chittering and relentless). Lost Game 1 but multiple Morning Thrulls for Games 2 and 3. Won 2-1.
2nd round was against my friend GSG. Very good deck - multicolor with Armadillo cloak, phantom tiger and a few nice trick cards. Hard to win game1. Took one of the games to 42 life but GG had enough cantrip/funk to keep my BHR classic deck under control. I had to prepare for work in any event - but it was fun!
Daily PDC free Pauper Events - occuring all over. Check PDCMAGIC.com or MTGO Boards PRE forums (Player Run Events) links on rightside of my blog.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Monday PDC event - MPDC was fun..Tactical Mulligans were missed
Monday's PDC event was a fun one! Thank you to ZeroFusion for hosting it (runs at 12pm Pacific, 7pm GMT in /join mpdc). We had 14 players and I do like the current flavors in standard.
My first round was a smash. I won 2-0 with some quick hitting Mimic flying. Nightsky Mimic with apparition, NG hag, unmake or the 4 cost wither hag makes for a fast hitting rush by Turn 5.
Round 2 - Mimics for my opponent and my mimics don't show. Should have done a tactical mulligan. Bogle the pain in butt is hard to remove. Note that Grave Peril should ONLY be deployed one at a time (if you have two out - BOTH get sac'd when next nonBLK critter comes out).
Round 3 - Mimics again (Red/Blue...RU) and very effective. I don't get my mimics out in a fast order (my deck is best when aiming for T5-T6 kill).
Just note to tactically mulligan - it can be important to get key cards for win condition. Also note to be patient as if you have a nonrush deck - you can survive and come back from the brink of defeat for the win.
Hats off to our PDC folk - glad to see y'all came out. Some upcoming things look good - be WARNED Shards of Alara is scheduled for release NEXT MONDAY on October 20, 2008.
Peace out!
-TW
My first round was a smash. I won 2-0 with some quick hitting Mimic flying. Nightsky Mimic with apparition, NG hag, unmake or the 4 cost wither hag makes for a fast hitting rush by Turn 5.
Round 2 - Mimics for my opponent and my mimics don't show. Should have done a tactical mulligan. Bogle the pain in butt is hard to remove. Note that Grave Peril should ONLY be deployed one at a time (if you have two out - BOTH get sac'd when next nonBLK critter comes out).
Round 3 - Mimics again (Red/Blue...RU) and very effective. I don't get my mimics out in a fast order (my deck is best when aiming for T5-T6 kill).
Just note to tactically mulligan - it can be important to get key cards for win condition. Also note to be patient as if you have a nonrush deck - you can survive and come back from the brink of defeat for the win.
Hats off to our PDC folk - glad to see y'all came out. Some upcoming things look good - be WARNED Shards of Alara is scheduled for release NEXT MONDAY on October 20, 2008.
Peace out!
-TW
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Pauper 2hg event last night (Friday) - thank you Lathspel!
Lathspel saved the day and became the defacto volunteer host for Pauper 2hg. It was quite fun and even my friend JD joined in. The qualifiers started out as FFA matches. That was fine as I beat down the guy across from me to under 10. Even had a x/x Timberwatch boost from another player (NE of me on the game grid). It was funny until all 3 took swings at me. I died first. Then my target died. Top2 from each FFA table played in the 2hg finale.
Pauper 2hg is just as fun if not more exciting than 2hg regular. I hope to see everyone out in /join pdc, casual room, Anything Goes, Multiplayer and more!
Rock on
Pauper 2hg is just as fun if not more exciting than 2hg regular. I hope to see everyone out in /join pdc, casual room, Anything Goes, Multiplayer and more!
Rock on
Monday, October 6, 2008
MPDC STD Pauper event today - it was great!
First of all big thanks to ZeroFusion for hosting MPDC - it was a BLAST. I recommend new players start out in Standard PDC to get used to things. Futex and Classic can be *quite* rough if your new.
While I did not make it to the top4 - I did place 7th with my 2-1 record. In the first round I lost to a clanmate friend hokusai22! It was close and it went to the 3rd game of that match. RedDeckWins in pauper can be tough!
Down 0-1, I then went on and faced a really cool B/W deck from gershon. He had a suprises. I had to flip and get creative with my Blk/Fly-HybridLife deck. I won 2 games but they were hard fought.
tied 1-1 going into round 3 - I faced off against dyagos. He had a very creative U/R deck. Cinder Pyromancer, Grinning Ignus and the Banneret can make it for a plink war. To add to it he splashed blue and topped off with Grapeshot swarms. It went 3 tough games but I swung with a 10/10 flyer to finish off the last game (B/W Mimic with two hybrid enchants).
I didn't top4 - I placed 7th but I was 1 game away from going 3-0/top4. In any event - hope to see y'all in MTGO and especially in /join pdc!
It gets crazy with these LRW/MOR/SHAD/EVE hybrids and mechanics. I do like it in Pauper Standard.
Check the forums at - http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1097805 for info on this week's MPDC final standings and the top4 decks!
While I did not make it to the top4 - I did place 7th with my 2-1 record. In the first round I lost to a clanmate friend hokusai22! It was close and it went to the 3rd game of that match. RedDeckWins in pauper can be tough!
