1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
How many weeks was it out? I played once a week at FNM and then a couple more times with friends. yep all paper magic.
2) Which common was better than you expected? soul summons, a nice little curve filler, that was occainsionally something more.
4) What's the most underappreciated card? Hooded assassin, blocks morphs sometimes kills something servicable
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Well I have seen pretty much everything run.. FNM isn't the highest of compertitions and there is a bunch of new drafters. Last week someone drafted a great Jeskai deck then built esper.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai control, my decks look awful and I still win.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Blue green manafest/morph... with less morphs it stopped working and manafest unfortunately didn't help.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White was the best, green was the worst
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
The rares were too strong, people just couldn't jump colours resulting in people all in the same colours next to each other and refusing to give up thier bomb. The three colour nature and good fixing of Khans still managed to make things work enough of the time to not ruin my enjoyment but tripple Khans was better.
People were complaining that the set lacked power, but it seemed fine to me the set was about giving options rather than power.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
I did upward of 40 drafts and maybe 2 sealed events.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Will of the Naga. Delving without over-committing got a lot easier with the advent of FRF, and the tempo swings created by this card made it much better in this format than even Frost Breath is normally despite often costing more.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
A common answer I suspect, but Whisperer of the Wilds moved furthest down my draft board among commons. Ramping to 4 is just not that interesting in this format, and the 0/2 body really isn't a lot better than the random card you get from a Banner.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
There's a good discussion going on right now in the random card of the day, but I think it's Arcbond. Sweepers are very powerful in this format because of the similarity of a lot of board states and the ability to cast big dudes cheaply, and this is serious skill-tester card that I'm always happy first picking but that I've seen wheel (and which, sadly, I have learned not to take as a sign that red is open). Honorable mentions to both Jeskai Sage and Sultai Emissary.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
W/x aggro, especially U/W/x prowess-based decks (my favorite draft deck of the format had 12 prowess creatures, 2 Soul Summons, and trick after trick after trick).
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Anything with green that wasn't Sultai control.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
As usual I think green drew the short straw, with red as a close second (though I ended up drafting red a lot as a result, and had pretty good success).
I think blue was best overall in terms of card quality for FRF, but white was probably the format-defining color.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I think I liked it more than most. FRF wasn't a good limited set per se, but it did a great job of shaking up the KTK limited format, which I hated/didn't fully grasp in my short experience.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
52 drafts, 6 sealeds. I was sick a lot during February, so I played way more Modo than I usually do. I think I even qualified for MOCS (though it doesn't matter, since it's Modern).
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Typhoid Rats, probably. I already like 1/1 deathtouchers in general, but in this format it seemed better than in most, and I happily played upwards of three.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds, like OhDaisy. This card was pretty hyped, but I was very unimpressed those times I took it (which wasn't often, because I refused to take it as highly as most other people). Given a choice between playing 18 lands and 17 lands + a Whisperer, I think I prefer 18 lands a reasonably high percentage of the time.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Rakshasa's Secret. Not a Fate Reforged card, but a card that in my opinion moved up in value quite a bit with Fate Reforged, and I was very happy to run two copies in most of my black decks. Yet I still wheeled it on a consistent basis, which certainly contributed to my win % for this format. Rakshasa's Secret into Gurmag Angler or something is just so good.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher. If it's been cast against me 20 times in total, I'm 20/20 in being very pleased with seeing it on the other side of the table. It doesn't do enough to be worth a card, but people play it fairly frequently still. They shouldn't.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai for sure. I felt the deck was pretty well positioned this time around.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Jeskai I kept drafting it in the beginning, but I didn't do too well with it.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: black. Worst: red.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I liked it. It'd have been better with fewer dumb rares, but overall I enjoyed it. I felt two-colored decks (even allied ones) were real now, and although there were no uncommons you could really draft around in Fate Reforged (such as Secret Plans or Goblinslide), it was varied and fun enough for my taste. I don't know why, but I actually liked it better than triple Khans. My final win percentage was 79.9% for draft and 67.7% for sealed (78.2% weighed).
Additionally, for amusement value, I'll include my top drafted commons/uncommons. I haven't done too many sealeds, so these should quite accurately reflect my style:
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
I've done ~3 drafts and ~30 sealed events. So the rest of these are going to be answered in the context of sealed.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Temur Battle Rage. I thought it would be similar in power to Kindled Fury, a fine but unexciting combat trick. I underestimated how much extra damage the trample/double strike could routinely do.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Ethereal Ambush. Not that it was bad, but I thought it was powerful enough to be worth splashing, which it definitely wasn't. Manifests were basically vanilla bears too often for the card to be great instead of good.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Return to the Earth. It looks narrow, but it hits a huge percentage of cards you really want to have removal for. Don't look at what percentage of cards in the set it hits, look at what percentage of cards you actually spend premium removal on that it hits, and then look at the bonus for blowing up sieges.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Ainok Guide as the worlds worst Borderland Ranger. If you actually want a two power two drop the card is fine, and it can be better than fine with outlast lords, but if you consistently use it to tutor up lands you should just play more lands in your deck.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Citadel Siege.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Four-Five Color Big Morph. Losing three packs of reward cards (Abomination/Guide/Snowhorn/etc) hurts, but I underestimated how much work just being able to play grey ogres did to smooth your mana. Losing three packs of morphs makes missing a color for the first couple turns way more punishing.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Whichever color you opened rares in.
