What exactly do you want WOTC to do here? They don't have direct control over the metagame ....
Variation is key here.
Just stating I faced the same deck type 12 times in a row. And ... not a fan.
The most competitive deck, with the least rares, is going to be over-represented in Bo1 Arena. I'm sure the dev's are completely aware of this.
Wouldn't be a big ask to have the most popular deck forced into mirror matches a bit more often to give a break.
The people around you were playing mono-red, so that's what you get. The meta often changes by the hour, just because one time you hit a bad luck streak doesn't mean the system is broken.
Been playing Arena for a few years now. IME, Arena seems to match certain deck types up against certain other decks.
I.E. Whenever I play X, I usually play against Y. I'd be surprised if your experience is any different in Bo1.
I'm simply after more variation here.
... Playing in paper since '94. You could try Magic Online but it isn't a lot "better" in the respect you are finding disappointing. They could tweak it (Arena) but they won't. I play a little MTGO but many of the same problems exist there. The e-formats are just pale comparisons to that of paper for we PRE digital players. Best wishes and hope you can find a solution.
Cheers. I have tried MTGO, it's just ok. I liked that I could get into a lot of my older cards. (I like Legacy, Modern, Pauper, Commander formats mostly) but I do prefer IRL gaming. I really got into MTGO & Arena through covid when I couldn't get out ... and it's kind of stuck with me since then.
Hey there WotC. I'm a 20+ yr player of the game, mostly in paper formats.
I wish I could say Arena was great, but it needs work.
Example:
Tonight I played against an Explosive Singularity deck that hit me for 20 damage (I guess that's bugged!), then Mono-Red 12 games in a row.
Yep. 12 times, regardless of which deck I played.
So I'm taking a break from Arena Bo1, maybe forever. Your game is severely lacking if I only ever get to face one deck type.
Hey guys, it is perfectly fine to net deck. This is a common issue that occurs for mid-tier players that are transitioning from casual to competitive magic.
I get it, you are Johnny, you like to express yourself with your deck building, not everyone is like that....
I think we might be talking from a different perspective here. I've been playing MTG for almost 20 years, both casually & competitively.
I'm not saying, "My pile of trash isn't competitive", but I am saying, "The standard meta for years now, has had an obvious top choice deck that a clear majority of players adopt quickly, which crushes diversity".
The fall out from this, is that the effective card pool of standard becomes very small. I don't believe banning cards from the strongest deck is always the right answer here.
I feel that net decks/meta strats are a common occurrence among any game that has any kind of competitive scene. I's not really unique to standard to even MtG.
I've kinda noticed a few things happen, at least at the fnm level. I've seen people not show up to fnm as they found it was a lot of similar decks all the time. I've also seen people not show up to fnm because they found the skill level too low or they only wanted to play against meta/"net" decks. I don't even think I could imagine being able to make both sides of this happy tbh
I'm a long term legacy player, I know what you mean about there being clear top decks etc., but I feel legacys' large card pool enables many decks to compete against the better decks out there. I feel it's about creating a balance.
In standard, the smaller card pool means we need more options to even the odds against the best cards or decks out there.
Why MTG still prints cards like Murasa Brute, but doesn't print multiple answers to Field of the Dead is beyond me.
netdeck is not the issue.
bad game design that inviabilizes 90% of all cards on constructed is.
And here I think is a good issue. Cherry picking the best cards is part of the game, but lately MTG has seemed happy to ban cards instead of creating answers or hate dedicated to forcing players to grind out matches instead of just goldfishing to a win.
So I'm a long time MTG player, my jam is usually modern, legacy, multiplayer & commander.
I've been trying to get into standard, after mostly avoiding it due to cost, for the last 3 years or so.
I've done online, card shops, competitive meets etc., and I've come to the conclusion that Standard just isn't for me.
Of course this year its all been online (I prefer face to face meets)
In no other format I play, can I regularly expect to play against the EXACT same deck, including sideboard choices, 7 or 8 times in a row.
I don't think WotC swinging the ban-hammer in regular fashion, as they have in the last few years, is likely to really change that. I will say though, regularly banning cards has made standard an expensive format!
Think I'll be leaving standard for a while.
