FULL DISCLAIMER: I majored in political science and suck at math, but I'm trying my damn best here people. Additionally, this article was authored between the end of Day 2 of PT Amsterdam and directly following the top 8. Nadu, Winged Wisdom just posted one of the best showings at
Kazi Baker's really great write-up on why they think Nadu should be banned in Modern after the PT MH3 showing last weekend.
> Nadu, Winged Wisdom just posted one of the best showings at a Pro Tour of any new card(s) ever. The deck is comparable to decks (and seasoned) headlined by both Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and Eye of Ugin Eldrazi in terms of conversion rate to Day 2, and slightly behind Eldrazi and significantly ahead of Hogaak (although for context, Hogaak had not received its power up from a ban yet) in terms of top 8 finishes at its first Pro Tour. > > But how did this happen, and how did it happen so quickly?
60% for Bant Nadu with that many games is insane imo. This is after a short time since MH3 came out too, not sure what that's going to be once it gets played more and more.
Thought this was a really wonderful project put together by Julien Rodriguez.
> Prepared by Julien Rodriguez. Byes were ignored. Draws were interpreted as non-wins, which is the reason some decks are shown as having <100% win rate in the mirror-match.
There's no doubt in my mind Nadu eats a Hogaak style ban too. Way overpowered and way too much representation.
I also honestly still think The One Ring needs to go too. That card is bonkers level nuts and I think it's being slightly overshadowed by the even more nuts Nadu.
I just want to say I think we're lucky to have Corey Baumeister and his commentary! I could listen to this guy 24 hours a day.
Only one player will rise to the top of the $500,000 prize pool at Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3!
Direct link here: https://www.twitch.tv/magic
Day 1: Draft and Modern
Looking at the full decklist, damn I think you would have 3-0'd this even without any!
I totally agree. In this video one of the guys basically says whenever he sees a turn 1 Grief->Reanimate->Grief or an Initiative creature he just scoops and decides its not worth playing that game. I get that this on the extreme side, but when you have players activity deciding to just scoop instead of playing out a game, because of how mentally exasperating it is, I wonder what the f- are we even doing! This is a GAME. This screams to me local/community ban list. I were running a store and trying to get people to come out, I would just manage my own banlist, but a community created one would go the furthest I think.
I don't play Legacy but I've always been a big fan of the format. It's very interesting to hear their thoughts on how negatively impactful Grief has been for the format. I think it's frustrating but expected that Wizards delays banning a card from the current active set that they're promoting. They haven't even shipped out Gift Bundles yet (July) so to ban a card from the set before people even receive the product is definitely never happening.
I do think that Grief creates non-games, and I think non-games are truly antithetical to "fun" and fun should be the #1 concern for every game in existence. The fact that they're not banning it means they care more about money than fun.
This is probably the most excited I've been for a set since I can remember. I really love the whole theme and concept.
Zac and Phil discuss their disappointment with the lack of changes in the recent ban announcement for the Legacy format. They express frustration with the card Grief, its impact on the format, and the lack of communication and transparency from Wizards of the Coast. They suggest the need for a community committee to provide input and feedback on the format, and emphasize the importance of transparency and timely action from WotC.
I think they quietly renamed Historic Brawl to "Brawl" and then Brawl became "Standard Brawl". That's just from what I've seen online but I don't if that's formal or anything.
I think they should have dropped the 2,300 gem cost to unlock it, and just allowed everyone to accumulate tickets accordingly. I don't mind a new currency in the game, but this is really just another bundle sold to us for gems/money. And you have to do work to accumulate the rewards after you pay.
Not really in love with this, as it kinda reads like a second Mastery Pass that costs less but with fewer (worse?) rewards. Still just kind of comes off like another complicated and confusing system to extract more money up front from the players.
More info at https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/psychic-frogs-horizon-hideaway-on-mtg-arena
> How well do you know your Magic: The Gathering cards? Magic Untapped presents yet another 10 bits of cool facts and trivia about some of the Magic: The Gathering cards you just might have in your collection right now.
via Magic Untapped on YouTube
So far, fwiw, the best take on solving mana screw imo has been what the game Sorcery Contested Realm has done. You have a 40 card deck and a separate 20 card lands deck. In Magic you would start with 4 spells and 3 lands, one free mulligan in both decks, and then you draw from either deck for the turn. Cards would have to be erratad en masse to make this work in Magic, but I think Arena kinda solves it with "seeking" a land vs. a spell. I don't know how that works in Magic outside of at least smoothing an opening hand. The game would need to refer to the deck separately from the "atlas" of lands.