The worst color was Red, but the other colors were relatively even, certainly not enough to overcome the rares.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
This is the worst sealed format I've played since AVR. I've seen Turtenwald and Brad Nelson agree with me so I don't think I'm that crazy here. Just look at the commons: http://magiccards.info/query?q=r:common e:frf/en&s=cname&v=card&p=1. How many have 3 or more power and are playable? Two, maybe three? How are you supposed to actually win the game with these cards? KTK was great because it had powerful commons that could strongly affect the game, even if they were expensive. Fate Reforged has none of that, and substitutes in a crapload of bombs. So instead of a complex game where all your cards matter, you play cards that don't really matter so you can get to the stage of the game where the only cards that actually matter (the rares) decide who wins or loses. Hope you drew yours and your opponent didn't draw theirs! One bomb is manageable, but three packs of FRF means you can get three bombs, pair them with your one KTK bomb, and rely totally on those to win the game and just play a bunch of get-there cards to fill out your forty.
Manifest is probably the worst mechanic in years. It adds a HUGE amount of rules complexity for cards that 80% of the time are just vanilla creatures. Before I played the set, I thought you'd hit ~40 % of the time given the number of creatures in a typical deck, but it's worse because your average 2/3 drop doesn't do much and cards with ETB abilities are useless. "Hitting" on a Sandsteppe Outcast doesn't really count. So they wasted all the complexity budget on crappy vanilla creatures, then threw in a pile of crappy vanilla creatures on top to balance it out. Here's a run down of the FRF commons (Note that I'm counting Arashin Cleric as a "playable", being generous here, unplayable is crap like Ambush Krotiq:
By comparison, M15 (the last core set) had 8 effectively vanilla common creatures, instead of 10, and more were on curve. They accomplished that despite having 56 common creatures, while FRF had 60 non land commons total. That's because they spent their complexity budget on relatively simple mechanics that actually affect the game, instead of wasting it all on a dumb mechanic that doesn't do anything 80% of the time. Adding below curve vanilla creatures and more unplayable crap on top of that meant there wasn't any room for good cards that affect the game (where good is, again, at least Arashin Cleric, so VERY loosely defined). The power level of commons also dramatically drops off the higher up the curve you go, which is OK in draft but makes sealed a goddamn nightmare: when a vanilla 2/2 for 2 is bad instead of solid, you end up with very few playable FRF commons at all.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Drafted a couple times a week and did like 6 drafts at PAX.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Smoldering Efreet. For something that has multiple better versions in the format it is surprisingly good in R/x aggro deck just as a body that fits the curve.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Jeskai Sage. I was hoping it would get in for some damage but it pretty much just chump blocks all the time.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Sibsig Muckdraggers. It holds the ground and is a gravedigger at a point in the game when you really want one. I routinely see this card table. What a shame.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Sibsig Host. Its so mediocre and so expensive.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
G/B/u Butts, or R/x aggro. Red is very dependent on how many Heelcutters you get.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
It is to the format's credit that pretty much anything that looks really good is actually good. You can play any color(s) as long as your deck is synergistic and has a plan.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White was definitely the best. Red was probably the worst for how narrow it is.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?[/spoiler]
I really liked drafting the format, despite the number of big bomb rares. Sealed however, can get screwed.
4) What's the most underappreciated card? Sibsig Muckdraggers. Sure expensive, but a 6 toughness Gravedigger is a thing.
5) What's the worst common that people still play? Lightning Shrieker. Probably because dragon.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Anything heavy in Morphs/Manifests. Most fun deck was 5-colour Goblinslide splash Timewalk, though. By a huge margin.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Most white-based decks turned out subpar because of getting into a fight over the colour with the draft neighbours.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White in both cases. Super strong cards, but often overdrafted.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
Not sure if I want the switch to allied colour pairs with the incoming. I kinda enjoy my 5c shenanigans. Now to find the right amount of Evolving Wilds for the 5c deck ...
My final win percentage was 79.9% for draft and 67.7% for sealed (78.2% weighed).
79.9% win percentage over 52 drafts? That's insane. That's like winning every single match that you weren't mana screwed out of. Over 52 events. Just insane.
Also, that qualifies for going infinite, does it not? Maybe not if you're running in swiss queues. But with card sell back, maybe so.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Roughly 15-20 drafts and sealed events each, mostly on MTGO.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
I don't feel like there are many cards that are better than I initially thought, usually it's the other way around. I know someone said Ainok Guide was an overrated common but I've actually found that in a multicolor base Green deck it can help a lot.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
I mostly agree with the comments on Whisperer of the Wilds (I've used him effectively if I have some huge bomb like Ugin in my deck). I'm also more sour on Mardu Scout than I initially was.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
I've seen several people undervalue Temur Battle Rage.
5) What's the worst common that people still play? Aven Skirmisher and the Runemarks (except Jeskai).
6) What was your favorite archetype?
I've drafted decks in every clan that were a blast to play but I'm gonna go with five-color here, if you're in the right seat for it. I've drafted some pretty ridiculous five-color decks with very few mana issues.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
I thought B/W Warriors would be at least as good as it was in Khans-only but I think it's a little bit harder to make it come together.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Red and Green aren't the best, everything else is solid.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I think its issues are overstated but they're still very real. It was okay.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
40-50 drafts and 4-5 sealed events. It has been a fun format.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Sultai Emissary or Will of the Naga for me.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisk Away was just ok. I already disliked the 0/2 mana ramper and it turned out to be just as meh as I had suspected.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Reality shift.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
4-5 color control; usually base green/black.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
temur sometimes felt weak.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White and black were the best colors. They had the most varied removal and could play aggro or controlling strategies. Red felt the weakest if it didn't come together.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a fun and challenging format to play. A lot of morphs and instants to keep track of. Evasive creatures were very important.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Around 15 drafts, prerelease and 2HG prerelease.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Sultai Skullkeeper. This guy kicked my delve decks into overdrive almost always when played early, by milling and then trading. HM to Will of the Naga. Also, Ainok Guide turned out to be not so bad as people predicted.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds, for reasons stated above by others.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Sibsig Muckdraggers. Played this almost always, big butt and Gravedigger, what not to want? HM to Temur Battle Rage.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
I would say Aven Skirmisher. I said it was bad and I still think it is.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Heh. To tell the truth, I just could not help myself and ended in Sultai 80% of the time (including the prereleases), drafting the same cards and smashing faces. Even when I drafted something that looked atrociously, I was still able to 3-0 with that (last time with a single rare - Sultai Ascendancy)
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Since I drafted Sultai almost everytime, I cannot answer. But I crushed lot of Jeskai decks that looked well, but were not.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Black. Worst: Red.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I had a blast. The most fun since I do not know when, I really liked KTK and FRF shaked it up wonderfully. I agree that FRF was very bomb-heavy, and if you failed to open a bomb p1, you had potential to be screwed...but then my results said otherwise. I am really intrigued whether D-D-F will be able to match it, moreso surpass it.
