i don't think they're going to reprint fireblast. it's my favorite card of all time, and nothing would make me happier, but it is ridiculously strong and not really right for the flavor of Zendikar we've seen so far.
i think Seismic Assault is looking possible, but i hope for something new entirely.
i played with a guy once who started to get pissed off and mock me, taunt me, yell at me, etc. my response is always to go completely silent except for absolutely necessary comments to gameplay. i don't get outwardly angry and destroy my things or the things of others. but inside, i am absolutely seething, not because of the game state, but because i am being forced to act with someone who is acting so infantile. i instantly lose all respect for people who rage over a game of magic.
anyway, i came back from a first-game loss to win that match. the guy cried a lot about how my jank and slow play beat him, and i just said "gg" and played my next match. still no respect for that kid.
yeah, i use a shorthand to record my picks sometimes. i think it's silly that you can see your picks on MTGO while you draft but you can't do the same irl.
i think this is a pretty solid, well-rounded deck that can do a little bit of everything. low-quantity but high-quality removal coupled with a pair of good combat tricks, two great cascade creatures, and two bomb rares. i would be thrilled to have this deck, to be honest. how did you do?
i started playing MTGO for the same reasons you give; the closest shop is almost an hour away from me, and between school and work and the wife i don't have a lot of chances to make it there.
my advice would be to do swiss drafts to start out with to keep your costs down. until you get familiar with the MODO interface, you will make play mistakes and misclicks and other gaffes that may cost you games. if you are doing 8-4 drafts, then those sorts of mistakes are going to get real expensive really quick. swiss drafts are a good way to keep your costs down.
and speaking of costs, try to keep track of how much money you are spending to play. if you aren't winning much, MTGO can be more expensive than paper magic even though it feels cheaper.
that said, MTGO has done alot to help my game, especially when it comes to timing, the stack, priority and response. i'm still not a very good player, since i don't play enough, but i really think that MTGO gives you every opportunity to better your game by gaining a greater understanding of the rules and forcing proper play, which corrects the sloppy habits we all sometimes pick up while playing with our friends.
the first thing i would do, if i were you, is go under settings and set up priority stops at all the crucial phases of play, like during upkeep and during combat. you don't want to miss the opportunity to play a good combat trick or force a crucial discard or whatever just because your settings were wrong.
heavily in naya, the pack i open contains broodmate dragon, bull cerodon, and FOIL feral hydra. uuuhhhh...
i ended up taking the hydra because i didn't want to start splashing black and was more green than red or white, although i really agonized over the pick. ended up super fast naya, double thoctar, double nacatl, naya charm, cylian sunsinger... pretty sick, but i'm real short on removal.
your conflux list seems so wrong i don't really know where to begin. since you are all in one shard, i don't think you need to take armillay sphere that badly, esp. since you are hoping to be dropping creatures like wild nacatl, the outlanders, etc. at the low end of your curve.
vagrant plowbeast is not one of the better high-end guys, imho. i'd prefer rakeclaw, mosstodon, cavern thoctar, even hunt-pride really.
plus, cards like fiery fall and gleam of resistance are fantastic in naya and should be higher. they actually serve a function in addition to fixing, unlike armillay sphere, which really shines best in 5c. the one domain-based card i think is always worth playing is manaforce mace. mace is an absolute beating sometimes.
if you are going to force something, though, why not force esper? it seems more successful than naya post-conflux.
i still don't understand why you are forcing naya, though.
was controlled instincts really that great for you? i might have played the kathari over it in the main, and then side the instincts in if there's a creature i'm really having a problem with. the fact that you were able to deal with the big boys like adjudicator and such with the removal suite you had probably tells me you didn't need to be playing controlled instincts in the main.
