Chaos Draft: 4-0

Lauriel had a birthday event and her request: Chaos Draft.

There were packs of Magic: Origins, Weatherlight, Conspiracy, Homelands, Ice Age, Modern Masters, Planar Chaos: you get the idea.

I opened terrible rares: my first pick was Rix Maadi Guildmage, FFS! It didn't matter though, because about halfway through the round I realized that nobody was taking green or red in a serious way and went full on into those colors. I figured, when in doubt, go red/green beatdown.

This is the deck I settled on:

Gnarlid Pack
Drudge Beetle
Outland Colossus
Timberpack Wolf
Bloodrock Cyclops
Skitter of Lizards
Simian Spirit Guide
Pharika's Disciple x 2
Rhox Maulers
Borderland Marauder
Volcano Hellion
Sawtooth Ogre
Scab-Clan Charger

Kitesail

Madcap Skills

Lightning Javelin
Orcish Cannonade
Cone of Flame
Chandra's Fury
Retribution
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Lose Calm
Titanic Growth

There were maybe 10 cards, maybe less, that I took outside my colors: Oblivion Ring (early on when I thought White might be viable), Moor Fiend (when I thought Black might be useful) but for the most part, I was able to stick to my colors-or deal with that last card chaff.

One of the nice things about playing weird cards in constructed decks is that I have worked with very strange (or bad) cards that I might've overlooked otherwise. Madcap Skills, for example, is a pretty sweet deal in a format that is so creature combat driven and I know that because Fuz plays a deck with it. Retribution as removal is another sweet deal. I'd played enough of Origins that I knew Pharika's Disciple was going to be a problem. Volcano Hellion was a surprisingly useful card-I had hoped but this was my first time really using the card.

My first matchup was against a BG deck that was trying to use some lifegain and discard to extend the game. My creatures were just better though, and she played a little too aggressively: attacking me for 3 and taking 6 isn't as good as chump blocking and living to see another turn.

My second game was against a UW flyers deck. Game one I was on the GR swarm plan but in game two, I stalled out on finding a second Mountain and I had a hand full of cards that cost XRR. Game three had me capitalizing on the advantage of my opponent mulliganing to five cards. Madcap Skills on a Borderland Marauder did some heavy lifting for me in this game.

By game three, I was starting to get antsy. My opponents was a fellow I'd played a few times in League last year; a good player who knew how to build solid decks. Plus, I was winning. For whatever reason, winning creates some anxiety in me and I haven't figured out how to manage that without going for a brisk walk or having a stiff drink.

Still, I sat down against a WBR control deck and, in game one, found myself overrun by my own forests. It wasn't an easy game for him but I never really felt in it. Game two, however, was more of a contest. I'll let my opponent sum it up: "You had one more creature than I had removal spell." I'd also like to give Retribution the nod for MVC there. Game three had me storming out of the gate quickly with my bears and by the time he could stabilize at three life, I was casting an Outland Colossus.

My final matchup was against a UR artifact deck. I was very surprised to see this archetype available, considering the chaos draft format but she had all the basics to get it going! Unfortunately, she didn't have much removal and without removal, lots of 2/2 creatures will get the job done.

I wish I could translate this kind of general skill into play more often. 4-0 is a good record, no matter how you cut it and I feel like I should be able to leverage this kind of experience into better play.

Sick Day- Dragon Age: Inquisition

I sat on my couch this week trying to recover from illness, I got to engage in some serious game time with Dragon Age: Inquisition.

There's a lot to like about DA:I, and one of the interesting mechanics of the game is the "war table" where you go in and assign your three advisers, a diplomat, a spy, and a general, to different tasks throughout the empire. The time it takes to accomplish that task will depend on who you assign: for example, in matters of negotiation, the diplomat will often take less time to accomplish the task than the general. The player is left to go on other adventures, some of which mandate the Big Cheese to step in, others are just there because reasons but having minions running around doing things while I have adventures adds to the sense that I'm managing an empire.

From a castle, no less! It has a stable for horses or god only knows what kind of mythical mounts, shops, kitchen storerooms, labs for the creation of potions, hell, there's even an architect to rebuild the castle. And for the most part, I don't have to build that stuff: I just claim the appropriate resources and then tell my person-in-charge-of-things, "Do that."

Which is why, for the life of me, I cannot understand why the blacksmith section is so tedious. Because if you want armor or weapons of your own, you can't just provide raw materials to your two blacksmiths, one of whom is a dwarf who specializes in adding magical runes. No, you have to put all those things together. Yourself.

Why? Why do I have to do that? I already have to drag my ass around the entire empire and collect resources. Just make the awesome thing. Or, fine, tell me; Hey, this is what I need to make the awesome thing (flowcharts, baby laughter, blueprints, my virginity back, whatever!) and I'll go collect it and then the blacksmith tells me: It'll be done soon!

But no. I have to micromanage this weird shit. And for the most part, I'm not even getting better armor out of it than I am by just stumbling across armor in the field!

Good thing I'm sick. Otherwise, who would put up with this crap?