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
18 drafts, 2 sealed (not including prerelease)
2) Which common was better than you expected? Hooded Assassin. Blocks morphs and manifests and can also act as removal.
3) Which common was worse than you expected? Cunning Strike. I thought this was going to be another Winterflame. How wrong I was.
4) What's the most underappreciated card? Jeskai Barricade. Always saw them late and they have a very powerful, undercosted ability.
5) What's the worst common that people still play? Soul Summoning. It's fun spinning the manifest wheel and when it hits, it feels really great, but most of the time, everyone knows you're bluffing a land.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
My favorite to play was Temur. The best archtype seemed to be Sultai.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Abzan seemed surprisingly weak
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Black
Worst: Green
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
WAAAAAY too bomb heavy.
Cunning Strike. I like 2-for-1s but this is somewhat too slow and does not have enough impact, doing almost nothing in some games, though I still play it from time to time. Also Ethereal Ambush.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
About 5 of the Limited Champs sealed events when I didn't know what I was doing and 16 4 pack sealed queues after I figured things out (37-11 to date). 2) Which common was better than you expected?
Abzan Skycaptain. I thought it wouldn't be so good because its power relies too much on you having other creatures. Also Alabaster Kirin at common is awkward. But it was still good. 3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Write Into Being. It's still playable but it's not as gassy as I expected. 4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Hooded Assassin. He gets the job done. 5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Whisk Away 6) What was your favorite archetype?
Mastery of the Unseen win with zero effort
update: red/black bad cards aggro was the most fun to play. Because I thought I was going to 0-3 or 1-2 so every win felt like a steal. I actually boarded in Gurmag Swiftwing one game. Good thing I never drew it. 7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Jeskai 8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White best, blue worst 9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a lot better than full KtK. The fixing is worse without trilands but there are fewer multicolored cards and some allied colored cards which makes it easier to work with what you're given. (saying this as a sealed player.) I do still think that it was a mistake that Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse / Traveler's Amulet / something like that wasn't in the set, but it hasn't been the same nightmare that KtK was where all I'd want to be was Abzan and my success hinged on opening Abzan lands.
Overall I'd give the format a B.
Color balance: poor.
Fixing: bordering on acceptable
Skill testing: Yes.
Quality of Removal: good mixed with not so good (arguably better than all good)
Fun: good! I've yet to lose the thrill of wondering what a facedown creature might be.
The fixing problem really was a nightmare for sealed. Some pools I'd open 4-5 duals and every single one of them shared a color, and I only had one or two cards in that color I'd want to play, so I just had to yolo three color no fixing. One pool I got 4 Dismal Backwater and zero other duals so I was like, I guess I have to be Esper (white being the most OP color). Overall I think I got lucky in my run of pools. Things could have been a lot worse in terms of cards not synching with fixing. I'm happy that things have worked out but this format will never be as good as a format like Scars block where half your deck could be cast with any color of mana.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Between paper and MTGO, probably around 15 drafts; 3 sealed events.
2) Which common was better than you expected? Sultai Skullkeeper. Not that it's actively good, but as a means of fueling delve and early blocking, it's a solid role player.
3) Which common was worse than you expected? Whisperer of the Wilds was more mediocre than I expected it to be.
4) What's the most underappreciated card? Temur Battle Rage, I guess. I'm not sure if it's really under appreciated anymore, but that card is a beating in the right deck.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
To echo everyone else, Aven Skirimisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai Control with UR aggro being a close second
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
UW & UWr Prowess. Won prerelease with the archetype but never could quite get it to work after that.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Blue; Worst: Green
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was clearly a bomby format, and sealed is a mess as a result. However, I enjoyed FRF/KTK/KTK draft more than triple KTK. The addition of FRF sped the format up and reduced the number of ground stalls that prevailed in full KTK.
My final win percentage was 79.9% for draft and 67.7% for sealed (78.2% weighed).
79.9% win percentage over 52 drafts? That's insane. That's like winning every single match that you weren't mana screwed out of. Over 52 events. Just insane.
Also, that qualifies for going infinite, does it not? Maybe not if you're running in swiss queues. But with card sell back, maybe so.
I'd say perhaps 33% 8-4 and 67% swiss. And yeah, I probably went infinite quite comfortably, but fortunately I have a rather large stockpile of tickets from a period when I was much better than I am now, so I don't really notice whether I lose or gain product. My guess is that this is the first time I've "gone infinite" over a longer period during the last 2-3 years, though. This was my best format since I started keeping track (September 2013). A pleasant experience for a washed up wannabe limited expert
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
12 Drafts, 2 Sealed, 1 2HG Sealed
2) Which common was better than you expected? Frontier Mastodon. It was surprisingly easy to trigger ferocious on turn 3 or 4, and Summit Prowler was solid in this format
3) Which common was worse than you expected? Whisperer of the Wilds. For as easy as it was to trigger ferocious, a 0/2 doesn't mesh with what a ferocious deck wants to do. I usually found myself wishing I just had played a 2 drop that trades well, like Mardu Scout instead
4) What's the most under-appreciated card? Ainok Guide. Ignore the second option. +1/+1 counter synergy can still be a thing in FKK, and a bear early that can gain flying, deathtouch, or lifelink in the lategame is fine.
