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MtG: Sealed Booster League Example-UPDATED

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02 Oct 2013 00:34 - 02 Oct 2013 14:18 #162258 by bioball

Here's the problem: three colors works okay when the third color is a splash. But here you've got Young Pyromancer, Scroll Thief, and Blood Bairn, all of which really want to be cast early, but there is nothing at all to help you *get* all three of those colors early beyond wishin' and hopin'. I feel like you're going to be relying on one of two things happening:
- you get really lucky and get all three colors of mana early, no problem!
- the opponent is slow and clunky, so you have time to not be able to cast things

And so it came to pass, 3 colors just could not compete with the two color decks. Even what some of them lacked in solid punch was made up for in consistency. I was able to play some nifty tricks with the Blightcaster, but ultimately I spend most of the 2nd league meeting fighting my own mana layout. Either I’d draw all three colors but then had little to play. Or I (oddly & worse) drew only mountains, islands, but had mostly black creatures in my hand. I only won a single match- fucking depressing seeing as I’ve played the deck in non-recorded games and it was able to throw up impressive fights.

The league field was:
GB- Slivers, Doom Blade, Hunt the Weak, with Woodborn Behemoth, Fireshrieker and Enlarge
BU- removal and top end evasive creatures plus card draw provide by 3 Scroll Thevies
GU- San’s deck that I ceeded too after he dropped Dismiss into Dream with Zephyr Charge out
WR- Slivers and red removal with Serra Angel/Planeswalker-Pridecaller
WU- Medium flyers (e.g. Charging Griffin 3/3 flyer on attack), with white removal and blue bounce

So with a heavy sigh I opened my 2nd pack a drew the following:

Seacoast Drake (1|3 blue flyer)
Divination (draw 2)
Forest
Wring Flesh (-3/-1 instant)
Artificers Hex
Gladecover Scout (1/1 hex proof)
Elixir of Immortality
Divine Favor (+1/+3)
Corpse Hauler (2B to bring a creature back to my hand)
Solemn Offering
Scourge of Valkas (2RRR 4/4 flying dragon R: +1/0 until end of turn)
Brindle Boar
Darksteel Ingot
Quag Sickness (2B, enchanted creature gains -X/-X equal to the number of swamps)

I think at this point it would be better for my deck to transition to BR. A lot of my deck’s power runs on the aggressive stance the its black creatures and Air Servents provide. And all my humans do nice duty as back up producing tokens or -2/-2, so when I cast spell I get a little extra out of them. However my deck is short on removal and card draw. Red would allow more removal and consistency while retaining core features of earlier builds.
Last edit: 02 Oct 2013 14:18 by bioball.
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02 Oct 2013 04:31 #162266 by dragonstout
Sorry guys, you don't have to write up everything, I don't want to make it into homework you have to do or anything like that. I just enjoy it so much!

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02 Oct 2013 14:21 #162281 by bioball
Ha ha, its no problem the worse part is having to live through the beatings.

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02 Oct 2013 17:58 - 02 Oct 2013 18:02 #162303 by dragonstout

bioball wrote:

Here's the problem: three colors works okay when the third color is a splash. But here you've got Young Pyromancer, Scroll Thief, and Blood Bairn, all of which really want to be cast early, but there is nothing at all to help you *get* all three of those colors early beyond wishin' and hopin'. I feel like you're going to be relying on one of two things happening:
- you get really lucky and get all three colors of mana early, no problem!
- the opponent is slow and clunky, so you have time to not be able to cast things

And so it came to pass, 3 colors just could not compete with the two color decks. Even what some of them lacked in solid punch was made up for in consistency. I was able to play some nifty tricks with the Blightcaster, but ultimately I spend most of the 2nd league meeting fighting my own mana layout. Either I’d draw all three colors but then had little to play. Or I (oddly & worse) drew only mountains, islands, but had mostly black creatures in my hand. I only won a single match- fucking depressing seeing as I’ve played the deck in non-recorded games and it was able to throw up impressive fights. Even what some of them lacked in solid punch was made up for in consistency. I was able to play some nifty tricks with the Blightcaster, but ultimately I spend most of the 2nd league meeting fighting my own mana layout. Either I’d draw all three colors but then had little to play. Or I (oddly & worse) drew only mountains, islands, but had mostly black creatures in my hand.

Saying "I told you so" gives me no satisfaction :-( Valuable lesson learned, though, about the value of consistency vs. power. In a sealed deck tournament, pros will go for consistency every time, but it's sometimes recommended for noobs in a sealed deck tournament to lean towards the power side of the spectrum instead. The idea here being that a pro just needs his deck to not do something disastrous to win; at long as it's decent, he can rely on his better playskill. Whereas a worse player needs his *deck* to do more of the work for him, and therefore needs his deck to do something crazy to have a chance to win against a pro.

