I'd like to discuss a few items regarding Duels of the Planeswalkers. I know its not as popular as the paper game or magic online, but it's growing rapidly, introducing lots of new players to the game. (plus they have a sequel coming this summer!)
There's a forum on Wizard's boards, but I'm not really into it. MTGSal <3
What is the best approach for petitioning for a new forum? I'd like to discuss a few items regarding Duels of the Planeswalkers. I know its not as popular as the paper game or magic online, but it's growing rapidly, introducing lots of new players to the game. (plus they have a sequel coming this summer!)
There's a forum on Wizard's boards, but I'm not really into it. MTGSal <3
thoughts?
Also, sorry if this isn't the right forum for this post....
I did want to post this new 2-man draft my friends & I have been using to great success. I don't really have a name for it but we'll go with the "super-cascade" draft.
Distribute an equal number of cards into 3 piles. For my Commons Cube we're doing 36 cards in each pile. One pile goes to each player & one pile is the "shared" pile. Roll a die to see who goes first.
Player A will draw 4 cards from his pile. As he's drawing the cards player B will flip one card face-up from the "shared" pile. This means that player A will have 5 cards they're choosing from (4 in the hand plus 1 face-up on the table). Player A drafts one card out of these 5 to put into his deck. Player A then passes the remaining cards from his hand face-down to player B. If the face-up card wasn't picked then it remains face-up on the table for the time being.
When player B picks up the cards, player A will then flip another card face-up from the shared pile onto the table. At this point, player B will have 5 cards to choose from (1-2 face-up & 3-4 in hand). Player B chooses 2 of these cards. This will leave 3 unpicked cards. After making the picks, Player B will grab all 3 of these cards (regardless of where they came from) & pass them face-down to player A. Player A puts the cards in his hand & picks one card of the three (unknown to player B). The 2 leftover cards get placed in a separate face-down pile (that gets unused).
Repeat this process, except with player B going first. Alternate players until all the piles are exhausted.
This is an alternate take on the 1-2-1 draft format. Adding the two face-up cards gives both players a chance to "first pick" a card on every turn as well as visibly passing signals. Adding the third pile also greatly improves deck quality since you see 50% more cards. Finally, it makes the drafts more fun in that you can laugh at some of the cards that get flipped up. It's always funny when you get a panorama flipped up on you but awesome when your opponent flips a Vendetta, Lightning Bolt, or Oblivion Ring when you to have first dibs.
One last addition we've added to this is what we call the "free exile" (aka "the whammy"). One time per draft you can exile (or "whammy") a face-up card. Say it's your first pick & you have an awesome spell in your hand & a slightly worse spell/a spell that's not in your colors flips up. You can "whammy" the card, remove it from the draft, and continue to make your picks as normal. This exile is sorcery speed, so it can only be done when it's your pick.
This draft has all the elements that a great draft should have:
-Signaling your opponent to try & "claim" a color
-20-25% of your picks are unknown to your opponent since you picked it out of your hand before they saw the cards
-Fake-signaling your opponent to throw them off
-A "shared" pile where the random flips are center-stage & adds more variation (and a little more luck)
-Screwing an opponent over when you exile a card that you know would have greatly helped them
-Looking at all of the undrafted cards at the end to see the sweet deck you could have drafted (the undrafted deck is the same size as your final deck)
----
So that's the "super-cascade" draft. Hopefully the instructions are clear enough. Next time you're "stuck" with only 2 people to draft with you should give it a whirl. This is definitely the most popular format in our circle. We also do 90-card Winston drafts & 60-card sealed.
Enjoy!
Nice! This seems fun. Think I might give this format a go...
Thanks for all the great input guys. Now I'm at work sitting around thinking about the cube I want to build instead of thinking about work.
