I think I'm done with this format. FKK is weird in ways I can't quite articulate. The signals are always wonky, I find myself scrounging for playables more often than not because the Fate Reforged commons are so weak, everybody has a bomb or two, the removal is garbage -- it just doesn't feel right. Triple Khans felt like a great, balanced format. Fate Reforged, like most small sets recently for some reason, ruined it. I don't understand R&D's recent fascination with publishing small sets full of terrible commons.
This isn't about any particular game. Just, have you ever noticed how there are some cards that you just never, ever seem to open? I went the entirety of Theros block and never saw a Courser of Kruphix. Not one. Ever. I had multiples of many Mythics, but that card, naturally worth more than almost all of the Mythics, zippo.
It's happening again with Tasigur in this set. Is he the most valuable Rare? Despite more Sealed/Draft events than I can count, never seen one ever (and I've seen two Ugins and three Monastery Mentors so I'm not just whining about how I never get valuable cards).
And - even more strangely - I can't seem to buy a Valorous Stance either. I've got literally one. I have played multiple events where I faced opponents with multiple copies of this card, so I'm willing to believe it really is uncommon, but you'd never know it from my experience. It's rarer than everything except Tasigur for me.
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Quote from Bateleur »
Ambush Krotiq makes me laugh so much. I keep rereading the card and it keeps not having Flash. In what sense is this an ambush again? I just have visions of this huge Krotiq poorly concealed in some bushes, feeling slightly sad that his carefully planned ambushes never seem to work.
5-color is a perfectly viable strategy if it comes to you but my guess as to why your opponent would be playing some sketchy cards for a deck like that would be that they picked lands highly and didn't actually see many high-power gold cards once the Khans packs came around, so they were light on playables (and the cards you listed are all good cards, even though their power might diminish when playing every color). I feel like this is a more common issue than it immediately appears to be. Obviously you shouldn't force an archetype if the cards aren't there, but without knowing how their draft went or the full contents of their deck it's hard to say.
I realize this is a bit off-tangent for the venting thread, just tossing my two cents into the ring.
Just got blown out by a deck that played not only [[Crux of Fate]] but also [[Death Frenzy]] when I had opponent on the backpedal the entire game with Jeskai tempo prowess. Perhaps I played too greedy but I was not expecting to get blown out by the only two sweepers in the format, especially when I had the opponent in one turn.
Just got blown out by a deck that played not only [[Crux of Fate]] but also [[Death Frenzy]] when I had opponent on the backpedal the entire game with Jeskai tempo prowess. Perhaps I played too greedy but I was not expecting to get blown out by the only two sweepers in the format, especially when I had the opponent in one turn.
Those are not the only two sweepers of the format; I can think of at least two more. Still, I understand your feelings. Having both of those, drawing them both, and having the board state be set up so that both are profitable to cast, those are some stars aligning right there.
Just got blown out by a deck that played not only [[Crux of Fate]] but also [[Death Frenzy]] when I had opponent on the backpedal the entire game with Jeskai tempo prowess. Perhaps I played too greedy but I was not expecting to get blown out by the only two sweepers in the format, especially when I had the opponent in one turn.
I mean, that's annoying, but Crux is a good rare that will be first-picked and Frenzy is an uncommon that you can usually pick up late because it's gold. It's not that unlikely to think a deck that starts with Crux would add a Death Frenzy. Jeskai tempo is very vulnerable to sweepers because, as you experienced, you can't really win without just playing everything you have -- that's how tempo works. An unfortunate and frustrating matchup.
I played 4-3-2-2 yesterday with a jeskai deck with several bombs, even raredrafted a couple of fetches, went 3-0
at night I played swiss making a casual sultai semi-control deck with palace siege, rakshasa deathdealer, typical removal, some big green fatties, some good draw spells, decent mana fixing. went 0-3.
Sagu Mauler is a joke in Limited. I have literally never seen a game where someone played him and didn't very quickly go on to win.
It's 99% true. I did manage to eat one with Become Immense once. That's maybe the best card against it. Otherwise you just have to keep a whole team back to threaten a gang block.
Losing a match to my own greed sucked really hard. I got punished for a greedy keep in game two and never really got to do anything, and then I got punished for my splash in game three, missing black mana with reach of shadows in hand against my opponent's one creature, a 6/6 Aven Sunstriker. Losing to bad luck is easy to accept. Losing to myself makes me angry.
what's the healthiest attitude to have when you lose all of a sudden to Mob Rule? [the turn before you would have won, actually]?
is Mob Rule fair?
certainly, some rares are unfair. what's the healthiest attitude to those?
it's like .. it feels like there's no way to "play around" some of these things; especially if you don't know they're cming! what was i supposed to do -- not play my creatures?
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Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul "no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
The healthiest attitude is to avoid results-oriented thinking at all. Winning and losing are just things that happen in the normal course of things; the real question is whether you made any mistakes and how you can improve your play in the future, even if it wouldn't have led to a win in that particular game. Sometimes games aren't winnable, and sometimes you can even only win by making misplays, but learning what is most statistically advantageous will always make you better in the long run.
what's the healthiest attitude to have when you lose all of a sudden to Mob Rule? [the turn before you would have won, actually]?
is Mob Rule fair?