Yeah, i'd mostly run it in 5c before and thought it would help me make sure i'd get the 3rd mountain for the dragon or one of the few plains i was running to splash white. i really wish, in retrospect, that i had grabbed the trailblazers or maybe even a knotvine mystic, although i haven't really liked the mystic much. nothing else in the packs really jumped out at me for RG.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Shadowfeed
Tidehollow Strix
Kathari Screecher
Soul's Grace
Carrion Thrash
Jund Panorama
Glaze Fiend
Gift of the Gargantuan
--> Sharding Sphinx (FOIL)
Esper Battlemage
Metallurgeon
Necrogenesis
Knight of the White Orchid
Swamp
i thought about both KotWO here and Necrogenesis, but didn't feel like either was really the best card in the pack, and didn't want to box myself in just because i first-picked cerodon.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Viscera Dragger
Druid of the Anima
Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Courier's Capsule
Yoked Plowbeast
Banewasp Affliction
Executioner's Capsule
Outrider of Jhess
Drumhunter
Sprouting Thrinax
Rockcaster Platoon
--> Predator Dragon
Island
but after this pick, i wish i had grabbed necrogenesis
Pack 3 pick 13:
--> Bone Saw
Infectious Horror
Forest
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Reliquary Tower
Plains
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Mountain
any critique would be welcome, especially of the conflux portion of the draft, which i've only done a few times. i ended up with a GRw deck that was more jundish than nayaish, and i really wish i'd picked up that necrogenesis, skeletonize, and jund charm and just been jund. in eight games, i only drew predator dragon once, although in each game i had the mana to play him. lost in the third round to a controllish 5c deck playing a ton of removal, the white conflux icy manipulator, and the woolly thoctar i passed.
I take Thunder hoping that the person to my left then takes the Warp. Then I try to cut red out of the next two picks, if the cards justify it, assuring that I have good red coming back to me in pack two. The Jund Charm is really the main problem for you, because the person to your left might take that instead of the Agony warp. I'd be interested to see picks 2 and 3 and pack 2.
i know the question isn't directed at me, but i would definitely take cerodon and mycoloth over bolt... probably overlord and maybe even godsire, too... but probably not violent ultimatum.
last draft i did i picked up pred dragon in a R/G heavy 5c domain deck and i never died with him in my hand. with exploding borders, fiery fall, gleam of resistance, etc. you'll have no trouble getting your mountains.
i quit smoking four years ago because i decided i wanted to quit. no interventionist nonsense, counseling, or cajoling from friends and family made me quit.
honestly, it hasn't made hardly any difference in my life. i rarely miss it, if ever, and i like saving the cash and not worrying about getting pulled over. but just because i made a decision for myself doesn't mean i harass all my friends who smoke about their habits. if they want to quit, i'll help them, but if they want to keep smoking, that's fine by me.
worry about your own problems, and help your brother on the things he wants and needs help with and asks you for help with, and that way if he decides he wants to quit, you'll be the one he comes to for help. in the meantime, let him do his thing. nothing you can say will probably convince him anyway.
i think Seismic Assault is looking possible, but i hope for something new entirely.
anyway, i came back from a first-game loss to win that match. the guy cried a lot about how my jank and slow play beat him, and i just said "gg" and played my next match. still no respect for that kid.
i probably wouldn't have played the veinfire borderpost or the molten frame in the main. i love the toxic iguanar and would've played it for sure.
i think this is a pretty solid, well-rounded deck that can do a little bit of everything. low-quantity but high-quality removal coupled with a pair of good combat tricks, two great cascade creatures, and two bomb rares. i would be thrilled to have this deck, to be honest. how did you do?
my advice would be to do swiss drafts to start out with to keep your costs down. until you get familiar with the MODO interface, you will make play mistakes and misclicks and other gaffes that may cost you games. if you are doing 8-4 drafts, then those sorts of mistakes are going to get real expensive really quick. swiss drafts are a good way to keep your costs down.
and speaking of costs, try to keep track of how much money you are spending to play. if you aren't winning much, MTGO can be more expensive than paper magic even though it feels cheaper.
