Sorry, everyone; I meant to get this out on Tuesday but I was sick as a dog. I'll try and get two posts up today so I'm back on schedule.
Built this in an all Born of the Gods draft:
4x Excoriate
Bolt of Keranos
Pinnacle of Rage
Glimpse the Sun God
Fated Retribution
Acolyte's Reward
2x Fall of the Hammer
2x Loyal Pegasus
2x Impetuous Sunchaser
Great Hart
God-Favored General
Hero of Iroas
Akroan Skyguard
Akroan Phalanx
Reckless Reveler
Thunder Brute
Pharagax Giant
Eidolon of Countless Battles
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
9 Plains
7 Mountains
And, uh, it was pretty insane. Now, I was a little lucky because in a 10 person event, we were split into two five-person pods. That means that normally, 4x Excoriate is not going to come my way. In addition, with no Theros to break it up, the consistency levels were off the scale. Still, this was as good a setup as I could ever ask for and it paid off because not only did I go 4-0, I won all my matches straight out, 2-0.
My sideboard consisted of Dawn to Dusk and Scouring Sands. It wasn't much but it was enough to get me there.
What was surprising to me was how often Impetuous Sunchaser did great work. It was annoying how little damage was being dealt but opponents kept having issues with it. Combined with the occasional awesomeness of Akroan Phalanx, I was able to get a lot of pressure put on people who played against me.
RW aggro seems to be way, way better right now than RB or RG aggro, which is...a little weird but OK, we can run with that.
Showing posts with label Born of the Gods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Born of the Gods. Show all posts
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Born of the Gods pre-release
I used to do a little better at the pre-releases and I seem to be in a bit of a slump. I went 1-2 last weekend (same as at Gatecrash)and while I had a nice enough time, I just couldn't get the games to fall my way. Yet I don't really feel that concerned. While writing this post, I saw this video on the Knight's Tour, a chess problem that mathematicians have been working on for years. What's interesting about that video, for me, is how people took an already complex problem (how can we use the knight to touch every square on the board) to make an even more complicated problem (let's make a perfect square!)
For me this idea explains a great deal. I am interested in revamping my decks until they work and then my interest tends to fall away. Solving a problem means I don't have to work on it anymore. I think this is why I keep generating decks: they are new problems so solve. But Theros doesn't seem to give me a problem to solve. None of my losses felt as though they were due to player error or a misunderstanding of the environment, or a revelation about how the cards in BotG interacted with Theros. I either had creatures or I didn't, or worse, I just had creatures outclassed by theirs, and that feels more like a luck-based loss than a skilled one.
I started off with a B/W build that I thought had a very solid curve-lots of plays turns 1-3-but it didn't pay off for me in the first match. I was up against an aggressive RW build and couldn't find a fourth land in either game. It's all well and good to have a curve but at some point I still need mana to play the bigger creatures that come along. Never happened. The match was over before match slips had been delivered!
So I decided to use my extra time to look over my deck and change it up. Green had been my original choice over white, but the curve in white was better so that concept won me over. I swapped the white out for green and thought I had a much better gameplan (cast big creatures and hope for the best).
It worked out better in round 2; I went 2-1 against a U/R deck using scry and fliers to pave the way to victory. I was able to mount an offense as well as use Fate Unraveler for the slow burn to keep myself in it. My final play of game 3 involved Bestowing an Setessan Oathsworn with Nylea's Emissary and then attacking for 10.
Unfortunately, my third matchup was not going to be as kind. Playing opposite a BW deck that had Brimaz and played it in games 1 and 2, I was in for an uphill battle. I lost to Brimaz in game one; game two when he showed up on turn 3, I managed to stalemate the board and eventually use Fleetfeather Sandals on Fate Unraveler to fly over for the win.
But game three had me mulligan down to 5 cards. In a limited environment, this is almost akin to conceding. Despite that, I still made a pretty good stance, keeping my opponent off WW by milling at least 3 Plains via two Returned Centaurs but in the end I was just overwhelmed by lifelink and fliers and lifelinked flilers.
What's discouraging is that not only did I not have an answer, I was never going to have an answer. There was not a deck configuration that was going to help me in that game: I could either splash a third color for some removal, and look at losses due to mana screw, or I could do what I did. Mana is so important that I prioritized it over running one copy of Magma Jet, and I think rightly so.
Lesson from the games: Enchantment removal can be used as creature removal, but it is unwise to consider it actual removal.
For me this idea explains a great deal. I am interested in revamping my decks until they work and then my interest tends to fall away. Solving a problem means I don't have to work on it anymore. I think this is why I keep generating decks: they are new problems so solve. But Theros doesn't seem to give me a problem to solve. None of my losses felt as though they were due to player error or a misunderstanding of the environment, or a revelation about how the cards in BotG interacted with Theros. I either had creatures or I didn't, or worse, I just had creatures outclassed by theirs, and that feels more like a luck-based loss than a skilled one.