Blinding Spray blanks an awful lot of alpha strikes. I've run it on occasion when my opponent had a Flying Crane Technique or had a build that went wide and relied on mass pump after that. It is hard to use it though because you have to keep so much mana up for it.
Sometimes games aren't winnable, and sometimes you can even only win by making misplays, but learning what is most statistically advantageous will always make you better in the long run.
this actually kind of helps emotionally. even if i'm convinced that (say) Mob Rule and Flying Crane Technique are unfair and should not have been printed, if i console myself by saying "maybe that particular game just wasn't winnable", i wouldn't feel so bad.
i fear that *for me* to try to adopt a Spike attitude (analyse, see what is statistically advantageous) would just frusterate me when my attempts at analysis (and mine are pretty poor) get me nowhere. but i think i see what you're saying, still.
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----------------------------
Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul "no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
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It was one of those "has a few two drops, not in the right color, has a few morphs, and has two lands" hands that it'd hurt you to mull.
I think I'm done with this format. FKK is weird in ways I can't quite articulate. The signals are always wonky, I find myself scrounging for playables more often than not because the Fate Reforged commons are so weak, everybody has a bomb or two, the removal is garbage -- it just doesn't feel right. Triple Khans felt like a great, balanced format. Fate Reforged, like most small sets recently for some reason, ruined it. I don't understand R&D's recent fascination with publishing small sets full of terrible commons.
It's happening again with Tasigur in this set. Is he the most valuable Rare? Despite more Sealed/Draft events than I can count, never seen one ever (and I've seen two Ugins and three Monastery Mentors so I'm not just whining about how I never get valuable cards).
And - even more strangely - I can't seem to buy a Valorous Stance either. I've got literally one. I have played multiple events where I faced opponents with multiple copies of this card, so I'm willing to believe it really is uncommon, but you'd never know it from my experience. It's rarer than everything except Tasigur for me.
5-color is a perfectly viable strategy if it comes to you but my guess as to why your opponent would be playing some sketchy cards for a deck like that would be that they picked lands highly and didn't actually see many high-power gold cards once the Khans packs came around, so they were light on playables (and the cards you listed are all good cards, even though their power might diminish when playing every color). I feel like this is a more common issue than it immediately appears to be. Obviously you shouldn't force an archetype if the cards aren't there, but without knowing how their draft went or the full contents of their deck it's hard to say.
I realize this is a bit off-tangent for the venting thread, just tossing my two cents into the ring.
That graphic - so true! Thanks for making my day.
As for random Ponybacks in 5c decks: I often run them - can always use a Grey Ogre that spits out 3 extra bodies when needed.
I get that variance happens and all, but damn if that wasn't an awkwardly frustrating way to lose a match 0-2.
I love that archetype so much. (G/B Booty, not 5counters.dec)
Those are not the only two sweepers of the format; I can think of at least two more. Still, I understand your feelings. Having both of those, drawing them both, and having the board state be set up so that both are profitable to cast, those are some stars aligning right there.
I mean, that's annoying, but Crux is a good rare that will be first-picked and Frenzy is an uncommon that you can usually pick up late because it's gold. It's not that unlikely to think a deck that starts with Crux would add a Death Frenzy. Jeskai tempo is very vulnerable to sweepers because, as you experienced, you can't really win without just playing everything you have -- that's how tempo works. An unfortunate and frustrating matchup.
I wish it were easier to see really frustrating nights as a blip on the long-term picture rather than really frustrating nights.
Ditto. Sometimes it seems as though my game is really going downhill until I realize that it was just a couple of drafts.
I suck so much at this game.
Can't tell whether this is sarcasm, hyperbole, or utter despair.
at night I played swiss making a casual sultai semi-control deck with palace siege, rakshasa deathdealer, typical removal, some big green fatties, some good draw spells, decent mana fixing. went 0-3.
It's 99% true. I did manage to eat one with Become Immense once. That's maybe the best card against it. Otherwise you just have to keep a whole team back to threaten a gang block.
Everyone I played Sagu Mauler (once even ramped him out with morph and rattlesnake shaman) he got stalled by a death toucher.
is Mob Rule fair?
certainly, some rares are unfair. what's the healthiest attitude to those?
it's like .. it feels like there's no way to "play around" some of these things; especially if you don't know they're cming! what was i supposed to do -- not play my creatures?
Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul
"no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
Blinding Spray blanks an awful lot of alpha strikes. I've run it on occasion when my opponent had a Flying Crane Technique or had a build that went wide and relied on mass pump after that. It is hard to use it though because you have to keep so much mana up for it.
this actually kind of helps emotionally. even if i'm convinced that (say) Mob Rule and Flying Crane Technique are unfair and should not have been printed, if i console myself by saying "maybe that particular game just wasn't winnable", i wouldn't feel so bad.
i fear that *for me* to try to adopt a Spike attitude (analyse, see what is statistically advantageous) would just frusterate me when my attempts at analysis (and mine are pretty poor) get me nowhere. but i think i see what you're saying, still.
Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul
"no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.