that said, MTGO has done alot to help my game, especially when it comes to timing, the stack, priority and response. i'm still not a very good player, since i don't play enough, but i really think that MTGO gives you every opportunity to better your game by gaining a greater understanding of the rules and forcing proper play, which corrects the sloppy habits we all sometimes pick up while playing with our friends.
the first thing i would do, if i were you, is go under settings and set up priority stops at all the crucial phases of play, like during upkeep and during combat. you don't want to miss the opportunity to play a good combat trick or force a crucial discard or whatever just because your settings were wrong.
gl and hf. hope this helps.
heavily in naya, the pack i open contains broodmate dragon, bull cerodon, and FOIL feral hydra. uuuhhhh...
i ended up taking the hydra because i didn't want to start splashing black and was more green than red or white, although i really agonized over the pick. ended up super fast naya, double thoctar, double nacatl, naya charm, cylian sunsinger... pretty sick, but i'm real short on removal.
vagrant plowbeast is not one of the better high-end guys, imho. i'd prefer rakeclaw, mosstodon, cavern thoctar, even hunt-pride really.
plus, cards like fiery fall and gleam of resistance are fantastic in naya and should be higher. they actually serve a function in addition to fixing, unlike armillay sphere, which really shines best in 5c. the one domain-based card i think is always worth playing is manaforce mace. mace is an absolute beating sometimes.
if you are going to force something, though, why not force esper? it seems more successful than naya post-conflux.
i still don't understand why you are forcing naya, though.
Time: 3/19/2009 10:14:28 PM
Players:
Keedude
Rickelectric
Credendo
knight176
joshbayless
MooBoiz
KiDevil
--> kyclef
------ ALA ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Relic of Progenitus
Resounding Wave
Soul's Might
Knight of the Skyward Eye
Resounding Scream
Naya Panorama
Kathari Screecher
Soul's Grace
Mosstodon
Waveskimmer Aven
--> Bull Cerodon
Dawnray Archer
Scourge Devil
Vicious Shadows
Forest
Pack 1 pick 2:
Shadowfeed
Tidehollow Strix
Kathari Screecher
Soul's Grace
Carrion Thrash
Jund Panorama
Glaze Fiend
Gift of the Gargantuan
--> Sharding Sphinx (FOIL)
Esper Battlemage
Metallurgeon
Necrogenesis
Knight of the White Orchid
Swamp
i thought about both KotWO here and Necrogenesis, but didn't feel like either was really the best card in the pack, and didn't want to box myself in just because i first-picked cerodon.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Viscera Dragger
Druid of the Anima
Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Courier's Capsule
Yoked Plowbeast
Banewasp Affliction
Executioner's Capsule
Outrider of Jhess
Drumhunter
Sprouting Thrinax
Rockcaster Platoon
--> Predator Dragon
Island
but after this pick, i wish i had grabbed necrogenesis
Pack 1 pick 4:
Resounding Roar
Viashino Skeleton
Etherium Sculptor
Dreg Reaver
Kathari Screecher
--> Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
Shore Snapper
Esper Battlemage
Puppet Conjurer
Esper Charm
Sacellum Godspeaker
Mountain
and then i get great esper back at me...
