I'd remix RTR full block. RTR was great, GTC was meh and Dragon's Maze was even more meh. Considering how awesome OG ravnica was and the potential they had, they really dropped the ball on some of the guilds + the final set.
A lot of those buildarounds are just plain tribal cards again, like thorntooth witch.
Elvish handservant was a legitimate deck. But some cards in that group are on the poor side because the tribe they cared about was outside their color scheme. The ones that are on-off like boggart sprite chaser work because of changelings. But the quillslinger is fairly meh because of the bad statline, the trigger that has no support in its home color, a weak trigger at that to get going on turn 5, etc.
For the record, those opinions in my previous post arent even necessarily my opinions: I did a bunch of scouring for opinions in 2008 and for flashback drafts. So sentiments like this
"Overall it leads to the same problem we’ve seen in Ixalan: if you don’t find your lane (whether it’s a tribe or something weirder like the Elvish Handservant deck) you aren’t going to do well"
Are really commonplace.
/
I don't see a problem with jumping up a bunch of creature types, because once you're in a color most of the creature types are irrelevant. Once you're blue then elf, treefolk, giant, kithkin, goblin, shaman, and warrior don't matter to you anymore.
So I made these 5 decks to teach my friend how to play. I avoided counters, tokens, enchantments, artifacts, first strike, and too many on-board tricks. Every deck has a rare creature and one "splashy" uncommon spell.
Do you think these are good for their purpose?
But more interestingly, do you think they are balanced?
So I work at a math learning center with children (6-17) and my boss asked me to find something specific. We have a gap in our game selection in the sense that when a student needs a break but the instructor doesn't have time to play, options for what the student can do are limited.
We have lots of games at my job (Quarto, Quoridor, Pathagon, Prime Climb, Connect four (trash), Eternas, Mancala, Blink, Mastermind, Pylos, Rush hour, and decks of cards). Also there's a strict time limit of 10 minutes for a break.
So solitaire games or games where at least one player can pay little attention are on the table.
10-12 solitaire games are pretty few and far between. crosswords, 30 piece puzzles.... toy cars.
The Hive is a 20 minute 2player game. Perhaps if you take out some of the pieces/change winning condition (remove an ant piece, not require surrounded queen, but rather 4/6 surrounded to win) you could maybe get it down to 12 minutes. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2655/hive
Blokus is a good one that can be made into solitaire or with one distracted adult
I’m surprised you call Connect 4 trash, I’ve found it a great game to introduce students to abstract strategy. It’s a solved game but that certainly doesn’t matter for 99.99% of the people who’d play it
Blokus is a good one that can be made into solitaire or with one distracted adult
I’m surprised you call Connect 4 trash, I’ve found it a great game to introduce students to abstract strategy. It’s a solved game but that certainly doesn’t matter for 99.99% of the people who’d play it
It's surprisingly rare for the kids to actually think about their moves. The number of times someone has two in a row vertically, plays a third on top, gets blocked, and then is like "aw shucks" is surprisingly high. Like they dont think their opponent is looking or something.
Now you could say that its a learning exercise, that kids can figure out how to take a more oblique approach. But in my experience, 9 times out of 10 its merely a litmus test for their current strategic capacities. Almost like it's a sorting algorithm. It's the rare kid who actually learns from it.
To be fair though, it is the easiest game we have to teach on the fly if that's what I need.
\
We actually have Blokus, and Blokus' solitaire mode has somehow just about never crossed anyone's minds. I should look into it again.
/
I've wanted to get the hive for a few years now. I think it's really cool but of course time is the issue.
\
Kenken is a super obvious omission from our repertoire. I'll get some of those, thanks.
I was thinking about it since I said that yesterday, and Im wondering if that skill is something the average 6 or 7 year old doesnt have the capacity for in the first place. Sort of like object permanence at a younger age or (apparently) algebraic thinking in the preteen years. Barring the exceptional ones, of course.
If anything, the common american way to play mancala might work best? Perhaps because what counts as a correct move in connect four isnt likely to manifest itself as obvious until many turns later. Things like playing in the center, not playing pieces that have no real way to connect, or not letting someone get two connect threes on top of one another dont provide the immediate feedback I would want.
The commoner's way of playing mancala, with captures and extra moves, is much more obvious in some cases.
Playing for the centre, making relevant moves, and dealing with threats are the core of most strategic games imo, so if that's what they're being taught through connect four I'm not sure what the problem is. I've taught multiple people chess, and those are the three things I've told people that massively improve their play. I wouldn't expect people to pick those things up intuitively while playing, but it's pretty easy to apply (especially in connect four) after you're told.