Anyway, that's a tangent to what's going on here. Different people argue different things for power vs. consistency, it depends largely on preferred playstyle. Though yes, the more you trust your own playskill the more you should lean toward consistency. And as I said before, if you're fine with giving up wins for the sake of some cool combos you want to pull off every once in a while, more power to ya.

bioball wrote: The league field was:
GB- Slivers, Doom Blade, Hunt the Weak, with Woodborn Behemoth, Fireshrieker and Enlarge
BU- removal and top end evasive creatures plus card draw provide by 3 Scroll Thevies
GU- San’s deck that I ceeded too after he dropped Dismiss into Dream with Zephyr Charge out
WR- Slivers and red removal with Serra Angel/Planeswalker-Pridecaller
WU- Medium flyers (e.g. Charging Griffin 3/3 flyer on attack), with white removal and blue bounce

Tough crowd! TWO sliver decks (though the GB can't have leaned on Slivers as much, since there's only one black sliver, at rare). Scroll Thief is so awesome with removal, and even awesome just with bounce (bounce a blocker, draw a card to replace the bounce spell)!

bioball wrote: So with a heavy sigh I opened my 2nd pack a drew the following:

Seacoast Drake (1|3 blue flyer)
Divination (draw 2)
Forest
Wring Flesh (-3/-1 instant)
Artificers Hex
Gladecover Scout (1/1 hex proof)
Elixir of Immortality
Divine Favor (+1/+3)
Corpse Hauler (2B to bring a creature back to my hand)
Solemn Offering
Scourge of Valkas (2RRR 4/4 flying dragon R: +1/0 until end of turn)
Brindle Boar
Darksteel Ingot
Quag Sickness (2B, enchanted creature gains -X/-X equal to the number of swamps)

Cards I'm most excited about are Scourge of Valkas (obviously) and Quag Sickness, and Darksteel Ingot probably makes the cut in most decks, and there are a few other nice cards. Problem is: Scourge of Valkas and Quag Sickness REALLY don't want to go in the same deck! Or rather, if you're BR, you'll probably put them in the same deck anyway...but they won't be very optimal, and fight against consistency (e.g. it'll be uncommon that you can cast the Scourge on the 5th turn).

bioball wrote: I think at this point it would be better for my deck to transition to BR. A lot of my deck’s power runs on the aggressive stance the its black creatures and Air Servents provide. And all my humans do nice duty as back up producing tokens or -2/-2, so when I cast spell I get a little extra out of them. However my deck is short on removal and card draw. Red would allow more removal and consistency while retaining core features of earlier builds.

I'll have to look over what you had before again, but certainly my memory is that all three of your B, U, and R were good, and your new pack certainly didn't offer anything exciting to W or G.
Last edit: 02 Oct 2013 18:02 by dragonstout.

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03 Oct 2013 17:40 #162359 by dragonstout
BTW, an easy way to show off your decklists in a nice, easily understandable way, is deckbox.org. Check it out! It's easy to update once you're only adding 15 cards a month.

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01 Feb 2014 16:02 #171104 by scrumpyjack
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I needed some advice! Based on San's excellent articles I pulled some friends together and started up a sealed booster league. There are 4 of us so far and we had a lot of fun. Even though it was my first time playing magic (beyond a learning game) I managed to go 2-0 and 2-1 in our little mini-tournament using a blue-green control(ish) deck! One guy even managed to pull an Archangel of Thune and used it to great effect. We're meeting next week to open our final M14 booster then after that we'll be on to Theros. My question is, at what point do you raise the card minimum from 40 cards (if ever)? Do you increase it with every booster pack, or at some other point? Thanks!
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01 Feb 2014 19:59 #171108 by dragonstout

scrumpyjack wrote: Sorry to resurrect this thread but I needed some advice! Based on San's excellent articles I pulled some friends together and started up a sealed booster league. There are 4 of us so far and we had a lot of fun. Even though it was my first time playing magic (beyond a learning game) I managed to go 2-0 and 2-1 in our little mini-tournament using a blue-green control(ish) deck! One guy even managed to pull an Archangel of Thune and used it to great effect. We're meeting next week to open our final M14 booster then after that we'll be on to Theros. My question is, at what point do you raise the card minimum from 40 cards (if ever)? Do you increase it with every booster pack, or at some other point? Thanks!