I started off with a B/W build that I thought had a very solid curve-lots of plays turns 1-3-but it didn't pay off for me in the first match. I was up against an aggressive RW build and couldn't find a fourth land in either game. It's all well and good to have a curve but at some point I still need mana to play the bigger creatures that come along. Never happened. The match was over before match slips had been delivered!
So I decided to use my extra time to look over my deck and change it up. Green had been my original choice over white, but the curve in white was better so that concept won me over. I swapped the white out for green and thought I had a much better gameplan (cast big creatures and hope for the best).
It worked out better in round 2; I went 2-1 against a U/R deck using scry and fliers to pave the way to victory. I was able to mount an offense as well as use Fate Unraveler for the slow burn to keep myself in it. My final play of game 3 involved Bestowing an Setessan Oathsworn with Nylea's Emissary and then attacking for 10.
Unfortunately, my third matchup was not going to be as kind. Playing opposite a BW deck that had Brimaz and played it in games 1 and 2, I was in for an uphill battle. I lost to Brimaz in game one; game two when he showed up on turn 3, I managed to stalemate the board and eventually use Fleetfeather Sandals on Fate Unraveler to fly over for the win.
But game three had me mulligan down to 5 cards. In a limited environment, this is almost akin to conceding. Despite that, I still made a pretty good stance, keeping my opponent off WW by milling at least 3 Plains via two Returned Centaurs but in the end I was just overwhelmed by lifelink and fliers and lifelinked flilers.
What's discouraging is that not only did I not have an answer, I was never going to have an answer. There was not a deck configuration that was going to help me in that game: I could either splash a third color for some removal, and look at losses due to mana screw, or I could do what I did. Mana is so important that I prioritized it over running one copy of Magma Jet, and I think rightly so.
Lesson from the games: Enchantment removal can be used as creature removal, but it is unwise to consider it actual removal.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Born of the Gods odds
Now that spoiler season is upon us and we're less than two weeks out from the Born of the Gods prerelease, now is as good a time as any to take a look at the upcoming cards and mechanics. The usual caveats about prereleases apply but let's have fun anyway.
The first thing to note is that Monstrous isn't returning, which suggests to me that it is a mechanic that WotC thought needed more work. Rosewater can claim all he likes about feeling that the mechanic has room to play in, the fact is that this mechanic has been one of the worst written ones I've seen in years and had some incredibly weak implementation. Of the 16 creatures with Monstrous, (in a 234 card set- that's 6% so...lot's of faith that WotC has in that mechanic) none of them are very compelling so it seems like it's wise to let that one percolate a bit more.
Which leads us to Tribute, the creature mechanic to replace Monstrous in Born of the Gods. Based off the punisher mechanic from Odyssey block, the mechanic wants to give opponents a choice between two 'bad' options. This is an easy one to judge because it will be strictly about whether or not both choices are bad.
Pharagax Giant is the example of weak implementation: 5 damage or allowing a 5/5 creature with no abilities for 5 mana isn't a difficult choice. Let them have the 5/5 and chump block or kill it later, unless you're ahead on the board then just take 5 and run over their tiny 3/3. This isn't even a difficult decision in multiplayer, although it does become more interesting as it could be a way to screw over the person who's got the lowest life total.
On the other hand, Fanatic of Xenagos is a fantastic execution of this mechanic. A 3/3 trampler for 3 mana is good as is and now the opponent has to choose if it's a 4/4 or if it will be a 4/4 with haste for a turn.
The success of Tribute depends on more cards being like Fanatic than the Giant. I don't have a lot of hope that WotC will do this but of the five creatures with Tribute, two of them-the Fanatic and Flame-Wreathed Phoenix-seem to be pretty good. The other three creatures are just big dumb monsters (two of which in green, continuing WotC's "green's creatures are terrible" policy) that are just bigger and dumber with tribute and don't really provide opponents with a difficult choice. 6/6 creatures that die to a 1/1 with deathtouch and don't do anything else are rarely worth the mana, especially since neither of them solve the problems that you want solved.
Heroic and Bestow both come back and I haven't really seen anything in those mechanics that wow me more than the last time. Again; it's still early but Bestow hasn't gotten any cheaper and Heroic hasn't gotten any more interesting. I don't know if it's fair to ask limited-level mechanics to occasionally step up and be constructed worthy but it would be nice if they occasionally tried.
Last we have Inspired, which is the second mechanic from the Shadowmoor block they've reskinned. First, I miss the untap symbol. Just look at it: it's cooool. An aesthetic thing but still, I prefer the elegance of that symbol over the keyword + explanation that Inspired has.