With respect to Corpse Knight, it's critically important that you purchase the 2/3 misprint version ..... we're not cheaters.....
Why play Magic if not to be a total scumbag?
I LOL'd. Nice
My Mrs is running a BW Knight deck too, few differences though.
Biggest one is 4x Knight Exemplar(she loves that this card resembles her, we've taken to calling the card by her name) with 4x Phyrexian Metamorph. Metamorph isn't just for copying Exemplar though, typically whatever looks tasty.
Other differences;
4 Order of Midnight, 3 sweepers, 2 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
Field of the dead is my fave card from the last few sets, and I've tended to enjoy this card most in Gates. Gate Cockroach is where I wanna be with gates. Who doesn't love a good cockroach!
My version mostly focuses on ramping, but also fields Fae of Wishes, with a singelton sideboard, mostly to solve problems.
I also run 2 Overwhelming Stampede main, with one for Fae to grab from the side.
Ok, so I glossed over this one first time I saw it. And then I saw it in a draft. Oh my.
Considering any decent enchantment deck fields plenty of efficient enchantments, some of which have *flash*, this thing looks viable to me.
Just imagine All that Glitters or Ancestral Mask attached to Griselbrand.
I think this might potentially be one of the better enchantment-biased, low-cmc creatures for large multiplayer FFA's or Commander.
I don't believe monored has ever been the best deck ever so...
It's won a few tournaments over the last 2 years in (paper) standard.
The meta you mention means nothing in Arena, as the meta only relates to non-Arena.
And here is the problem as I see it.
Arena matchmaking, pitting you against certain deck archetypes based on what you're running, means certain decks always have a high chance of playing against mono-red. I have quite a few tech types I've just given up on playing, because I invariably have to play against mono-red 3 out of 4 games, in a
poor match-up. Embercleave & Tobran put you on a short clock, I've been beaten before my 4th turn many times against Mono-red, pretty hard to beat them when they're doing that.
All I'm saying is simple.
There shouldn't be the possibility of playing against mono-red 5 games in a row (happened to me a few days ago), whether you're playing ranked or not.
The decks needs 1 drops more than it needs 6 drops. I'd rather see them cut for Grazers.
I think this is the right call.
Agent/Stealing ***** is where I wanna be with this deck, so doing this ASAP is Plan A.
Being able to reset post wrath is Plan B. Thassa should be great for this.
Mono-Red has had it's turn as the best deck in standard, if not very close to tier 1, time and time again.
GIVE. US. A. BREAK.
It's the most played deck BY FAR given how much I see it come up.
Can we please fix the match-making to make all the Mono-red players simply play against each other? Seems like a bit of Karma is in order.
Hi everyone,
Thought I'd consult the brains trust and see where it leads.
This weekend I'll be taking this to a constructed standard event. It's a greedy deck aimed at hitting 7cmc quick, and spamming Agent repeatedly.
It's not clever or even competitive, but I find it fun to play.
Just a quick mock-up. I need to spend a bit more time with card choices obviously. Panharmonicon seems like a nice alternative to Yarok, so I'll probably make that swap. Blade of Selves could easily be in multiples, but given Thassa blinks creatures, paying the equip cost turn after turn might stagnate my attacking with Blade.
I'm ~12 years in maybe, can't remember what set it was when I first got into MTG.
I DO remember it being a lot cheaper. I picked up my Lion's Eye Diamond's for example, back when they were a junk rare no one wanted for like a buck each.
Once upon a time is a bad design pure and simple. It may as well be a Demonic Tutor....
Yeah I kinda feel the same way.
My group actually had a talk about this card, since we've had the same problem. We all came to the conclusion, that we limit it to one copy, if at all.
I have to wonder whether the Multiplayer mulligan rule is what we should be looking at too?
Blade of Selves is THE card to build around, not Hydra Omnivore.
I tried to make Hydra Omnivore(and other cards like it) into brutal multiplayer creations.
It mostly doesn't work though, cos your opponents only need to see that trick once, and it's generally slow to assemble.
I don't think I ever connected for lethal damage with that deck, someone would always see it coming and stop it.
These days, I simply pop Blade of Selves into decks where all my creatures have decent *enters the battlefield* triggers.