Four Color Misery (League)

After looking over what I opened last week, I've come to the inevitable conclusion that I don't have enough creatures to make a three color deck out of last week's packs. I barely have enough to make a four color deck. But you need creatures to win, so this is what I'm looking at shuffling up, at least for now.

Excoriate
Suppression Bonds

Blood-Cursed Knight
Destructive Revelry

Fleshbag Marauder
Aspect of Gorgon
Viper's Kiss
Feast of Dreams
Weight of the Underworld
Fetid Imp
Asphyxiate

Pharagax Giant
Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass
Lightning Diadem
Titan's Strength
Satyr Rambler
Fanatic of Mogis
Starfall
Fall of the Hammer
Smash to Smithereens

Raised by Wolves
Nessian Asp
Might of the Masses
Bassara Tower Archer
Agent of Horizons
Market Festival
Woodland Bellower
Spirespine
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Fade into Antiquity
Setessan Oathsworn
Nessian Courser
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof

Veteran's Sidearm
Sigil of Valor
Traveler's Amulet
Springleaf Drum

Mana Confluence
Temple of Enlightenment

This the first draft of the deck and I suspect I'll try and tweak it further with white if I can. That it allows me to play creatures like Daxos of Meletis isn't a bad thing if the mana can work. I'm adding the white for one reason: I have two rares that can produce the mana for it.

If that's the signal that I should be adding some white, then I may as well follow it. Between the Market Festival, Traveler's Amulet and Springleaf Drum, it's possible I can work around the mana issues and have a deck worth playing. I don't really like this option but playing to the mana isn't a bad strategy under the circumstances. Everyone else will be having similar problems, at least for a little while and until I can solidify the colors this is as good an idea as any.

Note To Self

"I just don't feel like I'm getting better," I told Fuz.  "I keep playing decks that are losing, you know?"

"You have two hundred decks, man," he replied, "your power level is really diffused, in comparison."

And this is true. Plus, I like to build decks pushing a single concept or around cards that aren't really meant to tentpole a deck. It makes for interesting questions (How can I use Ashling's Prerogative) but it often makes for weak decks.

However, as I was filing away the cards I got from Origins, I kept looking at all these solid, powerful cards I had in the binder and I realized that I wanted to be a bit more active in my use of these cards, incorporating them into my decks. I have some great cards! I should be more proactive in my use of them. Not having cards gather dust in the binder is precisely why I'm playing with cards like Spectral Bears.

Nonetheless, there's no point in spending money on awesome cards and then just letting them do nothing. It's time to bring those big guns into the light.

League 2015

We've started a League again, made up from packs of the current Standard. This time it's going to be much shorter though: Day 1: Mini masters, (sort of) where every round has you adding a pack, until 4 rounds have passed.

I...didn't do so well. I think my record was 1-3. But mini masters is a silly format anyway and everyone had fun. That's what mattered.

Now we move on to Day 2: Sealed deck construction. Of the packs I opened, I now have to make the best 60 card deck I can. Every round: I'll add another pack from the current Standard pool, and tweak the deck as best I can.

The packs I opened were Magic:Origins and Theros block. Since I wasn't a fan of those sets, perhaps that's why my results were so poor? Cards with a * next to them signify my rares.

Mana Confluence*
Temple of Enlightenment*

Destructive Revelry
Daxos of Meletis*
Blood-Cursed Knight

Springleaf Drum
Traveler's Amulet
Sigil of Valor
Veteran's Sidearm

Retraction Helix
Crypsis
Riptide Chimera
Screeching Skaab
Pin to the Earth
Dreadwaters
Lost in a Labyrinth
Cloaked Siren

Starfall
Fall of the Hammer
Pharagax Giant
Cyclops of the One-Eyed Pass
Lightning Diadem
Titan's Strength
Smash to Smithereens
Satyr Rambler
Fanatic of Mogis

Fleshbag Marauder
Aspect of Gorgon
Viper's Kiss
Feast of Dreams
Black Oak of Odunos
Weight of the Underworld
Fetid Imp
Asphyxiate

Glare of Heresy
Suppression Bonds
Mortal Obstinacy
Healing Hands
Great Hart
Observant Alseid
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
Excoriate

Raised by Wolves
Nessian Asp
Might of the Masses
Bassara Tower Archer
Shredding Winds
Agent of Horizons
Market Festival
Woodland Bellower*
Spirespine
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Fade into Antiquity
Setessan Oathsworn
Nessian Courser
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof

Man, is this bad. Half of my rares are lands and only one (Woodland Bellower) could rightly be considered a good card. You know what? This is what happened last year, too.

Gah.

So, Green gives me the most depth and some targets for Woodland Bellower. Daxos is potentially really awesome but I'm not sure about my White or Blue. Red seems to be next best-ish and Black is...I don't know. I've got a little time to mock up some ideas so I'll start there, and I know it's going to be Green/X/x which means I have a place to start.

Oblivion Sower

So the first card for Battle for Zendikar has arrived: Oblivion Sower.