Second, by making this a triggered ability instead of an activated one, it's suddenly become a mechanic that has a lot more to manage. With cards like Gilder Bairn, if you could tap the creature, you could untap the creature as an ability innate to the creature, so you didn't need to try and get a second card out there to get the effect. In comparison, Inspired happens no matter how the creature becomes untapped, which guarantees you the effect at the beginning of every turn (should your creature be untapped). They even nerf the Inspired mechanic on certain cards by requiring a mana payment on the triggered ability, in order to keep players from simply abusing combos.
My preference is for the former, as it means that 1) I don't need another card or time in order for the ability to be used. A card that is good unto itself is better than one that relies on outside forces. 2) I like the untap symbol. 3) For me, the Shadowmoor mechanic is clearer as it's written in the traditional Cost; Result style. Inspired uses a whole lot more text and is less elegant.
It's not a terrible mechanic, although I can't say I'm excited about the implementation of it so far. Gaining life, paying to generate creatures, these aren't terrible things but they aren't that cool either. The one that is generating the most buzz is Pain Seer, because it allows for card draw but even then the buzz has been relatively calm.
We'll see what the future holds; with nearly 100 cards to be revealed, I'm hopeful there are some gems amongst this bunch but since so many rares have been displayed, that hope isn't very high.
The first thing to note is that Monstrous isn't returning, which suggests to me that it is a mechanic that WotC thought needed more work. Rosewater can claim all he likes about feeling that the mechanic has room to play in, the fact is that this mechanic has been one of the worst written ones I've seen in years and had some incredibly weak implementation. Of the 16 creatures with Monstrous, (in a 234 card set- that's 6% so...lot's of faith that WotC has in that mechanic) none of them are very compelling so it seems like it's wise to let that one percolate a bit more.
Which leads us to Tribute, the creature mechanic to replace Monstrous in Born of the Gods. Based off the punisher mechanic from Odyssey block, the mechanic wants to give opponents a choice between two 'bad' options. This is an easy one to judge because it will be strictly about whether or not both choices are bad.
Pharagax Giant is the example of weak implementation: 5 damage or allowing a 5/5 creature with no abilities for 5 mana isn't a difficult choice. Let them have the 5/5 and chump block or kill it later, unless you're ahead on the board then just take 5 and run over their tiny 3/3. This isn't even a difficult decision in multiplayer, although it does become more interesting as it could be a way to screw over the person who's got the lowest life total.
On the other hand, Fanatic of Xenagos is a fantastic execution of this mechanic. A 3/3 trampler for 3 mana is good as is and now the opponent has to choose if it's a 4/4 or if it will be a 4/4 with haste for a turn.
The success of Tribute depends on more cards being like Fanatic than the Giant. I don't have a lot of hope that WotC will do this but of the five creatures with Tribute, two of them-the Fanatic and Flame-Wreathed Phoenix-seem to be pretty good. The other three creatures are just big dumb monsters (two of which in green, continuing WotC's "green's creatures are terrible" policy) that are just bigger and dumber with tribute and don't really provide opponents with a difficult choice. 6/6 creatures that die to a 1/1 with deathtouch and don't do anything else are rarely worth the mana, especially since neither of them solve the problems that you want solved.
Heroic and Bestow both come back and I haven't really seen anything in those mechanics that wow me more than the last time. Again; it's still early but Bestow hasn't gotten any cheaper and Heroic hasn't gotten any more interesting. I don't know if it's fair to ask limited-level mechanics to occasionally step up and be constructed worthy but it would be nice if they occasionally tried.
Last we have Inspired, which is the second mechanic from the Shadowmoor block they've reskinned. First, I miss the untap symbol. Just look at it: it's cooool. An aesthetic thing but still, I prefer the elegance of that symbol over the keyword + explanation that Inspired has.
Second, by making this a triggered ability instead of an activated one, it's suddenly become a mechanic that has a lot more to manage. With cards like Gilder Bairn, if you could tap the creature, you could untap the creature as an ability innate to the creature, so you didn't need to try and get a second card out there to get the effect. In comparison, Inspired happens no matter how the creature becomes untapped, which guarantees you the effect at the beginning of every turn (should your creature be untapped). They even nerf the Inspired mechanic on certain cards by requiring a mana payment on the triggered ability, in order to keep players from simply abusing combos.
My preference is for the former, as it means that 1) I don't need another card or time in order for the ability to be used. A card that is good unto itself is better than one that relies on outside forces. 2) I like the untap symbol. 3) For me, the Shadowmoor mechanic is clearer as it's written in the traditional Cost; Result style. Inspired uses a whole lot more text and is less elegant.
It's not a terrible mechanic, although I can't say I'm excited about the implementation of it so far. Gaining life, paying to generate creatures, these aren't terrible things but they aren't that cool either. The one that is generating the most buzz is Pain Seer, because it allows for card draw but even then the buzz has been relatively calm.
We'll see what the future holds; with nearly 100 cards to be revealed, I'm hopeful there are some gems amongst this bunch but since so many rares have been displayed, that hope isn't very high.
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