But the relevance for why playing for the center is correct isn't obvious to many of them. Ive tried to explain that the center has the most avenues to win, and then by the next game they are playing on the edge again.
If anything they may just listen and apply the process but not understand why.
If you teach chess to kids it's the same story. At that age the most important thing, by far, is that they're having fun. They'll pick up strategy whenever they're ready.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I also thought the class matters stuff in Morningtide was a little too much to keep track of since you basically jumped from 8 tribes to 13 tribes.
If there was a way to scale that down to 10 relevant creature types, keep changelings, lose clash and lose chaff, that would probably be excellent.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/peasantsnowcube
-- Updated with Fallout Commander
The PioneWer Peasant CUbe
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/pionewer
-- Updated with Murders at Karlov Manor
Elvish handservant was a legitimate deck. But some cards in that group are on the poor side because the tribe they cared about was outside their color scheme. The ones that are on-off like boggart sprite chaser work because of changelings. But the quillslinger is fairly meh because of the bad statline, the trigger that has no support in its home color, a weak trigger at that to get going on turn 5, etc.
For the record, those opinions in my previous post arent even necessarily my opinions: I did a bunch of scouring for opinions in 2008 and for flashback drafts. So sentiments like this
"Overall it leads to the same problem we’ve seen in Ixalan: if you don’t find your lane (whether it’s a tribe or something weirder like the Elvish Handservant deck) you aren’t going to do well"
Are really commonplace.
/
I don't see a problem with jumping up a bunch of creature types, because once you're in a color most of the creature types are irrelevant. Once you're blue then elf, treefolk, giant, kithkin, goblin, shaman, and warrior don't matter to you anymore.
/
I did replace clash on most cards with explore.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Do you think these are good for their purpose?
But more interestingly, do you think they are balanced?
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/learner-white/?cat=&sort=cost
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/learner-blue/?cat=&sort=cost
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/learner-black/?cat=&sort=cost
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/learner-red/?cat=&sort=cost
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/learner-green-1/?cat=&sort=cost
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Anyone have any experience with it?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
https://goo.gl/forms/KKqVbFh7pm12G48f2
I figured that this would be the perfect place to ask for a couple of respondents, so I could even out my gender ratio a bit.
If you're not american, feel free to skip the political questions.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
We have lots of games at my job (Quarto, Quoridor, Pathagon, Prime Climb, Connect four (trash), Eternas, Mancala, Blink, Mastermind, Pylos, Rush hour, and decks of cards). Also there's a strict time limit of 10 minutes for a break.
So solitaire games or games where at least one player can pay little attention are on the table.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
The Hive is a 20 minute 2player game. Perhaps if you take out some of the pieces/change winning condition (remove an ant piece, not require surrounded queen, but rather 4/6 surrounded to win) you could maybe get it down to 12 minutes. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2655/hive
You could also have them just read a book.
EDIT: Added/changed some words.
I’m surprised you call Connect 4 trash, I’ve found it a great game to introduce students to abstract strategy. It’s a solved game but that certainly doesn’t matter for 99.99% of the people who’d play it
Reversi/Othello or some variation of Morris could probably take under 10 minutes if both people play reasonably quickly.
It's surprisingly rare for the kids to actually think about their moves. The number of times someone has two in a row vertically, plays a third on top, gets blocked, and then is like "aw shucks" is surprisingly high. Like they dont think their opponent is looking or something.
Now you could say that its a learning exercise, that kids can figure out how to take a more oblique approach. But in my experience, 9 times out of 10 its merely a litmus test for their current strategic capacities. Almost like it's a sorting algorithm. It's the rare kid who actually learns from it.
To be fair though, it is the easiest game we have to teach on the fly if that's what I need.
\
We actually have Blokus, and Blokus' solitaire mode has somehow just about never crossed anyone's minds. I should look into it again.
/
I've wanted to get the hive for a few years now. I think it's really cool but of course time is the issue.
\
Kenken is a super obvious omission from our repertoire. I'll get some of those, thanks.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
If anything, the common american way to play mancala might work best? Perhaps because what counts as a correct move in connect four isnt likely to manifest itself as obvious until many turns later. Things like playing in the center, not playing pieces that have no real way to connect, or not letting someone get two connect threes on top of one another dont provide the immediate feedback I would want.
The commoner's way of playing mancala, with captures and extra moves, is much more obvious in some cases.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
If anything they may just listen and apply the process but not understand why.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
CubeTutor: www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/72
Thread: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=512410