Pack 1 pick 5:
Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Courier's Capsule
Yoked Plowbeast
Banewasp Affliction
Deft Duelist
Court Archers
Shore Snapper
Waveskimmer Aven
Soul's Grace
--> Algae Gharial
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 6:
Call to Heel
Yoked Plowbeast
Dregscape Zombie
Undead Leotau
Bant Panorama
Obelisk of Grixis
Spell Snip
--> Rockcaster Platoon
Memory Erosion
Forest
Pack 1 pick 7:
Etherium Sculptor
Marble Chalice
Deathgreeter
Cancel
Bloodthorn Taunter
Naturalize
--> Angelsong
Thoughtcutter Agent
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 8:
Viashino Skeleton
Call to Heel
Viscera Dragger
Esper Panorama
Obelisk of Naya
--> Gift of the Gargantuan
Cunning Lethemancer
Plains
Pack 1 pick 9:
Relic of Progenitus
Soul's Might
Resounding Scream
Soul's Grace
--> Scourge Devil
Vicious Shadows
Forest
Pack 1 pick 10:
Shadowfeed
Soul's Grace
Carrion Thrash
--> Jund Panorama
Glaze Fiend
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 11:
--> Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Yoked Plowbeast
Banewasp Affliction
Rockcaster Platoon
Island
Pack 1 pick 12:
Viashino Skeleton
Dreg Reaver
--> Shore Snapper
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 13:
--> Banewasp Affliction
Soul's Grace
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Spell Snip
Forest
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Marble Chalice
------ ALA ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Court Archers
--> Resounding Thunder
Jhessian Lookout
Resounding Silence
Dregscape Zombie
Cylian Elf
Mosstodon
Waveskimmer Aven
Elvish Visionary
Dragon Fodder
Woolly Thoctar
Arcane Sanctum
Sunseed Nurturer
Quietus Spike
Mountain
i thought about the thoctar here, since i was leaning naya already, but went with the removal i was lacking.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Obelisk of Grixis
Resounding Scream
Bloodthorn Taunter
--> Knight of the Skyward Eye
Cavern Thoctar
Cancel
Skeletal Kathari
Goblin Deathraiders
Mosstodon
Dragon Fodder
Crumbling Necropolis
Fire-Field Ogre
Demon's Herald
Forest
Pack 2 pick 3:
Crumbling Necropolis (FOIL)
Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Marble Chalice
Deathgreeter
Sigil Blessing
Guardians of Akrasa
Goblin Deathraiders
Goblin Mountaineer
--> Elvish Visionary
Jund Charm
Sphinx's Herald
Sangrite Surge
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 4:
--> Soul's Fire
Vectis Silencers
Welkin Guide
Obelisk of Jund (FOIL)
Onyx Goblet
Godtoucher
Gustrider Exuberant
Resounding Wave
Blood Cultist
Skeletonize
Mighty Emergence
Forest
considered skeletonize here, and in retrospect i wish i had taken it.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Cylian Elf
Soul's Fire
Vectis Silencers
Welkin Guide
Incurable Ogre
Cloudheath Drake
Obelisk of Naya
--> Jund Battlemage
Swerve
Gather Specimens
Plains
Pack 2 pick 6:
Ridge Rannet
--> Jungle Weaver
Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Kederekt Creeper (FOIL)
Tortoise Formation
Coma Veil
Grixis Charm
Etherium Astrolabe
Violent Ultimatum
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 7:
Viashino Skeleton
Call to Heel
Excommunicate
Resounding Scream
Cancel
Bloodthorn Taunter
Naturalize
--> Jund Battlemage
Forest
Pack 2 pick 8:
Rip-Clan Crasher
Tortoise Formation
Lush Growth
Esper Panorama
--> Wild Nacatl
Grixis Panorama
Mighty Emergence
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 9:
Court Archers
Jhessian Lookout
Cylian Elf
Elvish Visionary
--> Dragon Fodder
Sunseed Nurturer
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 10:
Resounding Scream
Bloodthorn Taunter
Cancel
--> Goblin Deathraiders
Demon's Herald
Forest
Pack 2 pick 11:
--> Thorn-Thrash Viashino
Goblin Mountaineer
Sphinx's Herald
Sangrite Surge
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 12:
--> Obelisk of Jund (FOIL)
Godtoucher
Mighty Emergence
Forest
Pack 2 pick 13:
--> Incurable Ogre
Swerve