5) What's the worst common that people still play? Aven Skirmisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Ferocious Aggro. Just keep throwing 4 power things at them until they die. If they trade, great! You can cast your Treasure Cruises on the cheap, and beat them down some more.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
U/W Fliers. You can't race the higher power ground creatures, and there's not enough cheap removal for you and there's too many "x can't block effects" rely on monastery flocks to save you.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Blue was the best. Red was the worst.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was fine. My meta was weird though--I think that hurt it for me. The best draft strategy was to pick one of the good colors (White is a good choice because it's solid in both Khans and Fate) and just cut it as hard as possible in pack 1 in order to reap the rewards in packs 2 and 3. Didn't make for a particularly fun draft experience though :/
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[center]AKA Leon What I'm Currently Playing: Vintage:UW Mentor Legacy:UG Infect Modern:UX MUD Standard: N/A
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Once a week.
2) Which common was better than you expected? Return to the Earth. I was surprised how solid 4 mana Plummet usually was and it helped hedge against Sieges.
3) Which common was worse than you expected? Hooded Assassin. 2/3s were much less relevant than they were in triple KTK and the ability was never active.
4) What's the most underappreciated card? Aven Surveyor and Frost Walker seemed to keep going later than they should.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Lots of 1/1 Ainok Guides.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai would be my favorite, but I found myself playing a ton of red. UR, RW, BR, RG, and lots of Temur.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Abzan seemed hard to get into in the FTR pack. The KTK support was still there but it was much weaker than before.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White seemed to be the weakest. The rest were all solid but red seemed to be underdrafted.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a fun format. I'm still amazed how often I found myself doing well with red after going GWUB almost every KTK draft. Manifest cards were much less interesting than Morph cards, but cutting down on the number of morph 5-6 drops in the format made the games more varied. Heelcutter was pretty insane.
I am going to greatly miss this set, I think, because more than 2 colors was very viable.
Often later in a draft I need to skip drafting a good card in another color but that happens much less frequently in a 3+ color format as long as I stay open for as long as reasonably possible.
Sometimes I open a bomb in pack 3 and have to pass it but not nearly as often in KTK-KTK-KTK or FRF-KTK-KTK because there is enough fixing to be often able to splash if you were able to draft some off-color lands earlier in the draft. With a 2 color set I think that happens much more frequently, and there is more luck involved in just the colors of the good cards you see later in the draft.
Since the format is now officially dead with the release of Dragons on MODO, I'll chip in:
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
~75 drafts. This is my favorite format in a very, very long time. Probably since full Scars block.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Douse in Gloom. In most format's it's been merely good, but it was fantastic for me in the land of morphs. Temur Battle Rage. Definitely wasn't even on my radar as a playable when the format first started, then became one of the cards I feared the most.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Anything with the text manifest. The ability just did not work very well, as you were at least 50% to hit a land/spell, and had plenty of creatures that were either morphs already or weren't exciting to hit.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Hunt the Weak. I continually got this late, and it was always good.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Whisperer of the Wilds.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
4 or 5 color good stuff.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Any aggressive deck other than Mardu tokens.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Black was the best color, with a huge representation of the best mono-colored commons. White was probably the worst color, as I think Jeskai and Mardu were the two worst guilds.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
My favorite format in a very, very long time. Not dominated by curving out. No b/w warriors deck with stupid nut draws like in triple K.
My final win percentage was 79.9% for draft and 67.7% for sealed (78.2% weighed).
79.9% win percentage over 52 drafts? That's insane. That's like winning every single match that you weren't mana screwed out of. Over 52 events. Just insane.
Also, that qualifies for going infinite, does it not? Maybe not if you're running in swiss queues. But with card sell back, maybe so.
I'm sure my overall win percentage is nowhere near 79%, but I did end the format on a 21 match win streak. For my troubles I get a bunch of Khans packs that barely cover the tournament rake
Also, I'm glad to see the overwhelming consensus is that people enjoyed the format. I think Theros block is the worst limited format since they started designing sets with limited in mind, so it's good to see that that was not an indication of things to come.
I missed most of the FKK drafting season, and have just started getting back into it on MTGO now (FKK still fires online and the opposition is generally quite soft).
I have a policy of "Take Goblin Heelcutter over everything except money mythics or fetchlands (on MTGO, there are no non-mythics that are worth much, Tasigur and Crux of Fate are <$2), then force red hard" and it is working; especially when you can pass someone a very solid rare that's not red. Yes, I've passed someone Torrent Elemental for a Heelcutter. No, I didn't feel bad about it - I got a bunch of good stuff back in pack 2 that made up for it.
It's easy to get 1-2 of the RR 3/1 and 2-4 of the 2R 4/1, and I find people stumble on mana often in the format. A curve of T1 tapland, T2 dude, T3 4/1, T4 removal spell, T5 Dash with Heelcutter wins every game where the opponent stumbles and many games where they do not.
That's not to say the deck I favor is monored. I'll usually wind up in Mardu (sometimes RW, sometimes Jeskai) but it's very much red with one/two splashes.
Going under or around someone's big bomb rare just feels so good. Watching an opponent's face when they realise that I can't *kill* their turn 5 Dromoka but it still isn't enough to stem the bleeding is pure gold. I'm more scared of the 4/4 lifelink morph common than pretty much anything else.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
2) Which common was better than you expected?
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
6) What was your favorite archetype?
