What's up with Larsson slow rolling game 1? Nothing gains life in the Aristocrats deck at one mana. Oh well, it was a very weird moment, the second he drew Snapcaster it was over and then they weren't through a lot more motions.
Anyway I like Larsson's overall MU here because of Revelation and the infinite combo that both aren't heavily disrupted by Martell.
List that got second at the last Open is very close to where I would have imagined/wanted an Esper list to be right about now. Low on Planeswalkers because they either force you to tap out and pay for it or clog up your hand while you're desperately trying not to be run over by the fast aggro decks. I'd want the full set of Verdicts, but aside from that, it's more or less where I'd begin. Cut out the tapout cards, format is too fast for that right now. Sellout and know that all the good control cards are unnecessary since you'll just end up fighting over Drownyards.
People make large events sound way harder than they actually are, especially people who have never done well at one. I see it all the time, "Doing well in an eight round tournament is tough, that's a lot of Magic!" but is it, really? Doing the same thing with the same deck for eight rounds is not that taxing.
The fatigue that most people feel isn't fatigue, it's boredom. When you're bored with the deck you're playing, you tend to play less of your lines because you're more looking forward to the game being over. I used to fall prey to this a lot in my early competitive days.
There's no real clear-cut way to avoid it. I enjoy playing at large tournaments because I enjoy winning money, so I tend to constantly remind myself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, I very seldom make play errors anymore, even in later rounds, because I know what I am there to do and I continually remind myself of it, which helps me avoid playing on tilt.
I've played in plenty of big tournaments and done well in a good number especially given I've only been playing competitively for roughly a year and a half. I love winning and the decks I've done well with I've genuinely enjoyed playing. I can talk about the mistakes I wouldn't make all day long and how I feel I am better than this player or that player, but it's not productive and ultimately is blinding myself to any growth I am capable of. I rather admit to the difficulty and aim to rise above than to simply state it's easy. Because if it was...I'd be winning every event I play in, but I'm not and neither are you.
I thought these were supposed to be where good players go and stuff, everyone else in my area keeps talking about the SCG opens like they're supposed to be good. They're like "Oh, did you see those awesome new plays at the SCG open?! Aww gee, i never thought of that before!" And honestly, I had to see what they were talking about...
If their standard opens are this bad, I wonder what their LEgacy tourneys are like. Honestly, if players misplay THAT much at these things, I think i'd probably compete in them just to win some easy prize...lol
You know, as much as the players and commentators missed, They'd probably be shocked to see the level of complexity I can get into when I play magic, lol. I'm not saying I'm "ooh, soo pro" but I'm LEAGUES better than these guys based on this coverage alone...
It just makes me so sad how much stock people put into the gameplay and analysis they see at these opens, I mean, honestly, who misplays that bad? And who honestly doesn't know how to read their cards?! >_<
This smily embodies just how I feel these SCG opens really are, lol.
Sorry if I offend someone, it's just how i feel right now seeing these things...
By saying something like, "they'd be shocked at the level of complexity I can get into," is doing exactly what you're trying to say that you're not doing. Are some of the mistakes bad and obvious? Yes. Have most players of all skill level made those mistakes (only to realize them seconds/minutes later)? Absolutely. Especially when you take into account knowing that a couple of thousand people are watching you and ready to chomp at the bit of your every slight misplay.
It happens. No one is perfect and your type of criticism is far from justified because it's just not that easy. Going X-1 or X-0 at any 9-10 round tournament is going to be hard. Playing perfectly with no silly mistakes is just as difficult.
But hey, you said it yourself, you're leagues better than these guys and want to start going to these to make some easy coin...well go for it. Not that hard to get to, very frequent. So get to it man, we're looking forward to seeing you in a many of t8s from here on.
But I for one won't be surprised that after your first Open, where you won't have any feature matches for us to point out your mistakes, you'll be on here sticking to your guns, not admitting to your faults, but blaming variance on why you weren't in the t8/16.