Regarding his biggest fear and Magic's biggest threats:
“The places I get worried about are Magic’s tournament system, which has historically been important to Magic’s health. And then the philosophy that you should not make rare cards so powerful that you need them. People feel that’s a philosophy that has been broken from time to time, and I think it’s always been a mistake. It might have made money in the short run, but it has hurt the game in the long run, or at least until it was corrected,” he said.
“I think things that are existential threats for a game like Magic is if the community breaks down, and here I'm thinking of the community built around tournaments, but not just that. Or if people see it as being a game where you can buy victory, which is associated with this idea of making rare cards too powerful—or powerful cards too rare would be another way to put it. Those are serious problems which might lead to short-term profit but will lead to long-term problems that could be catastrophic.”
As the number of cards in circulation grew, Garfield went out of his way to keep common or easier-to-find cards powerful, while also keeping the rare cards narrowly attuned and never so powerful that you needed them to win. He would sometimes demonstrate this by bringing a deck full of common cards to games stores and beating players who had decks stuffed with expensive rares.
Today, getting rich kids to buy 10 sets of the game seems to be Hasbro’s primary business model. Wizards has adopted a punishing release schedule, printing so many new cards that the Bank of America recently reprimanded Hasbro for trying to over-monetize their players and downgraded the company’s stock. When I asked Garfield what he thought about this, he pleaded ignorance and told me he’s been completely disconnected from the game since the pandemic. He’s heard rumors that have alarmed him, but he thinks Wizards of the Coast old-timers like Bill Rose and Mark Rosewater still have the game’s best interests at heart.
I thought this was particularly interesting. I love the original vision Garfield had with commons vs. rares, bring that back!
I'm actually really looking forward to Commander draft. Seems absolutely wild, and I like that you get a Collector booster to choose a commander from and kind of know your colors before the draft starts.
I honestly don't buy that there is a pristine 10 Alpha Black Lotus in existence. The fact that they're claiming a 10 makes me extremely skeptical of all of this.
Catch up with the latest info and events on MTG Arena.
cross-posted from: https://mtgzone.com/post/613307
> In this edition: > > - Pro Tour Thunder Junction Winner and Top Performing Decks > - The Big Score Alchemy Preconstructed Festival April 30–May 7 > - WPN Outlaws of Thunder Junction Promo > - May Best-of-One Qualifier Play-In This Weekend > - Arena Open: Outlaws of Thunder Junction May 4–5 > - Alchemy: Thunder Junction Gallops into Town May 7 > - Event Schedule
Yea I'm very surprised Esper didn't take this one down
Before previews for Outlaws of Thunder Junction officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only...
Before previews for Outlaws of Thunder Junction officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.
First up, here are some things you can expect:
- A new batch of five related creature types
- A card capable of returning three different card types from the graveyard to the battlefield
- A mechanic players have been asking us to do for many years gets made as the setting was the perfect place to finally do it
- Dual lands with a land subtype that has never been on dual lands before
- A new modal mechanic that introduces something different to think about
- A card that can swap/exchange control of up to three different card types
- A new creature token that has an ability no creature token has ever had before
- A typal card for Skeletons and Zombies
- Creature tokens in the set: (some might have abilities) 1/1 white Sheep, 1/1 blue Bird, 1/1 black Vampire Rogue, 1/1 red Mercenary, 2/1 green Varmint, 2/2 white Ox, 2/2 white Spirit, 2/2 blue and black Zombie, 3/1 red Dinosaur, 3/3 white Angel, 3/3 green Elk, 4/4 red Scorpion Dragon, X/X green Elemental, / Blue Ox
- Some of the planes with legendary Villains in this set: Dominaria, Eldraine, Fiora, Innistrad, Ixalan, Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Kamigawa, New Capenna, and Ravnica
Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:
- “Then repeat this process X more times.”
- “if it wasn’t cast or no mana was spent to cast it.”
- “Plotting cards from your hand costs {2} less.”
- “You can’t cast this spell during your first, second, or third turns of the game.”
- “That card gains flashback {0}”
- “Target creature becomes a white Rabbit with a base power and toughness 0/1.”
- “When you win that flip, copy that spell.”
- “If a triggered ability of a legendary creature you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.”
- “you get that many additional upkeep steps after this phase.”
- “Oxen you control have double strike.”
