with all the cyclers out there, plus Essence Scatter, i wonder if there's a deck to draft that i can play mostly on my opponent's turn?
i would love to live the dream of a control deck that wins only through Slither Blade or the like!
what is the most annoying deck that has some possibility of forcing (even if it's not good)?
DirkGently, sometimes i think you shoudl get an XBox-like achievement when you manage to pull a pool lik ethat
hopefully the lands end up worth lots of money, though!
these "how'd you do at the prerelease" always attracts happy players eager to share how well they did.
just a friendly invitation: i like even more hearing about those who did so-so or very poorly, and hearing about what went wrong!
It seems that green has /very/ strong cards. There are really efficiently bodies for low mana cost in green, plus its Cartouche is decent removal.
I always worry about aggro decks and not being able to durdle.
So, help me to plan out some drafting strategies if I want to durdle in blue and black (and other colours to mix in), in this format that seems to be a little bit aggro-favouring.
hope it's not too off topic, but is there a corner case where you can cycle a card and it's not discarding? for example, is there any replacement effect as in "whenever you would discard a card, exile it instead"?
---
actually, come to think of it, how come these "whenever you cycle or discard a card" triggers don't trigger twice for cycling a card as normal?
that is, "whenever you cast a red or black creature card" would .. wouldn't that trigger twice when i cast a red-and-black creature?
[edit: ok, typing it out made my brain think and now i understand things better. essentially, there is only one triggered ability. after the event of casting my creature card, we look at all abilities to see if they trigger or not (and for this kind of event, this triggered ability can only trigger once; most triggered abilities only can trigger once per event except really weird ones like "whenever a creature blocks", where supposedly a single event like declaring blockers actually is considered to be made up of multiple events happening at the same time); this one triggered ability indeed does trigger (and just once).]
(this is an honest question; i don't know much about health sciences).
1) if a person is able to get muscular like in so many of our magic card art, does that mean that they are eating enough food such that if they did not have such a physically-demanding lifestyle, that they would gain weight? (i'm thinking about the incredible amount of food and protein shakes etc that guys will eat to put on muscle). if so, then there should be enough food available on any plane in which we see many super buff muscley soldier guys on card art, for there to be large (non-wealthy) people on that plane, too?
2) suppose there isn't much food available on a plane. will some people nevertheless have a husky build, just because of genetics? (does this happen on our Earth?).
it makes sense that power = abundance of food = more likely to have larger people, but it's also too bad that power = corruption. i was really hoping it could be possible to see some more positive depictions possible but still world-wise sensible; eg i'd love depictions (even if cliché) of the lovely large mother figure or a protective husky mentor retired-wizard figure, etc.
i agree that the soldiers etc would need to be fit. but there are still priests, healers, wealthy ravnicans, inventors and scientists .. maybe even pyromages and necromancers do not need to be fit.
but i mainly see either muscular, or fit-and-trim. there are a lot of other body types out there -- not just very obese or even obese, but also healthy body types such as husky, muscle-with-a-few-extra-pounds, etc; that is, there are people who /naturally/ are big (ie big and healthy) whose genetics would /never/ allow them to have a thin body.
also, there are associations and positive stereotypes (bigger people as being generous, warm, giving, caring) that i think would make evocative characters.
and admittedly, i'm attracted physically to husky and bigger guys so, yeah, it would be nice to see some eye candy for me on card art Joven is a start, i suppose
but in general, i think the more diversity that is shown, the more relatable the world feels to me, and the more rich/complex/interesting the world feels to me. i think diversity helps me feel that a world is broad and complex, so characters then feel more complex -- more complexly human, less caricature.
just to say, i love this pre-format analysis. especially when it is "i'm concerned about this.. let's see how it turns out".
i encourage people to share more of their thoughts and concerns here -- i wish these forums were more lively!
hey all. i notice that it's mainly thin and muscular people on card art and in planeswalker characters.
are there heavy / fat / large people shown in positive ways in mtg at all? if so, can you give some examples to me?
Formats where certain players win more consistently are by definition more skill intensive. Like you can't define it any differently.
I think this is an oversimplification.
Different people are looking for different things out of Magic games. I personally am not going for win-at-all-cost. I want to enjoy my games too. Trying to draft the deck that leads to the quickest least interactive win is not what I am trying to accomplish when I play Magic. A set that makes it easier for the win-at-all-cost crowd to increase their win percentage does not necessarily indicate a set that requires more skill; it just indicates a set that rewards a certain play style.
To me, the greatest 'skill' in Magic is the ability to play in a way that results in the most fun for the player. Because this is a GAME, its whole reason for existence is to provide enjoyment to its players. Players who are maximizing their FUN are *winning the game*.
The commonly accepted notion of what "skill" means in this context is "drafting and playing in such a way to maximize your chances of winning". While your viewpoint is a fine one to have, it's unrelated to the discussion of skill, and I don't think derailing the conversation with what it means for each of us to have fun playing magic is really conducive to the overall discussion (which granted, has devolved mostly to people complaining about the format being an aggro-fest).
although i agree that there is an agreed-upon (in this forum) notion of skill, i don't think it's derailing the thread to talk about why a person has fun with Kaladesh in ways that have nothing to do with skill? the forum topic of "Kaladesh is terrible (or not)" isn't the same as "does Kaladesh reward high skill levels?", after all!
personally, i welcome hearing people who actually like this format. it makes for something interesting to read (ie beccause it is a different opinion than my own). maybe i can expand what i enjoy by hearing other people's positive feelings, that is.