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
[b]2) Which common was better than you expected?[/b]
[b]3) Which common was worse than you expected?[/b]
[b]4) What's the most underappreciated card?[/b]
[b]5) What's the worst common that people still play?[/b]
[b]6) What was your favorite archetype?[/b]
[b]7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?[/b]
[b]8) Which colors were the best and worst?[/b]
[b]9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?[/b]
How many weeks was it out? I played once a week at FNM and then a couple more times with friends. yep all paper magic.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
soul summons, a nice little curve filler, that was occainsionally something more.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the wilds
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Hooded assassin, blocks morphs sometimes kills something servicable
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Well I have seen pretty much everything run.. FNM isn't the highest of compertitions and there is a bunch of new drafters. Last week someone drafted a great Jeskai deck then built esper.
Ancestial vengence I guess
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai control, my decks look awful and I still win.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Blue green manafest/morph... with less morphs it stopped working and manafest unfortunately didn't help.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White was the best, green was the worst
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
The rares were too strong, people just couldn't jump colours resulting in people all in the same colours next to each other and refusing to give up thier bomb. The three colour nature and good fixing of Khans still managed to make things work enough of the time to not ruin my enjoyment but tripple Khans was better.
People were complaining that the set lacked power, but it seemed fine to me the set was about giving options rather than power.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I did upward of 40 drafts and maybe 2 sealed events.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Will of the Naga. Delving without over-committing got a lot easier with the advent of FRF, and the tempo swings created by this card made it much better in this format than even Frost Breath is normally despite often costing more.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
A common answer I suspect, but Whisperer of the Wilds moved furthest down my draft board among commons. Ramping to 4 is just not that interesting in this format, and the 0/2 body really isn't a lot better than the random card you get from a Banner.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
There's a good discussion going on right now in the random card of the day, but I think it's Arcbond. Sweepers are very powerful in this format because of the similarity of a lot of board states and the ability to cast big dudes cheaply, and this is serious skill-tester card that I'm always happy first picking but that I've seen wheel (and which, sadly, I have learned not to take as a sign that red is open). Honorable mentions to both Jeskai Sage and Sultai Emissary.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Cunning Strike and/or Map the Wastes.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
W/x aggro, especially U/W/x prowess-based decks (my favorite draft deck of the format had 12 prowess creatures, 2 Soul Summons, and trick after trick after trick).
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Anything with green that wasn't Sultai control.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
As usual I think green drew the short straw, with red as a close second (though I ended up drafting red a lot as a result, and had pretty good success).
I think blue was best overall in terms of card quality for FRF, but white was probably the format-defining color.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I think I liked it more than most. FRF wasn't a good limited set per se, but it did a great job of shaking up the KTK limited format, which I hated/didn't fully grasp in my short experience.
52 drafts, 6 sealeds. I was sick a lot during February, so I played way more Modo than I usually do. I think I even qualified for MOCS (though it doesn't matter, since it's Modern).
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Typhoid Rats, probably. I already like 1/1 deathtouchers in general, but in this format it seemed better than in most, and I happily played upwards of three.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds, like OhDaisy. This card was pretty hyped, but I was very unimpressed those times I took it (which wasn't often, because I refused to take it as highly as most other people). Given a choice between playing 18 lands and 17 lands + a Whisperer, I think I prefer 18 lands a reasonably high percentage of the time.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Rakshasa's Secret. Not a Fate Reforged card, but a card that in my opinion moved up in value quite a bit with Fate Reforged, and I was very happy to run two copies in most of my black decks. Yet I still wheeled it on a consistent basis, which certainly contributed to my win % for this format. Rakshasa's Secret into Gurmag Angler or something is just so good.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher. If it's been cast against me 20 times in total, I'm 20/20 in being very pleased with seeing it on the other side of the table. It doesn't do enough to be worth a card, but people play it fairly frequently still. They shouldn't.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai for sure. I felt the deck was pretty well positioned this time around.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Jeskai I kept drafting it in the beginning, but I didn't do too well with it.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: black. Worst: red.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I liked it. It'd have been better with fewer dumb rares, but overall I enjoyed it. I felt two-colored decks (even allied ones) were real now, and although there were no uncommons you could really draft around in Fate Reforged (such as Secret Plans or Goblinslide), it was varied and fun enough for my taste. I don't know why, but I actually liked it better than triple Khans. My final win percentage was 79.9% for draft and 67.7% for sealed (78.2% weighed).
Additionally, for amusement value, I'll include my top drafted commons/uncommons. I haven't done too many sealeds, so these should quite accurately reflect my style:
58 Rakshasa's Secret
54 Treasure Cruise
48 Dismal Backwater
47 Bitter Revelation
46 Monastery Flock
Top 5 KTK uncommons:
23 Master the Way
22 Blinding Spray
22 Dragon's Eye Savants
21 Sandsteppe Citadel
21 Sultai Charm
21 Sultai Soothsayers
Top 5 FRF commons:
27 Reach of Shadows
21 Cunning Strike
21 Gurmag Angler
19 Jungle Hollow
18 Archers of Qarsi
Top 5 FRF uncommons:
10 Elite Scaleguard
9 Abzan Beastmaster
9 Pyrotechnics
8 Hewed Stone Retainers
8 Rite of Undoing
I've done ~3 drafts and ~30 sealed events. So the rest of these are going to be answered in the context of sealed.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Temur Battle Rage. I thought it would be similar in power to Kindled Fury, a fine but unexciting combat trick. I underestimated how much extra damage the trample/double strike could routinely do.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Ethereal Ambush. Not that it was bad, but I thought it was powerful enough to be worth splashing, which it definitely wasn't. Manifests were basically vanilla bears too often for the card to be great instead of good.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Return to the Earth. It looks narrow, but it hits a huge percentage of cards you really want to have removal for. Don't look at what percentage of cards in the set it hits, look at what percentage of cards you actually spend premium removal on that it hits, and then look at the bonus for blowing up sieges.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Ainok Guide as the worlds worst Borderland Ranger. If you actually want a two power two drop the card is fine, and it can be better than fine with outlast lords, but if you consistently use it to tutor up lands you should just play more lands in your deck.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Citadel Siege.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Four-Five Color Big Morph. Losing three packs of reward cards (Abomination/Guide/Snowhorn/etc) hurts, but I underestimated how much work just being able to play grey ogres did to smooth your mana. Losing three packs of morphs makes missing a color for the first couple turns way more punishing.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Whichever color you opened rares in.