Here are some creature type lines from the set:
- Creature – Armadillo
- Creature – Shark Rogue
- Creature – Plant Bard
- Creature – Coyote
- Creature – Homarid Mercenary
- Creature – Rhino Brawler
- Creature – Ox Angel
- Creature – Porcupine Mount
- Legendary Creature – Kor Advisor
- Legendary Creature – Giant Scout
Finally, here are some names in the set:
- Claim Jumper
- Form a Posse
- Gold Rush
- Great Train Heist
- High Noon
- Quick Draw
- Reach for the Sky
- Resilient Roadrunner
- Shoot the Sheriff
- This Town Ain’t Big Enough
Tune-in to our official YouTube and Twitch channels on 3/26 to see Oko and the gang in action with new card reveals. In preparation, catch-up on Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s story (https://magic.wizards.com/en/story) to bring yourself into the world.
Murders at Karlov Manor has been out for about a week now, and with this guide, you’ll have a fighting chance at winning any MKM Drafts you play!
> Greetings planeswalkers! Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) has been out for about a week now. The case was solved ([[Deduce]]), and the culprit has been arraigned ([[Dramatic Accusation]]) and taken into custody ([[Makeshift Binding]]). One of the victims is even willing to testify too ([[Call a Surprise Witness]]). > > And while that’s all well and good, where does this leave us drafters? You can’t just say “Trostani did it!” when your opponent’s attacking for lethal after all. But with this guide, you’ll have a fighting chance at winning any MKM Drafts you play.
I usually use these when drafting a new set, as a LOT of work goes into creating these tierlists from the wondering JustLolaman and Scotty. They help a ton!
CovertGoBlue talks about his frustrations with the 3-year Standard rotation, and how difficult it has been lately to create Standard content.
Talks about his decaying Twitch audience and plans to move more content in YouTube. He mentions his distress in playing Arena in general, and how he doesn't necessarily want to play a different game mode in Arena.
He's will place more emphasis on Commander content. Optionally will make content elsewhere, something different or new that he is more interested in.
Dave Rapoza responds to Wizards' denial of their claimed use of AI for marketing materials: https://twitter.com/wizards_magic/status/1743014711820476536
Edit: context: https://mtgzone.com/post/376725
Our Traditional Best of Three Timeless (Bo3) metagame tier list in MTG Arena comes with the latest up to date decklists and descriptions, their weaknesses, and when it is good to play.
Really fantastic write-up for anyone interested in Timeless!
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> Hey everyone! I’m really excited to bring you my very first Timeless tier list since I’ve been absolutely loving the format and playing a ton since its release. > > I do want to preface this by saying that even though the format has been around for a few weeks at this point, data is still relatively scarce so this tier list will be slightly more subjective than usual because of that. I’ve looked at as much data as possible as well as gone through a ton of lists from the community that people have been doing well with, combined with my personal experience of the format too. > > There will also be some archetypes not included here if refined versions have yet to emerge (for example Tainted Pact + Thassa's Oracle is an archetype that has a lot of potential but I haven’t been able to arrive at a refined version I’m happy with and I haven’t found versions online that look fully refined either yet), so I don’t feel I can correctly assess the power level of these decks until more optimal versions have been found, but I will be updating this list once they have and as more decks and archetypes emerge.
Announcing changes to Pioneer, Modern, Explorer, and Pauper Constructed formats.
Announcement Date: December 4, 2023
Standard:
- No changes
Pioneer:
-
Karn, the Great Creator is banned.
-
Geological Appraiser is banned.
-
Smuggler's Copter is unbanned.
Modern:
- Fury is banned.
- Up the Beanstalk is banned.
Legacy:
- No changes
Vintage:
- No changes
Explorer:
- Karn, the Great Creator is banned.
- Geological Appraiser is banned.
Pauper:
- Monastery Swiftspear is banned.
Effective Date:
- Tabletop and Magic Online: December 4, 2023
- MTG Arena: December 5, 2023
Piped Link: https://piped.video/watch?v=-tvj5LnoA2s
This weekend is the first Arena Open since the release of the new set, and it's all about The Lost Caverns of Ixalan! Over two days, play in Sealed and Draft matches using the new set. Prove your quick grasp of the new mechanics and card interactions to reach the top and claim as much as $2,000, plus an invitation to the December Qualifier Weekend!
Mike @mtgzone.com Started playing magic with Portal and Mirage. Currently play historic and looking to get into Modern.