Think Burglar Rat & Gray Merchant of Asphodel for example, they get utterly ridiculous when you trigger them 4+ times. Blade of Selves is genuinely a card that will have the whole table gunning for me if I play it... for good reason!
TBH I've not faced that combo before! It was a RG treasures/tokens deck.
Variation is key here.
Just stating I faced the same deck type 12 times in a row. And ... not a fan.
The most competitive deck, with the least rares, is going to be over-represented in Bo1 Arena. I'm sure the dev's are completely aware of this.
Wouldn't be a big ask to have the most popular deck forced into mirror matches a bit more often to give a break.
Been playing Arena for a few years now. IME, Arena seems to match certain deck types up against certain other decks.
I.E. Whenever I play X, I usually play against Y. I'd be surprised if your experience is any different in Bo1.
I'm simply after more variation here.
Cheers. I have tried MTGO, it's just ok. I liked that I could get into a lot of my older cards. (I like Legacy, Modern, Pauper, Commander formats mostly) but I do prefer IRL gaming. I really got into MTGO & Arena through covid when I couldn't get out ... and it's kind of stuck with me since then.
I wish I could say Arena was great, but it needs work.
Example:
Tonight I played against an Explosive Singularity deck that hit me for 20 damage (I guess that's bugged!), then Mono-Red 12 games in a row.
Yep. 12 times, regardless of which deck I played.
So I'm taking a break from Arena Bo1, maybe forever. Your game is severely lacking if I only ever get to face one deck type.
I think we might be talking from a different perspective here. I've been playing MTG for almost 20 years, both casually & competitively.
I'm not saying, "My pile of trash isn't competitive", but I am saying, "The standard meta for years now, has had an obvious top choice deck that a clear majority of players adopt quickly, which crushes diversity".
The fall out from this, is that the effective card pool of standard becomes very small. I don't believe banning cards from the strongest deck is always the right answer here.
I'm a long term legacy player, I know what you mean about there being clear top decks etc., but I feel legacys' large card pool enables many decks to compete against the better decks out there. I feel it's about creating a balance.
In standard, the smaller card pool means we need more options to even the odds against the best cards or decks out there.
Why MTG still prints cards like Murasa Brute, but doesn't print multiple answers to Field of the Dead is beyond me.
And here I think is a good issue. Cherry picking the best cards is part of the game, but lately MTG has seemed happy to ban cards instead of creating answers or hate dedicated to forcing players to grind out matches instead of just goldfishing to a win.
So I'm a long time MTG player, my jam is usually modern, legacy, multiplayer & commander.
I've been trying to get into standard, after mostly avoiding it due to cost, for the last 3 years or so.
I've done online, card shops, competitive meets etc., and I've come to the conclusion that Standard just isn't for me.
Of course this year its all been online (I prefer face to face meets)
In no other format I play, can I regularly expect to play against the EXACT same deck, including sideboard choices, 7 or 8 times in a row.
I don't think WotC swinging the ban-hammer in regular fashion, as they have in the last few years, is likely to really change that. I will say though, regularly banning cards has made standard an expensive format!
Think I'll be leaving standard for a while.
Does no one brew their own decks anymore?
I LOL'd. Nice
My Mrs is running a BW Knight deck too, few differences though.
Biggest one is 4x Knight Exemplar (she loves that this card resembles her, we've taken to calling the card by her name) with 4x Phyrexian Metamorph. Metamorph isn't just for copying Exemplar though, typically whatever looks tasty.
Other differences;
4 Order of Midnight, 3 sweepers, 2 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
Ramp & Clone/Spark Double's are all you'll need really.
Damn shame this doesn't work with Sepulchral Primordial
It's cheap, lots of ways to build it, and Guild Summit is a decent source of draw, especially late game.
Crackling Perimeter + Awakening. You'll get bored with it quickly, but it IS funny.
Field of the dead is my fave card from the last few sets, and I've tended to enjoy this card most in Gates.
Gate Cockroach is where I wanna be with gates. Who doesn't love a good cockroach!
My version mostly focuses on ramping, but also fields Fae of Wishes, with a singelton sideboard, mostly to solve problems.