Here's what I came up with:
12 Red
12 Black
12 Blue
12 Green
12 White
15 Multi
15 Hybrid
20 nonbasic Land
10 Artifact
I was thinking of pulling each category of cards at random from a separate larger pool of cards of 100 or so. I figure it will keep the draft interesting over time without having a HUGE cube to draft for 2 people. I also figured it wouldn't be fun if both people drafted a huge pool ending up with 70+ cards to make a deck from.
The problem I see occurring from selecting each category at random from a larger pool is that there's a chance you might end up with an inadequate amount of utility cards. Either that or the curve could be pretty messed up.
What I think is strange about the Winston draft is that people will most likely not end up with the same number of cards at the end of the draft since you can either be grabbing piles of 1 card or piles of >1 card per round.
Can anyone comment and how this effects the end result for players with more or less cards?
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Talcos, I just printed off that paper, looks fascinating. Can't wait to get out of work to read it.
Let’s be more specific; I’m creating these 80 card decks using the singleton rules. Now that I know I could only utilize ONE of each card, I figure I just create a large pool of cards I’d like to use, and after deciding the number of lands, choose cards from that pool based on a predetermined number for each respective CMC.
Now I understand that normally, choosing the number of lands ultimately depends on the CMCs of cards you choose ahead of time. Well, in this exercise, I’m doing the opposite.
So let’s say for my 80 card deck, I want to use 30 lands. Given this mana pool, how can I go about figuring the number of CMC 1 to add, CMC 2 to add, CMC 3 to add, ect….to end up with the most efficient draws possible.
I’d also like to add that these are casual decks for games that are supposed to feel RANDOM. Therefore, I'm not as concerned with associated synergies between cards. These decks are just for fun….
Wanted to mention something I have been thinking about.
A little background: I'm making 6 casual decks (5 of each color and one colorless) of 80 cards each following singleton rules (only one copy of each card except basic lands).
I was wondering if anyone has ever developed a general equation for developing a mana curve for a deck.
For example:
If one has a deck with N cards, that deck should contains
X lands
Y cards with converted mana cost 1
Z cards with converted mana cost 2
....and so on up to say cmc 7
I understand the values are subject to change depending on the number of mana fixers you plan on adding to the deck. Like I said, I was curious if there are general rulesfor developing the most effecient mana curve.
•a sudden intense burst of radiant energy on the battlefield
•a momentary brightness on the battlefield
•gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing" on the battlefield
•a short vivid experience; "a flash of emotion swept over him"; "the flashings of pain were a warning" on the battlefield
•appear briefly; "The headlines flashed on the screen" on the battlefield
•a sudden brilliant understanding; "he had a flash of intuition" on the battlefield
•flaunt: display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously; "he showed off his new sports car" on the battlefield
•blink of an eye: a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash" on the battlefield
•make known or cause to appear with great speed; "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts" on the battlefield
•ostentation: a gaudy outward display on the battlefield
•dart: run or move very quickly or hastily; "She dashed into the yard" on the battlefield
•flare: a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate on the battlefield
•expose or show briefly; "he flashed a $100 bill" on the battlefield
•news bulletin: a short news announcement concerning some on-going news story on the battlefield
•protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal; "flash the roof" on the battlefield
4. Player Maturity - Generally, I have found that at a Standard event, I am more likely to find rude, childish, and/or dishonest players than at an Extended or Legacy event. This is my own personal experience.
Do you think there is any particular reason, maybe associated with the format?
I'm seriously surprised at the amount of Legacy votes for this thread.
Reason being is that when I think of a "favorite" format I figure people would think "fun". And I personally associate fun with non-competitive formats; something more light hearted as it were. In addition, building a competitive deck in legacy should be a bit more expensive that EDH or casual, and I figured spending money would bring down the "fun factor", thus less favorable.
Maybe its because I stick to kitchen tables? (I voted casual.)
There's a forum on Wizard's boards, but I'm not really into it. MTGSal <3
thoughts?
There's a forum on Wizard's boards, but I'm not really into it. MTGSal <3
thoughts?
Also, sorry if this isn't the right forum for this post....