Down 0-1, I then went on and faced a really cool B/W deck from gershon. He had a suprises. I had to flip and get creative with my Blk/Fly-HybridLife deck. I won 2 games but they were hard fought.
tied 1-1 going into round 3 - I faced off against dyagos. He had a very creative U/R deck. Cinder Pyromancer, Grinning Ignus and the Banneret can make it for a plink war. To add to it he splashed blue and topped off with Grapeshot swarms. It went 3 tough games but I swung with a 10/10 flyer to finish off the last game (B/W Mimic with two hybrid enchants).
I didn't top4 - I placed 7th but I was 1 game away from going 3-0/top4. In any event - hope to see y'all in MTGO and especially in /join pdc!
It gets crazy with these LRW/MOR/SHAD/EVE hybrids and mechanics. I do like it in Pauper Standard.
Check the forums at - http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1097805 for info on this week's MPDC final standings and the top4 decks!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Weekend Pauper Events Fri/Sat FPDC and Classic PDC
I had fun at the FPDC. It starts at 10am Pacific for signups and 1030am Pacific to start the event. See PDCMAGIC for more details (or on the MTGO forums at wizards.com).
Great host and good fun to be had. It's the FUTEX format (Think paper Extended, sans IPA/OTJ).
Classic PDC is a 730am Saturday gaming event. Really cool host and fun stuff to play. The classic format is one of the most diverse metagames you'll see in PDC (or in general MTGO matches for that matter). Lots of fun and Lulthyme keeps everyone smiling.
Every day there's something happening in PDC within MTGO. Free events, great prizes and good folks to play against. They are friendly, intelligent and it will not be boring.
And when's the last time a Magic player couldn't afford commons? Come out and join the fun!
Great host and good fun to be had. It's the FUTEX format (Think paper Extended, sans IPA/OTJ).
Classic PDC is a 730am Saturday gaming event. Really cool host and fun stuff to play. The classic format is one of the most diverse metagames you'll see in PDC (or in general MTGO matches for that matter). Lots of fun and Lulthyme keeps everyone smiling.
Every day there's something happening in PDC within MTGO. Free events, great prizes and good folks to play against. They are friendly, intelligent and it will not be boring.
And when's the last time a Magic player couldn't afford commons? Come out and join the fun!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
10 days in MTGO v3 ... and overall...
I am truly suprised but I like it. Its lag and crash free for me. The gameplay for 1v1 gaming is smooth and relatively easy to use. While it takes a bit getting used to from 1.x/2.x - its pretty nifty in the smoothness of gameplay. Also if you switch to another window - it will warn you via sound bells when its your turn to play etc.
PROS:
Stable (I haven't seen the system crash at all)
Lagfree (I'd like to see 3000-5000 in casual gaming and see how it holds up)
Generally Clean Look
CONS:
Trading Interface different (has problems if you switch scenes at 2nd confirm)
Card viewing is a pain (the card display is detachable/adjustable - but bad fit
OVERALL UI needs tweaking/improvement - chat UI is decent but could be better.
I am glad to see the /join pdc room doing healthy. It is sad to see the decline of /join bbs but as more folks return and MTGO gameplay increases (*cough* bring Leagues and Multiplayer on by 3.1/end of this year please!) - more folks may return to /join bbs.
I'm really liking Pauper Standard (PDC STD) format right now. KithkinPauperArmy is still my favorite in Standard but GreenFastSwing is now a close second. I have a GreenFastSwing deck that seems to be fun to play. I do need to implement some more control into it. It can kill by T5-T7 if not controlled. Some token generation, slippery creatures with Persist/nontargetting and interesting conspire effects.
Sometime I'll have to test out KPA versus GFS. For now - I'll fine tune them in the Casual gaming room and in some PDC PRE(Player Run Events).
I look forward to some fun PDC events this month!
Rock on!
-tw
PROS:
Stable (I haven't seen the system crash at all)
Lagfree (I'd like to see 3000-5000 in casual gaming and see how it holds up)
Generally Clean Look
CONS:
Trading Interface different (has problems if you switch scenes at 2nd confirm)
Card viewing is a pain (the card display is detachable/adjustable - but bad fit
OVERALL UI needs tweaking/improvement - chat UI is decent but could be better.
I am glad to see the /join pdc room doing healthy. It is sad to see the decline of /join bbs but as more folks return and MTGO gameplay increases (*cough* bring Leagues and Multiplayer on by 3.1/end of this year please!) - more folks may return to /join bbs.
I'm really liking Pauper Standard (PDC STD) format right now. KithkinPauperArmy is still my favorite in Standard but GreenFastSwing is now a close second. I have a GreenFastSwing deck that seems to be fun to play. I do need to implement some more control into it. It can kill by T5-T7 if not controlled. Some token generation, slippery creatures with Persist/nontargetting and interesting conspire effects.
Sometime I'll have to test out KPA versus GFS. For now - I'll fine tune them in the Casual gaming room and in some PDC PRE(Player Run Events).
I look forward to some fun PDC events this month!
Rock on!
-tw
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