The worst color was Red, but the other colors were relatively even, certainly not enough to overcome the rares.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
This is the worst sealed format I've played since AVR. I've seen Turtenwald and Brad Nelson agree with me so I don't think I'm that crazy here. Just look at the commons: http://magiccards.info/query?q=r:common e:frf/en&s=cname&v=card&p=1. How many have 3 or more power and are playable? Two, maybe three? How are you supposed to actually win the game with these cards? KTK was great because it had powerful commons that could strongly affect the game, even if they were expensive. Fate Reforged has none of that, and substitutes in a crapload of bombs. So instead of a complex game where all your cards matter, you play cards that don't really matter so you can get to the stage of the game where the only cards that actually matter (the rares) decide who wins or loses. Hope you drew yours and your opponent didn't draw theirs! One bomb is manageable, but three packs of FRF means you can get three bombs, pair them with your one KTK bomb, and rely totally on those to win the game and just play a bunch of get-there cards to fill out your forty.
Manifest is probably the worst mechanic in years. It adds a HUGE amount of rules complexity for cards that 80% of the time are just vanilla creatures. Before I played the set, I thought you'd hit ~40 % of the time given the number of creatures in a typical deck, but it's worse because your average 2/3 drop doesn't do much and cards with ETB abilities are useless. "Hitting" on a Sandsteppe Outcast doesn't really count. So they wasted all the complexity budget on crappy vanilla creatures, then threw in a pile of crappy vanilla creatures on top to balance it out. Here's a run down of the FRF commons (Note that I'm counting Arashin Cleric as a "playable", being generous here, unplayable is crap like Ambush Krotiq:
6 Below Curve Vanilla
4 Fine Vanilla
1 Playable Auras
3 Playable Tricks
11 Playable Removal
17 Actually Playable non-removal/vanilla cards
17 Laughably Unplayable (Great Horn Krushok counts as Playable under low curve vanilla).
By comparison, M15 (the last core set) had 8 effectively vanilla common creatures, instead of 10, and more were on curve. They accomplished that despite having 56 common creatures, while FRF had 60 non land commons total. That's because they spent their complexity budget on relatively simple mechanics that actually affect the game, instead of wasting it all on a dumb mechanic that doesn't do anything 80% of the time. Adding below curve vanilla creatures and more unplayable crap on top of that meant there wasn't any room for good cards that affect the game (where good is, again, at least Arashin Cleric, so VERY loosely defined). The power level of commons also dramatically drops off the higher up the curve you go, which is OK in draft but makes sealed a goddamn nightmare: when a vanilla 2/2 for 2 is bad instead of solid, you end up with very few playable FRF commons at all.
So, yeah, I didn't like FRF sealed very much.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
Drafted a couple times a week and did like 6 drafts at PAX.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Smoldering Efreet. For something that has multiple better versions in the format it is surprisingly good in R/x aggro deck just as a body that fits the curve.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Jeskai Sage. I was hoping it would get in for some damage but it pretty much just chump blocks all the time.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Sibsig Muckdraggers. It holds the ground and is a gravedigger at a point in the game when you really want one. I routinely see this card table. What a shame.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Sibsig Host. Its so mediocre and so expensive.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
G/B/u Butts, or R/x aggro. Red is very dependent on how many Heelcutters you get.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
It is to the format's credit that pretty much anything that looks really good is actually good. You can play any color(s) as long as your deck is synergistic and has a plan.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White was definitely the best. Red was probably the worst for how narrow it is.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?[/spoiler]
I really liked drafting the format, despite the number of big bomb rares. Sealed however, can get screwed.
About once per week at FNM. A 2HG draft.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Fierce Invocation. Was expecting it to do okay-ish, but the 4/4 came in handy quite often.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Alesha's Vanguard.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Sibsig Muckdraggers. Sure expensive, but a 6 toughness Gravedigger is a thing.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Lightning Shrieker. Probably because dragon.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Anything heavy in Morphs/Manifests. Most fun deck was 5-colour Goblinslide splash Timewalk, though. By a huge margin.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Most white-based decks turned out subpar because of getting into a fight over the colour with the draft neighbours.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White in both cases. Super strong cards, but often overdrafted.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
Not sure if I want the switch to allied colour pairs with the incoming. I kinda enjoy my 5c shenanigans. Now to find the right amount of Evolving Wilds for the 5c deck ...
79.9% win percentage over 52 drafts? That's insane. That's like winning every single match that you weren't mana screwed out of. Over 52 events. Just insane.
Also, that qualifies for going infinite, does it not? Maybe not if you're running in swiss queues. But with card sell back, maybe so.
Roughly 15-20 drafts and sealed events each, mostly on MTGO.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
I don't feel like there are many cards that are better than I initially thought, usually it's the other way around. I know someone said Ainok Guide was an overrated common but I've actually found that in a multicolor base Green deck it can help a lot.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
I mostly agree with the comments on Whisperer of the Wilds (I've used him effectively if I have some huge bomb like Ugin in my deck). I'm also more sour on Mardu Scout than I initially was.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
I've seen several people undervalue Temur Battle Rage.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher and the Runemarks (except Jeskai).
6) What was your favorite archetype?
I've drafted decks in every clan that were a blast to play but I'm gonna go with five-color here, if you're in the right seat for it. I've drafted some pretty ridiculous five-color decks with very few mana issues.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
I thought B/W Warriors would be at least as good as it was in Khans-only but I think it's a little bit harder to make it come together.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Red and Green aren't the best, everything else is solid.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I think its issues are overstated but they're still very real. It was okay.