That's a really really good question (btw, I'd suggest moving on to Theros instead of M14 as soon as humanly possible, unless you've already bought those M14 boosters; I bet San would agree). The answer is of course that it's up to your group. The pros and cons are:

Sticking to 40 cards, you'll see greater improvement and change as you add packs. Also, sticking to 40 cards, you can have specialized decks; you can actually build your deck around combos and synergy and theme. There will be greater variety from one deck to another deck.

Going to 60 cards, your decks will have greater variety WITHIN decks. You'll see a smaller percentage of your deck each game, so it's maybe less likely that your deck will get stale to you. Your decks are also less powerful: some people enjoy less powerful decks, some people enjoy more powerful decks. Your deck is more likely to be a mish-mosh, so it'll feel like your deck is at the same power-level as it was at the beginning.

Now, one way to get that "greater variety WITHIN decks" despite having 40-card decks is to have everyone build TWO decks to play with, instead of just one. Personally, that's probably the direction I'd go, especially with a small group.

Another thing to do is to just have it be 40-card decks one week, 60-card decks the next, see what's more fun! That's actually clearly the best thing to do.

Another question you have to ask is: do you want to allow trading between each other? Nate's group does not (yet), and it would be something you wouldn't introduce for a while anyway. Also, once it's introduced, there's pretty much no going back on that decision (unlike the decision between 40-card and 60-card decks). However, if you don't allow trading, and you're not building a bunch of different decks, then the packs are REALLY going to have diminishing returns at some point, as there may be just one card per pack that applies to "your" deck. Trading makes it so that you can do something with those cards in the booster that don't apply to you: they're bound to be wanted by SOMEone. Trading enables relatively super-powered decks, so be aware of that too.

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01 Feb 2014 20:02 - 01 Feb 2014 20:49 #171109 by dragonstout
Also: if it's not too late you should go to the BORN OF THE GODS prerelease today or tomorrow; prereleases are fun and low-key. Or to the release events next weekend.
Last edit: 01 Feb 2014 20:49 by dragonstout.

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01 Feb 2014 20:54 #171110 by scrumpyjack
Thanks for the very informative response! I'll talk to my group about how many cards they would like to play in their decks. Testing out both the 40 and 60 card decks during alternating weeks is a great idea. I am also very excited to transition to Theros as I love the Greek theme and the mechanics look really interesting. As of yet there is no trading in the group but I will keep your advice in mind in regards to diminishing returns from booster packs. Finally, at this point I'm still getting comfortable with the main mechanics in the game (I still mumble untap upkeep draw at the start of my turn) so I think I'll wait a bit before venturing into the public world of Magic!

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01 Feb 2014 22:10 #171112 by bioball
Here is also a small suggestion that folks might initially balk at but I think makes a lot of sense: Why not fund your booster draft sessions by pooling everyone's rares/mythic rares and selling them?

Unless you are going to start playing competitively, there is really no need to start a huge collection.

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01 Feb 2014 23:58 #171114 by dragonstout
Of course I balk, rares give SPICE to the game! Rareless Magic, BRR-RR-RRRR.....

That said: selling your rares at the END of the league is a GREAT idea! It's also typically when card prices peak: if you do a Theros league this year, prices of Theros cards will peak in the fall of this year...so you could sell them and start a new league for the new block! Though I really think that combining two adjacent blocks for a league is really fun, and TWO falls from now Theros will be at its absolute price low, so that wouldn't work if you did that.

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03 Feb 2014 15:24 #171188 by dragonstout

scrumpyjack wrote: Finally, at this point I'm still getting comfortable with the main mechanics in the game (I still mumble untap upkeep draw at the start of my turn) so I think I'll wait a bit before venturing into the public world of Magic!

I think you'd be surprised by how approachable prereleases are; that is, after all, the goal of the event, to get kitchen-table players playing in a store. Well, there's another in a few months! Here's a Forbes article from a few days ago giving tips for a newbie Magic player at their first prerelease:

www.forbes.com/sites/kellyreid/2014/01/30/453/

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03 Feb 2014 15:47 #171189 by scrumpyjack
Thanks for all the great advice dragonstout. We ended up opening our first pack of Theros yesterday, which added lots of interesting cards to the mix. My rare was unfortunately a weird artifact (Pyxis of Pandemonium) but I got a neat green bestow creature and some great blue control cards which worked really well with my current deck. And I'll definitely take your advice next time a pre-release comes around and try it out! Or maybe I'll convince some of my friends to try out a FNM with me sometime in the near future...

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03 Feb 2014 20:30 #171222 by Ancient_of_MuMu
If my 9 year old daughter can have fun at a pre-release and even draw one of her 4 games, you will not be outclassed and will have fun.
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