There are a few interesting things about this card for me and most of them aren't very exciting.

First, I think the ability on Oblivion Sower is likely the new Eldrazi ability. Of Return of the Eldrazi's colorless Eldrazi creatures, all of them had Annihilator. Which means that the ability of 'exile the top X of an opponent's library and then get Y', where Y = creatures, lands, spells, whatever, is probably the ability of all the new colorless Eldrazi.

I'll just use Eldrazi as short for the colorless creatures from here out. Nobody cares that Rapacious One is an Eldrazi.

I don't think this ability is very exciting, myself and I think it's got a similar problem to Annihilator, which has been nixed as a mechanic for being too 'feel bad'. In the same vein, I think that the free theft of people's decks also feels bad. I think of a card like Shared Fate, which denies people the ability to play their own decks and I see a cousin to this new Eldrazi mechanic.

They don't print cards like Shared Fate often and for a good reason: it's complicated and it cuts a player off from their own creation.

There's also a feel bad if Oblivion Sower misses. Sure, you're likely to get at least one land out of the deal, and just dicking around with the top four cards of various decks I own suggests that two lands is going to be average--and that doesn't suck! But. You're going to miss, too, leaving you with a 5/8 that has no other abilities.

It could be even more one-dimensional; the Eldrazi could only steal lands. That would avoid the 'feel bad' of cutting someone's deck off, but my goodness is that boring as hell. Plus, it would mean that WotC is avoiding a big chunk of design space and I'm not certain why they'd do that. I may not like this ability but the variance of stealing spells or permanents makes sense, provides an actual threat and still allows for the ability to miss. Leaving players with giant vanilla creatures.

Avoiding these feel bad moments means that my next point is pretty likely.

Since the ability on Oblivion Sower reads 'put any number of land cards that player owns in exile' suggests two things: a) that this block will put things into Exile more than Magic has before and b) that this block will interact with that Exile zone more than the game has before.

Making the Exile zone Graveyard 2: Electric Boogaloo. I've talked about this before and stonethorn rightly pointed out that the Exile zone has had a steady stream of cards interacting with that zone for a long time. They are always limited in their interactions but they do exist. My problem is that Exile zone interactions adds complication to the game and I don't think the game needs to be more complicated.

Now, on the other hand I recognize that while it may've been more interesting to have those cards go to the graveyard instead, it presents other problems, because if the Eldrazi milled decks and then stole, players would have more challenging decisions to make playing decks that are using the Delve (in Standard) and feed the graveyard at large (in all other formats). That seems a lot cooler however, I do see that there's an inherent risk powering up your opponent's strategies and leaving you with a vanilla 5/8. That kind of risk makes for an interesting game--or it might, if you didn't pay 6 mana for a 5/8 that has no other value if it misses.

This takes away from the coolness and the threat that the Eldrazi represent, bringing me to the last point.

I just don't get the same feeling from this mechanic as I did from Annihilator. Annihilator felt scary and new, alien and different from the other colors. This just seems Blue, attached to a body that dies to Terror.

That doesn't mean that I think that every Eldrazi should be Emrakul. That would be awful for the game and I don't believe that Oblivion Sower has zero impact. It almost certainly needs more context to be properly evaluated. But it doesn't bring that same sense of dread, either and that's too bad.

Revisiting: DDMD, Let's Do This

I brought out Die Die My Darling during every game of Magic I could. The interesting news: Omniscience is good but it isn't brilliant. It wasn't a win more effect though, as playing spells for free was very useful when I didn't have the mana.

Die, Die has a few issues. One is trying to get the combo set up quickly enough. Another is making sure the combo lasts long enough to win. On a couple of occasions, Path to Exile was a problem for me (although I started naming that card with Cabal Therapy as soon as I understood it was there to take).

There were multiple games where I got stuck with a Sensei's Divining Top out and my top two cards were Confiscate and Omniscience and I couldn't find a card to shuffle them away. I was also a little frustrated with my mana base and then, boom, it hit me.

Temple of Silence. Here's a way to let the Top work better!

Next up, was finding a replacement for Nightmare Void.

With Path being an issue, and Theros...well, existing, I have a chance to think outside the box. After pawing through every card in the binder, I have come to a conclusion:

Theros really didn't develop enchantments in an interesting or meaningful way.

That doesn't mean that there isn't anything at all, though. First, we have Archetype of Endurance, which is a pretty flashy way to solve that Path to Exile solution my opponents could run. Next, Chromanticore is an option I'm testing. Partly because, who doesn't want to try Chromanticore? But also because of the lifelink. If my combo takes too long to get going, lifelink could extend the game long enough for me to win.

Finally, I went for the obvious card: Starfield of Nyx. While I don't expect the living enchantment aspect of Starfield to ever trigger, getting back a binned Eldrazi Conscription or reusing Seal of Doom seems like a good idea.

I just need to acquire a Starfield in non-Cockatrice formats and I can test it in real life. For now I'll sub in a Primeval Bounty, just for the hell of it.