I also run 2 Overwhelming Stampede main, with one for Fae to grab from the side.
+1 Elvish Rejuvenator. I think Uro is over-rated.
EDIT:
I think Gates Ablaze should be a proper wrath. Cos Reanimator laughs at you
Ok, so I glossed over this one first time I saw it. And then I saw it in a draft. Oh my.
Considering any decent enchantment deck fields plenty of efficient enchantments, some of which have *flash*, this thing looks viable to me.
Just imagine All that Glitters or Ancestral Mask attached to Griselbrand.
I think this might potentially be one of the better enchantment-biased, low-cmc creatures for large multiplayer FFA's or Commander.
What do you think?
It's won a few tournaments over the last 2 years in (paper) standard.
The meta you mention means nothing in Arena, as the meta only relates to non-Arena.
And here is the problem as I see it.
Arena matchmaking, pitting you against certain deck archetypes based on what you're running, means certain decks always have a high chance of playing against mono-red. I have quite a few tech types I've just given up on playing, because I invariably have to play against mono-red 3 out of 4 games, in a
poor match-up. Embercleave & Tobran put you on a short clock, I've been beaten before my 4th turn many times against Mono-red, pretty hard to beat them when they're doing that.
All I'm saying is simple.
There shouldn't be the possibility of playing against mono-red 5 games in a row (happened to me a few days ago), whether you're playing ranked or not.
I think this is the right call.
Agent/Stealing ***** is where I wanna be with this deck, so doing this ASAP is Plan A.
Being able to reset post wrath is Plan B. Thassa should be great for this.
Mono-Red has had it's turn as the best deck in standard, if not very close to tier 1, time and time again.
GIVE. US. A. BREAK.
It's the most played deck BY FAR given how much I see it come up.
Can we please fix the match-making to make all the Mono-red players simply play against each other? Seems like a bit of Karma is in order.
Field of the Dead nobo with Panharmonicon I think, which would necessitate Yarok. Which is fine.
Still on the fence with Noxious Gearhulk, which are okay, but I'll probably just swamp them for some Deadeye Navigator etc.
Thought I'd consult the brains trust and see where it leads.
This weekend I'll be taking this to a constructed standard event. It's a greedy deck aimed at hitting 7cmc quick, and spamming Agent repeatedly.
It's not clever or even competitive, but I find it fun to play.
3 Arboreal Grazer
4 Fblthp, the Lost
4 Silhana Wayfinder
4 Murderous Rider
2 Neoform
4 Risen Reef
4 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
3 Yarok, the Desecrated
4 Agent of Treachery
2 Massacre Girl
And of course I'm thinking of making up a multiplayer version of this.
2 Arboreal Grazer
4 Coiling Oracle
4 Baleful Strix
4 Risen Reef
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
2 Reclamation Sage
4 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
3 Yarok, the Desecrated
2 Noxious Gearhulk
4 Agent of Treachery
1 Blade of Selves
Just a quick mock-up. I need to spend a bit more time with card choices obviously.
Panharmonicon seems like a nice alternative to Yarok, so I'll probably make that swap. Blade of Selves could easily be in multiples, but given Thassa blinks creatures, paying the equip cost turn after turn might stagnate my attacking with Blade.
Thoughts? How can I improve this?
I DO remember it being a lot cheaper. I picked up my Lion's Eye Diamond's for example, back when they were a junk rare no one wanted for like a buck each.
Yeah I kinda feel the same way.
My group actually had a talk about this card, since we've had the same problem. We all came to the conclusion, that we limit it to one copy, if at all.
I have to wonder whether the Multiplayer mulligan rule is what we should be looking at too?
I tried to make Hydra Omnivore (and other cards like it) into brutal multiplayer creations.
It mostly doesn't work though, cos your opponents only need to see that trick once, and it's generally slow to assemble.
I don't think I ever connected for lethal damage with that deck, someone would always see it coming and stop it.
These days, I simply pop Blade of Selves into decks where all my creatures have decent *enters the battlefield* triggers.
Think Burglar Rat & Gray Merchant of Asphodel for example, they get utterly ridiculous when you trigger them 4+ times.
Blade of Selves is genuinely a card that will have the whole table gunning for me if I play it... for good reason!