(p.s. thank you for your analysis on draft choices and deckbuilding as potentially being unusually skill-rewarding in this format)
(Honestly, how do these artificers have time to invent when they're worrying about their faces being bashed in by aggressive decks?!)
Suppose I refuse to draft an aggressive deck, and instead I want to durdle.
What pieces am I looking for? What is my strategy for surviving 2-to-cast 4/3 tramplers (Voltaic Brawler) and 3-to-cast 5/3 tramplers (Renegade Freighter) and 3-to-cast 3/4s (Thriving Rhino)?
Can someone give me a rough analysis to let me know just how possible it is to win in draft with aetherflux reservoir? That is, if i have my heart set on winning with this card, is it even possible to achieve this once in (say) three matches? if so, how would i have to build my deck?
oo, i didn't think of leading with your splash colour. i like that idea. i hope i can use it to good effect one day, like you did to bluff that Galvanic Bombardment!
also, thanks for the idea of signalling the opposite kind of deck that you're actually playing.
i would love to live the dream of a control deck that wins only through Slither Blade or the like!
what is the most annoying deck that has some possibility of forcing (even if it's not good)?
hopefully the lands end up worth lots of money, though!
just a friendly invitation: i like even more hearing about those who did so-so or very poorly, and hearing about what went wrong!
I always worry about aggro decks and not being able to durdle.
So, help me to plan out some drafting strategies if I want to durdle in blue and black (and other colours to mix in), in this format that seems to be a little bit aggro-favouring.
---
actually, come to think of it, how come these "whenever you cycle or discard a card" triggers don't trigger twice for cycling a card as normal?
that is, "whenever you cast a red or black creature card" would .. wouldn't that trigger twice when i cast a red-and-black creature?
[edit: ok, typing it out made my brain think and now i understand things better. essentially, there is only one triggered ability. after the event of casting my creature card, we look at all abilities to see if they trigger or not (and for this kind of event, this triggered ability can only trigger once; most triggered abilities only can trigger once per event except really weird ones like "whenever a creature blocks", where supposedly a single event like declaring blockers actually is considered to be made up of multiple events happening at the same time); this one triggered ability indeed does trigger (and just once).]
1) if a person is able to get muscular like in so many of our magic card art, does that mean that they are eating enough food such that if they did not have such a physically-demanding lifestyle, that they would gain weight? (i'm thinking about the incredible amount of food and protein shakes etc that guys will eat to put on muscle). if so, then there should be enough food available on any plane in which we see many super buff muscley soldier guys on card art, for there to be large (non-wealthy) people on that plane, too?
2) suppose there isn't much food available on a plane. will some people nevertheless have a husky build, just because of genetics? (does this happen on our Earth?).
it makes sense that power = abundance of food = more likely to have larger people, but it's also too bad that power = corruption. i was really hoping it could be possible to see some more positive depictions possible but still world-wise sensible; eg i'd love depictions (even if cliché) of the lovely large mother figure or a protective husky mentor retired-wizard figure, etc.
but i mainly see either muscular, or fit-and-trim. there are a lot of other body types out there -- not just very obese or even obese, but also healthy body types such as husky, muscle-with-a-few-extra-pounds, etc; that is, there are people who /naturally/ are big (ie big and healthy) whose genetics would /never/ allow them to have a thin body.
also, there are associations and positive stereotypes (bigger people as being generous, warm, giving, caring) that i think would make evocative characters.
and admittedly, i'm attracted physically to husky and bigger guys so, yeah, it would be nice to see some eye candy for me on card art
but in general, i think the more diversity that is shown, the more relatable the world feels to me, and the more rich/complex/interesting the world feels to me. i think diversity helps me feel that a world is broad and complex, so characters then feel more complex -- more complexly human, less caricature.
i encourage people to share more of their thoughts and concerns here -- i wish these forums were more lively!
are there heavy / fat / large people shown in positive ways in mtg at all? if so, can you give some examples to me?
although i agree that there is an agreed-upon (in this forum) notion of skill, i don't think it's derailing the thread to talk about why a person has fun with Kaladesh in ways that have nothing to do with skill? the forum topic of "Kaladesh is terrible (or not)" isn't the same as "does Kaladesh reward high skill levels?", after all!
personally, i welcome hearing people who actually like this format. it makes for something interesting to read (ie beccause it is a different opinion than my own). maybe i can expand what i enjoy by hearing other people's positive feelings, that is.
(p.s. thank you for your analysis on draft choices and deckbuilding as potentially being unusually skill-rewarding in this format)
Suppose I refuse to draft an aggressive deck, and instead I want to durdle.
What pieces am I looking for? What is my strategy for surviving 2-to-cast 4/3 tramplers (Voltaic Brawler) and 3-to-cast 5/3 tramplers (Renegade Freighter) and 3-to-cast 3/4s (Thriving Rhino)?
also, thanks for the idea of signalling the opposite kind of deck that you're actually playing.