Agreed! I don't mind the precons if I can sideboard in some good cards and not have to play with an 80+ card deck.
Still a fun game....
Nice! This seems fun. Think I might give this format a go...
Here's what I came up with:
12 Red
12 Black
12 Blue
12 Green
12 White
15 Multi
15 Hybrid
20 nonbasic Land
10 Artifact
I was thinking of pulling each category of cards at random from a separate larger pool of cards of 100 or so. I figure it will keep the draft interesting over time without having a HUGE cube to draft for 2 people. I also figured it wouldn't be fun if both people drafted a huge pool ending up with 70+ cards to make a deck from.
The problem I see occurring from selecting each category at random from a larger pool is that there's a chance you might end up with an inadequate amount of utility cards. Either that or the curve could be pretty messed up.
Can anyone comment and how this effects the end result for players with more or less cards?
I found this article:
http://www.cubedrafting.com/2010/04/14/cube-for-two/
I'm curious if anyone else has any ideas. Thanks in advance!
Let’s be more specific; I’m creating these 80 card decks using the singleton rules. Now that I know I could only utilize ONE of each card, I figure I just create a large pool of cards I’d like to use, and after deciding the number of lands, choose cards from that pool based on a predetermined number for each respective CMC.
Now I understand that normally, choosing the number of lands ultimately depends on the CMCs of cards you choose ahead of time. Well, in this exercise, I’m doing the opposite.
So let’s say for my 80 card deck, I want to use 30 lands. Given this mana pool, how can I go about figuring the number of CMC 1 to add, CMC 2 to add, CMC 3 to add, ect….to end up with the most efficient draws possible.
I’d also like to add that these are casual decks for games that are supposed to feel RANDOM. Therefore, I'm not as concerned with associated synergies between cards. These decks are just for fun….
A little background: I'm making 6 casual decks (5 of each color and one colorless) of 80 cards each following singleton rules (only one copy of each card except basic lands).
I was wondering if anyone has ever developed a general equation for developing a mana curve for a deck.
For example:
If one has a deck with N cards, that deck should contains
X lands
Y cards with converted mana cost 1
Z cards with converted mana cost 2
....and so on up to say cmc 7
I understand the values are subject to change depending on the number of mana fixers you plan on adding to the deck. Like I said, I was curious if there are general rulesfor developing the most effecient mana curve.
•a sudden intense burst of radiant energy on the battlefield
•a momentary brightness on the battlefield
•gleam or glow intermittently; "The lights were flashing" on the battlefield
•a short vivid experience; "a flash of emotion swept over him"; "the flashings of pain were a warning" on the battlefield
•appear briefly; "The headlines flashed on the screen" on the battlefield
•a sudden brilliant understanding; "he had a flash of intuition" on the battlefield
•flaunt: display proudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously; "he showed off his new sports car" on the battlefield
•blink of an eye: a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash" on the battlefield
•make known or cause to appear with great speed; "The latest intelligence is flashed to all command posts" on the battlefield
•ostentation: a gaudy outward display on the battlefield
•dart: run or move very quickly or hastily; "She dashed into the yard" on the battlefield
•flare: a burst of light used to communicate or illuminate on the battlefield
•expose or show briefly; "he flashed a $100 bill" on the battlefield
•news bulletin: a short news announcement concerning some on-going news story on the battlefield
•protect by covering with a thin sheet of metal; "flash the roof" on the battlefield
Do you think there is any particular reason, maybe associated with the format?
But alas, my GF had the final say, and Zerby it is. (Zerby being a street name near her house as a youth).
I'll upload a picture in the near future. He likes to sit on my shoulder as I play test...
Reason being is that when I think of a "favorite" format I figure people would think "fun". And I personally associate fun with non-competitive formats; something more light hearted as it were. In addition, building a competitive deck in legacy should be a bit more expensive that EDH or casual, and I figured spending money would bring down the "fun factor", thus less favorable.
Maybe its because I stick to kitchen tables? (I voted casual.)