Insane finish. Played to his outs (including just going ahead and playing the Charm so that Bonfire was a "win" but it wouldn't have been since Boar was a 2/2 so lack of paying attention), but tapped his mana poorly. Just a solid mix between good choices and wrong choices and not being fully aware of what you have. Fun to watch. But definitely make sure you tap your mana correctly.
Wizards is going to keep Legacy alive by making no one want to play Modern. Why play the format when all of your favorite cards/archetypes that SHOULD be in are banned outright or are missing their top 2 cards?
Similar power level to Dark Ascension. First sets tend to hold more general power though and this is no different, I thought it might be given that it was a bigger set, but oh well. Not too bad, will see some shake ups and at least the creation of one new archetype.
Much like Grafdigger's Cage this card is not bad, far from it. It hoses what it's suppose to well and is about as efficient as it can be in terms of costs (obv), but it is a bit too narrow to see much play. Will hit a few sideboards, but never be absolutely necessary in a 75 for tournament success.
Boros is probably better than Azorius, but Azorius has been doing big constructed things for a while, so I'll wait for Boros to do those as well. That said...I'll rank them in regards to standard because I don't do the other formats well enough to rank otherwise.
Probably not quite a thing 'til Terminus is out the door. But it could be relevant as a sweeper that isn't completely dead in control mirrors? I dunno...don't expect greatness from it.
This charm is unplayable garbage from what I can tell.
And I like Vendetta, but it's not a very good card per say and the other two abilities do more or less nothing in those colors. And what 3 color deck wants Saving Grasp or return target 1CMC creature?
Thragtusk gains 5 and that sometimes isn't even enough when leaving an upward to two bodies. What I mean to say is, Ghost Council is far from absurd and will often times simply not be enough, especially when to dodge removal it needs to be removed from potentially blocking.
As for Lazav, I have a quick rules question: say it is a clonetusk, which I imagine it often times will be. When it clones another creature, does that count as "leaving play" aka a 3/3 in its wake???
Anyway I like Larsson's overall MU here because of Revelation and the infinite combo that both aren't heavily disrupted by Martell.
I've played in plenty of big tournaments and done well in a good number especially given I've only been playing competitively for roughly a year and a half. I love winning and the decks I've done well with I've genuinely enjoyed playing. I can talk about the mistakes I wouldn't make all day long and how I feel I am better than this player or that player, but it's not productive and ultimately is blinding myself to any growth I am capable of. I rather admit to the difficulty and aim to rise above than to simply state it's easy. Because if it was...I'd be winning every event I play in, but I'm not and neither are you.
By saying something like, "they'd be shocked at the level of complexity I can get into," is doing exactly what you're trying to say that you're not doing. Are some of the mistakes bad and obvious? Yes. Have most players of all skill level made those mistakes (only to realize them seconds/minutes later)? Absolutely. Especially when you take into account knowing that a couple of thousand people are watching you and ready to chomp at the bit of your every slight misplay.
It happens. No one is perfect and your type of criticism is far from justified because it's just not that easy. Going X-1 or X-0 at any 9-10 round tournament is going to be hard. Playing perfectly with no silly mistakes is just as difficult.
But hey, you said it yourself, you're leagues better than these guys and want to start going to these to make some easy coin...well go for it. Not that hard to get to, very frequent. So get to it man, we're looking forward to seeing you in a many of t8s from here on.
But I for one won't be surprised that after your first Open, where you won't have any feature matches for us to point out your mistakes, you'll be on here sticking to your guns, not admitting to your faults, but blaming variance on why you weren't in the t8/16.
April ban: Birthing Pod.
Azorius > Boros > Selesnya > Simic > Izzet > Golgari > Dimir > Orhovz > Rakdos > Gruul
Something like that.
And I like Vendetta, but it's not a very good card per say and the other two abilities do more or less nothing in those colors. And what 3 color deck wants Saving Grasp or return target 1CMC creature?
Worst charm? Probably.
As for Lazav, I have a quick rules question: say it is a clonetusk, which I imagine it often times will be. When it clones another creature, does that count as "leaving play" aka a 3/3 in its wake???