40-50 drafts and 4-5 sealed events. It has been a fun format.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Sultai Emissary or Will of the Naga for me.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisk Away was just ok. I already disliked the 0/2 mana ramper and it turned out to be just as meh as I had suspected.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Reality shift.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
4-5 color control; usually base green/black.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
temur sometimes felt weak.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White and black were the best colors. They had the most varied removal and could play aggro or controlling strategies. Red felt the weakest if it didn't come together.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a fun and challenging format to play. A lot of morphs and instants to keep track of. Evasive creatures were very important.
Around 15 drafts, prerelease and 2HG prerelease.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Sultai Skullkeeper. This guy kicked my delve decks into overdrive almost always when played early, by milling and then trading. HM to Will of the Naga. Also, Ainok Guide turned out to be not so bad as people predicted.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds, for reasons stated above by others.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Sibsig Muckdraggers. Played this almost always, big butt and Gravedigger, what not to want? HM to Temur Battle Rage.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
I would say Aven Skirmisher. I said it was bad and I still think it is.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Heh. To tell the truth, I just could not help myself and ended in Sultai 80% of the time (including the prereleases), drafting the same cards and smashing faces. Even when I drafted something that looked atrociously, I was still able to 3-0 with that (last time with a single rare - Sultai Ascendancy)
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Since I drafted Sultai almost everytime, I cannot answer. But I crushed lot of Jeskai decks that looked well, but were not.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Black. Worst: Red.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
I had a blast. The most fun since I do not know when, I really liked KTK and FRF shaked it up wonderfully. I agree that FRF was very bomb-heavy, and if you failed to open a bomb p1, you had potential to be screwed...but then my results said otherwise. I am really intrigued whether D-D-F will be able to match it, moreso surpass it.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
At least one draft a week since release.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Goblin Heelcutter. I did not predict that card would make so many scenes where blocking was not an option.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Reality Shift. This card rarely helped me.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Collateral Damage. It is a solid card that gets little love.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Fierce Invocation.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
R/G Beats.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
R/G/x beats.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White was the best. Red was the worst.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
Overall, I like Triple Khans better. Fate felt more swingy with a lot of bomb rares/mythics and a lot of crappy commons/uncommons.
18 drafts, 2 sealed (not including prerelease)
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Hooded Assassin. Blocks morphs and manifests and can also act as removal.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Cunning Strike. I thought this was going to be another Winterflame. How wrong I was.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Jeskai Barricade. Always saw them late and they have a very powerful, undercosted ability.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Soul Summoning. It's fun spinning the manifest wheel and when it hits, it feels really great, but most of the time, everyone knows you're bluffing a land.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
My favorite to play was Temur. The best archtype seemed to be Sultai.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Abzan seemed surprisingly weak
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Black
Worst: Green
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
WAAAAAY too bomb heavy.
A couple of dozen FRF-KTK-KTK swiss drafts on MtGO.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Typhoid Rats.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Cunning Strike. I like 2-for-1s but this is somewhat too slow and does not have enough impact, doing almost nothing in some games, though I still play it from time to time. Also Ethereal Ambush.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
I guess Whisk Away as I often draft it late.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Blue-red tempo/removal.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
None come to mind.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
They all seem fine.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
Enjoyable. I like having viable mana bases 2-color, or 3 or more.
About 5 of the Limited Champs sealed events when I didn't know what I was doing and 16 4 pack sealed queues after I figured things out (37-11 to date).
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Abzan Skycaptain. I thought it wouldn't be so good because its power relies too much on you having other creatures. Also Alabaster Kirin at common is awkward. But it was still good.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Write Into Being. It's still playable but it's not as gassy as I expected.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Hooded Assassin. He gets the job done.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Whisk Away
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Mastery of the Unseen win with zero effort
update: red/black bad cards aggro was the most fun to play. Because I thought I was going to 0-3 or 1-2 so every win felt like a steal. I actually boarded in Gurmag Swiftwing one game. Good thing I never drew it.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Jeskai
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White best, blue worst
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a lot better than full KtK. The fixing is worse without trilands but there are fewer multicolored cards and some allied colored cards which makes it easier to work with what you're given. (saying this as a sealed player.) I do still think that it was a mistake that Evolving Wilds / Terramorphic Expanse / Traveler's Amulet / something like that wasn't in the set, but it hasn't been the same nightmare that KtK was where all I'd want to be was Abzan and my success hinged on opening Abzan lands.
Overall I'd give the format a B.
Color balance: poor.
Fixing: bordering on acceptable
Skill testing: Yes.
Quality of Removal: good mixed with not so good (arguably better than all good)
Fun: good! I've yet to lose the thrill of wondering what a facedown creature might be.
The fixing problem really was a nightmare for sealed. Some pools I'd open 4-5 duals and every single one of them shared a color, and I only had one or two cards in that color I'd want to play, so I just had to yolo three color no fixing. One pool I got 4 Dismal Backwater and zero other duals so I was like, I guess I have to be Esper (white being the most OP color). Overall I think I got lucky in my run of pools. Things could have been a lot worse in terms of cards not synching with fixing. I'm happy that things have worked out but this format will never be as good as a format like Scars block where half your deck could be cast with any color of mana.
Between paper and MTGO, probably around 15 drafts; 3 sealed events.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Sultai Skullkeeper. Not that it's actively good, but as a means of fueling delve and early blocking, it's a solid role player.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds was more mediocre than I expected it to be.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Temur Battle Rage, I guess. I'm not sure if it's really under appreciated anymore, but that card is a beating in the right deck.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
To echo everyone else, Aven Skirimisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai Control with UR aggro being a close second
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
UW & UWr Prowess. Won prerelease with the archetype but never could quite get it to work after that.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Best: Blue; Worst: Green
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was clearly a bomby format, and sealed is a mess as a result. However, I enjoyed FRF/KTK/KTK draft more than triple KTK. The addition of FRF sped the format up and reduced the number of ground stalls that prevailed in full KTK.