Plains
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Tortoise Formation
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ CON ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Ember Weaver
Kranioceros
Mana Cylix
Gleam of Resistance
Wild Leotau
Asha's Favor
Rupture Spire
Vectis Agents
Molten Frame
Rhox Bodyguard
Celestial Purge
Hellspark Elemental
--> Sacellum Archers
Sphinx Summoner
Island
Pack 3 pick 2:
Parasitic Strix
Aven Trailblazer
Kaleidostone
Ember Weaver
Toxic Iguanar
Wandering Goblins
Brackwater Elemental
Suicidal Charge
Maniacal Rage
Rotting Rats
Reliquary Tower
--> Gluttonous Slime
Shambling Remains
Plains
Pack 3 pick 3:
Aven Trailblazer
Toxic Iguanar
Traumatic Visions
Mana Cylix
Voices from the Void (FOIL)
Rotting Rats
Asha's Favor
Nacatl Outlander
Grixis Illusionist
--> Exploding Borders
Ignite Disorder
Cumber Stone
Island
Pack 3 pick 4:
Aven Trailblazer
Toxic Iguanar
Traumatic Visions
Mana Cylix
Asha's Favor
Nacatl Outlander
Grixis Illusionist
--> Exploding Borders
Knotvine Mystic
Voices from the Void
Unstable Frontier
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 5:
Parasitic Strix
Bone Saw
Infectious Horror
Wandering Goblins
--> Might of Alara
Valiant Guard
View from Above
Countersquall
Fleshformer
Scepter of Insight
Forest
Pack 3 pick 6:
Wretched Banquet
Salvage Slasher
Brackwater Elemental
Exploding Borders
Maniacal Rage
--> Nacatl Outlander
Reliquary Tower
Controlled Instincts
Esperzoa
Plains
Pack 3 pick 7:
Faerie Mechanist
Mana Cylix (FOIL)
Vedalken Outlander
Goblin Outlander
--> Court Homunculus
Worldly Counsel
Corrupted Roots
Esperzoa
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 8:
Darklit Gargoyle
Unsummon
Vectis Agents
Quenchable Fire
--> Tukatongue Thallid
Lapse of Certainty
View from Above
Forest
Pack 3 pick 9:
Kranioceros
Mana Cylix
Asha's Favor
Vectis Agents
Molten Frame
--> Hellspark Elemental
Island
Pack 3 pick 10:
--> Toxic Iguanar
Brackwater Elemental
Maniacal Rage
Rotting Rats
Reliquary Tower
Plains
Pack 3 pick 11:
Rotting Rats
Asha's Favor
--> Nacatl Outlander
Ignite Disorder
Island
Pack 3 pick 12:
Mana Cylix
Asha's Favor
--> Nacatl Outlander
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 13:
--> Bone Saw
Infectious Horror
Forest
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Reliquary Tower
Plains
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Mountain
any critique would be welcome, especially of the conflux portion of the draft, which i've only done a few times. i ended up with a GRw deck that was more jundish than nayaish, and i really wish i'd picked up that necrogenesis, skeletonize, and jund charm and just been jund. in eight games, i only drew predator dragon once, although in each game i had the mana to play him. lost in the third round to a controllish 5c deck playing a ton of removal, the white conflux icy manipulator, and the woolly thoctar i passed.
last draft i did i picked up pred dragon in a R/G heavy 5c domain deck and i never died with him in my hand. with exploding borders, fiery fall, gleam of resistance, etc. you'll have no trouble getting your mountains.
i quit smoking four years ago because i decided i wanted to quit. no interventionist nonsense, counseling, or cajoling from friends and family made me quit.
honestly, it hasn't made hardly any difference in my life. i rarely miss it, if ever, and i like saving the cash and not worrying about getting pulled over. but just because i made a decision for myself doesn't mean i harass all my friends who smoke about their habits. if they want to quit, i'll help them, but if they want to keep smoking, that's fine by me.
worry about your own problems, and help your brother on the things he wants and needs help with and asks you for help with, and that way if he decides he wants to quit, you'll be the one he comes to for help. in the meantime, let him do his thing. nothing you can say will probably convince him anyway.