You know, what happens at the FNM is one thing, and I've seen great brews/ fun and decent decks take down some casuals events in town. Ah by casual I mean 4 rounds, and a few prize packs/store credit. You know what happens at the PPTQ level? We get the grinders (like myself) who realize that the best decks are also some of the most consistent at doing/ executing their game plans. Thus all my hopes for a Tezzerator deck or sweet U/B control deck went right out the window when I saw first hand how effective the big 3 were early on at dispatching those "brews".
At the GP Level? Watch Day 1 of GP Utrechet and you'll see some cool brews! You know what happens when good Magic players play Tier 1 decks? They stomp the brews and we get the established meta game as we know it. 4c Saheeli is the newest innovation that has been constantly tweaked and now it's poised to push G/B right out of the format. This is nothing new, many players have seen this at the PPTQ level and RPTQ level, the G/B decks are built to prey on Mardu (look this match up isn't even that GOOD in their favor) and what winds up happening is this; Somewhere in the swiss they play against Saheeli variations and get eaten up, then as the swiss enters it's last few rounds we see a curiously high percentage of Mardu Vehicles...what happened? Well Mardu Ate the Saheeli decks and boom you see the Top 8's being something liek 4 Mardu and a combo of G/B or 4c saheeli.
Jeskai Saheeli is gone, and has been replaced with a value engine of creatures, and cards that can win by themselves. The combo is just one part that deck, it's capable of beating you without but the moment you disrespect the combo is comes down to flick you off.
You can win FNM with Tier 2 decks, but I promise you that if players are simply playing stock lists then they aren't doing their homework, decks need to customized to meet the meta they are being played in. It just so happens that sometimes those metas are the top 3 decks, or should I say top 2.
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- GlavTech
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Member for 12 years, 7 months, and 3 days
Last active Tue, Nov, 20 2018 20:46:30
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Cards like these, which directly care about what's in your mana pool, will still utilize the word mana pool, just as the only card which cares about state-based actions is also the only card to actually mention state based actions.
Mana pool is still a mechanic, and it is still going to be a word that is used on cards. It just isn't on mana abilities, unless there is some specific interaction with the mana pool.
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It's like how the only time in MTG when state-based actions are ever directly mentioned is on Rules Lawyer. They still exist whenever you're playing the game, but cards only need to directly acknowledge it as a mechanic when it's being directly manipulated.
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Rudy from Alpha Investments just did this box opening.
Watch the whole thing, or just skip to around the 20 minute mark to see everything laid out. Literally the only difference between the two is that the second box had a Jace instead of Center of the Sea (although the second box still got a Center of the Sea as a foil.)
Is this stupid luck, a quality control issue, because they were part of the same case?
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Now, onto opinions that can actually be discussed. Banning Cat is IMO the best thing they could have done for the format. No, this isn't going to result in the format being only Mardu Vehicles and maybe BG. The only reason that other decks didn't exist is because Saheeli is so oppressive when pitted against anything that isn't Mardu Vehicles. Other decks were able to beat Mardu fine, it's literally just that Mardu was the only one who could consistently beat Saheeli.
Now that Saheeli is gone, things like Temur Marvel, Temur Tower, Energy, actual control decks, and the plethora of possiblity from Amonkhet will top. Is Mardu still the best deck in the format? Probably. But you can side against it properly, and it doesn't prevent tier 2 decks from existing.
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Hey friendo wanna chill
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Standard has more competitive events than all other formats. Your opinion might be that it's an entry level format, but your opinion also doesn't change facts. Standard has the most competitive events by a long shot, so therefore I think it's fair to have events like this cater to spikes.
You're complaining about the premiere competitive format being played competitively. THAT is backwards nonsense my friend.
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If you want to win the packs, play competitively. If you don't care about playing competitively, just play FNM. If you don't like FNM, then you're going to complain about any standard event that exists, so your complaint about this doesn't really mean much.
Standard is in a fine place right now, especially for those that are competitive minded. If you don't like the competitive mindset, play a casual format.