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
12 Drafts, 2 Sealed, 1 2HG Sealed
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Frontier Mastodon. It was surprisingly easy to trigger ferocious on turn 3 or 4, and Summit Prowler was solid in this format
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Whisperer of the Wilds. For as easy as it was to trigger ferocious, a 0/2 doesn't mesh with what a ferocious deck wants to do. I usually found myself wishing I just had played a 2 drop that trades well, like Mardu Scout instead
4) What's the most under-appreciated card?
Ainok Guide. Ignore the second option. +1/+1 counter synergy can still be a thing in FKK, and a bear early that can gain flying, deathtouch, or lifelink in the lategame is fine.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Aven Skirmisher.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Ferocious Aggro. Just keep throwing 4 power things at them until they die. If they trade, great! You can cast your Treasure Cruises on the cheap, and beat them down some more.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
U/W Fliers. You can't race the higher power ground creatures, and there's not enough cheap removal for you and there's too many "x can't block effects" rely on monastery flocks to save you.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Blue was the best. Red was the worst.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was fine. My meta was weird though--I think that hurt it for me. The best draft strategy was to pick one of the good colors (White is a good choice because it's solid in both Khans and Fate) and just cut it as hard as possible in pack 1 in order to reap the rewards in packs 2 and 3. Didn't make for a particularly fun draft experience though :/
What I'm Currently Playing:
Vintage:UW Mentor
Legacy:UG Infect
Modern:UX MUD
Standard: N/A
Once a week.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Return to the Earth. I was surprised how solid 4 mana Plummet usually was and it helped hedge against Sieges.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Hooded Assassin. 2/3s were much less relevant than they were in triple KTK and the ability was never active.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Aven Surveyor and Frost Walker seemed to keep going later than they should.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Lots of 1/1 Ainok Guides.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
Sultai would be my favorite, but I found myself playing a ton of red. UR, RW, BR, RG, and lots of Temur.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Abzan seemed hard to get into in the FTR pack. The KTK support was still there but it was much weaker than before.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
White seemed to be the weakest. The rest were all solid but red seemed to be underdrafted.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
It was a fun format. I'm still amazed how often I found myself doing well with red after going GWUB almost every KTK draft. Manifest cards were much less interesting than Morph cards, but cutting down on the number of morph 5-6 drops in the format made the games more varied. Heelcutter was pretty insane.
Often later in a draft I need to skip drafting a good card in another color but that happens much less frequently in a 3+ color format as long as I stay open for as long as reasonably possible.
Sometimes I open a bomb in pack 3 and have to pass it but not nearly as often in KTK-KTK-KTK or FRF-KTK-KTK because there is enough fixing to be often able to splash if you were able to draft some off-color lands earlier in the draft. With a 2 color set I think that happens much more frequently, and there is more luck involved in just the colors of the good cards you see later in the draft.
1) How much have you played with the format, roughly?
~75 drafts. This is my favorite format in a very, very long time. Probably since full Scars block.
2) Which common was better than you expected?
Douse in Gloom. In most format's it's been merely good, but it was fantastic for me in the land of morphs. Temur Battle Rage. Definitely wasn't even on my radar as a playable when the format first started, then became one of the cards I feared the most.
3) Which common was worse than you expected?
Anything with the text manifest. The ability just did not work very well, as you were at least 50% to hit a land/spell, and had plenty of creatures that were either morphs already or weren't exciting to hit.
4) What's the most underappreciated card?
Hunt the Weak. I continually got this late, and it was always good.
5) What's the worst common that people still play?
Whisperer of the Wilds.
6) What was your favorite archetype?
4 or 5 color good stuff.
7) Which archetype wasn't as good as you'd expected?
Any aggressive deck other than Mardu tokens.
8) Which colors were the best and worst?
Black was the best color, with a huge representation of the best mono-colored commons. White was probably the worst color, as I think Jeskai and Mardu were the two worst guilds.
9) Thoughts on the format as a whole?
My favorite format in a very, very long time. Not dominated by curving out. No b/w warriors deck with stupid nut draws like in triple K.
I'm sure my overall win percentage is nowhere near 79%, but I did end the format on a 21 match win streak. For my troubles I get a bunch of Khans packs that barely cover the tournament rake
Also, I'm glad to see the overwhelming consensus is that people enjoyed the format. I think Theros block is the worst limited format since they started designing sets with limited in mind, so it's good to see that that was not an indication of things to come.
I have a policy of "Take Goblin Heelcutter over everything except money mythics or fetchlands (on MTGO, there are no non-mythics that are worth much, Tasigur and Crux of Fate are <$2), then force red hard" and it is working; especially when you can pass someone a very solid rare that's not red. Yes, I've passed someone Torrent Elemental for a Heelcutter. No, I didn't feel bad about it - I got a bunch of good stuff back in pack 2 that made up for it.
It's easy to get 1-2 of the RR 3/1 and 2-4 of the 2R 4/1, and I find people stumble on mana often in the format. A curve of T1 tapland, T2 dude, T3 4/1, T4 removal spell, T5 Dash with Heelcutter wins every game where the opponent stumbles and many games where they do not.
That's not to say the deck I favor is monored. I'll usually wind up in Mardu (sometimes RW, sometimes Jeskai) but it's very much red with one/two splashes.
Going under or around someone's big bomb rare just feels so good. Watching an opponent's face when they realise that I can't *kill* their turn 5 Dromoka but it still isn't enough to stem the bleeding is pure gold. I'm more scared of the 4/4 lifelink morph common than pretty much anything else.
But I can see a case for passing it in a normal 8-men draft.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG