Magic: The Gathering

Stormtroper · 2021-04-16 07:55:22

Strixhaven is here! The planeswalkers are going to school!
Everything is brown and academic. Actually it's not that brown, I haven't paid much attention but I think the things that would be color-coded are transparent.
I knew from before that a lot of people associated color pairs with Ravnica's guilds a bit too much, but reading what people had to say about the colleges I realize that the association is way too strong, with people believing that Prismari's mechanics are wrong for not being "what Izzet wants to do" or Lorehold not being warrior cops, or downright thinking that the guilds' identities being an intrinsic part of the game or that there exist color pair identities in the first place. Apparently Wizards is aware of this as one selling point is that they're doing something different than the guilds with the colleges. I blame referring to color pairs by the guilds' names rather than specifying the colors.
I haven't seen much of the set tho, only Professor Onyx, Flamethrower Sonata and the Prismari dragon.
Unfortunately the Japanese Mystical Archives aren't easy/cheap to get.
I'm kind of torn on what to spend my resources on.

lrdgck · 2021-04-16 09:46:03

white - council folks
blue - nerds
green - slackers
red - jocks
black - preps

But yeah, Magic's had a bit of an ideology set ready for each colour mix for a while now. Any link to where I can read some listing of the new depictions?

Zennistrad · 2021-04-16 23:33:03

Bassically Strixhaven's color pairs:

White/Black: Lawyers and debate club nerds

Blue/Red: Mad artists

Black/Green: Gardeners who are really into mulch

Red/White: Archeologists but like, the Indiana Jones kind, not the actual kind

Green/Blue: Math nerds

Stormtroper · 2021-04-17 05:15:01

I found this, which seems throughout enough.
There's also the cringe-y trailer.
Edit: Also, it occurs to me that hippie stoner dudes would fit more in green.

lrdgck · 2021-04-17 09:11:38

Something tells me we might expect allied colour pairs in some future extension.

Stormtroper · 2021-04-17 20:57:46

I feel like Dragons of Tarkir's broods may count, someone who's played at the time may have a differing opinion as to whether they're analogous to the guilds/shards/clans/colleges.
I've barely seen people playing Strixhaven cards so far, I guess it really is underpowered, though I figure with time people will find things to do with them.
At any rate, limited is still a blast.
From what I've seen, when it comes to picks, people value Mystical Archives as if it were the original card, thus highly reprinted commons and New Player Experience cards are passed easily unless it fits the deck. I'd have valued all of them as rares.

glennmagusharvey · 2021-04-18 04:31:32

[watches video]

So are these five schools, respectively, red/white, blue/red, green/blue, black/white, and green/black?

Edit: oh wait, Zennistrad already covered that lol

edit:

Pizza is now canon in the multiverse.

LOL

Grabs mushroom.
"Expaind your mind."

Sick, wizard drugs.

Belphegor University needs some sort of policy regarding controlled substances.

Stormtroper · 2021-04-29 06:24:37

It took a while but after a week Strixhaven has started making an impact in the metagame. Notably there's the GB sacrifice deck based around tokens and Plumb the Forbidden, and the RW Magecraft one.

I said the one earlier was going to be my last Kaldheim draft, but I lied, I thought I'd make use of the fact that I'm ranked Bronze in limited. Here it goes:

Gosh this is awful, I'm already regretting getting into this. I was really looking forward to splashing that Tergrid, but with no mana fixing that seemed risky. I passed the UB snow tapland in favour of Behold the Multiverse, which in hindsight was a mistake.

GW Something: My opponent tried to make use of the uncommon GW saga, but with my burn spells I kept it all under control.
Monored?: My opponent wrecked me with two Axgard Cavalry and Craven Hulk, I had a very slow hand that failed to establish a decent board presence.
WGU Aggro: I got mana screwed, missing the third and fourth land drops on the draw and finishing by turn 8 or so with four lands. I had a very controlly hand but I couldn't make proper use of it.
BW Something: I got stuck for a good while with no blue mana sources, then for a nother while with only an island to cast millions of blue spells and leave mana in case I needed to cast Saw It Coming, fortunately for me my opponent's deck wasn't all that good. I made use of what I could, mainly causing two-for-ones with my burn spells and stalling the board the best I could. One combat my opponent went all out and left me at 4, I came out ahead thanks to having Frostbite and Demon Bolt available, two turns later I Squash and Frostbite their remaining creatures then go all out, having both Saw It Comings available, which I ended up needing when my opponent cast Angel Sword and recurred it with Spectral Steel.
UR Controlly: A mirror match, unfortunately my opponent drafted a way better deck than I did, notably my life slowly dwindled thanks to a Mistwalker equipped with Goldvein Pick.

So yeah, 2-3. I got the extra booster so I guess it wasn't that bad, but yeah, I think this is the last time I get in the mindset that having a low ranking will get me easy matchups.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-01 06:24:52

Strixhaven Quick Draft is here! I was waiting for this moment. Unfortunately I've spent more money than I should've on cosmetics and I'll have to be careful going forward with how

1-

(I forgot to add the deck to my collection so I had to recreate it from memory, fortunately since I had almost no cards from Strixhaven it wasn't hard to use my collection to guide myself, though the exact main/side board contents and land distribution may be off. I can't remember whether the first pick was Silverquill Command or Brainstorm)

GB Witherbloom - I failed to get ahead at any point of the game, my opponent slowly dwindled my life total with Valentin and Mage Hunter, I did what I could trying to gain life through Silverquill Pledgemage, Leech Fanatic and making use of combat tricks, but in the end I fell.
RW Lorehold - Gosh I hate myself over this game, during a big combat I blocked Lorehold Pledgemage with Silverquill Pledgemage intending to use Professor's Warning and my opponent cast a combat trick that was going to become useless to boot, but I messed up and added counters to the Pledgemage instead, and without thinking about it I cast Beaming Defiance (that I was intending for something else)realizing a second too late that it wouldn't do any good. All in all a combat that should've resulted in my opponent getting blown out resulted in me getting blown out instead.
GB Witherbloom - I went aggro but the board stalled quickly after my opponent cast three Moldering Karok. I made another misplay, I thought Novice Dissector could sacrifice itself, but nope, so I unnecessarily sacrificed a bunch of creatures believing I had lethal, fortunately this time I could still manage to get ahead despite the fact that my opponent gained a bunch of life.
RGU Something - I wrecked my opponent's hand early on and established a board presence that my opponent could not deal with.
WB Silverquill - I wrecked my opponent's hand early on, but my opponent still got a Specter of the Fens in and put two +1/+1 counters on it, I kept gaining life with Silverquill Pledgemage so I'd say I was ahead of the race, but one fateful turn I decided to chump-block their Specter with one of my own, which would prove to be the wrong decision, as a Study Break later and I was well behind, finally I decided to scry during my upkeep, preventing me from casting the Silverquill Command I was about to draw that would've made me win the game.
WBG Witherquill - I outaggroed my opponent, between Silverquill Pledgemage and two Unwilling Ingredient and a bunch of removal my opponent couldn't do much by the time they had their first creature that didn't die instantly (Witherbloom Pledgemage).

So yeah, 7-2 with what I thought was a terrible deck, though I gotta say it plays much more nicely than I expected, and Poet's Quill is an excellent piece of cardboard. It should go without saying that I'm immensely pleased with this, I hope there's more.
It does bug me that after nearly two decades of playing this game, I still make huge mistakes lik

2-

I have better hopes for this deck. While picking I considered splashing Quandrix, but no good opportunity showed itself (really could've used Environmental Sciences), in hindsight not splashing him anyways was a mistake.

BW Super aggro - I got swept by a barrage of tiny dudes and removal and Study Break on what I could manage to get down.
GB Mirror - I thought time was in my favour, that changed when I cast Agonizing Remorse and saw that my opponent had an excellent assortment of spells and hadn't only played them due to a lack of a second forest. After they played it thins snowballed against me.
BWg - It took a while but my opponent wrecked me with Karok Wrangler, Specter of the Fens and Leech Fanatic. I thought I could make good use of the Blood Researcher and Specter I had on the board and the Witherbloom Dean on hand but no luck.

So yeah, this was disastrous. I wonder why such a discrepancy (rank difference?), I feel like this deck didn't mesh nearly as well as the previous one, though I'm not sure how to improve that (well, Environmental Sciences is one way). Regardless, at 8 rares/mythics it's certainly worth it, at least under the standards of previous sets.

So yeah, people were right when they said this is a slooow format, although that does not mean I can just ignore mana curves or whatnot. Another takeaway is how full of combat tricks it is, with explosive turns right around the cornet, in hindsight it was obvious giving the number of instants and magecraft triggers around.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-03 05:19:29

I feel like Dragons of Tarkir's broods may count, someone who's played at the time may have a differing opinion as to whether they're analogous to the guilds/shards/clans/colleges.

So I looked it up, and with the only multi-color identity cards being four cycles (the uncommon dragons, the legendary dragons, the commands and the monuments) and two Planeswalkers, nah, it's not analogous at all.

01/05
3-

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-05-21-RAo-deck/?share=fc52562720e5845f5cde86c389967884
It should go without saying that I was unsure as to what colors to play, in the end I went three colors, confident that Environmental Sciences plus four learn cards would get me through this. I'm concerned about the number of creatures, however.

RW Aggro - Between Star Pupil, Lorehold Apprentice and Lorehold Pledgemage I was brought to low life early on, fortunately a timely Poet's Quill and Expanded Anatomy (learned through the Quill) on a Venerable Warsinger and I was on my way to victory.
BG Witherbloom - I went aggro early on, but things changed when my opponent cast Tend the Pest, sacrificing Trudge, I'd then use Owlin Mage to damage my opponent, getting through their remaining life while not letting my creatures kill their pests.
UR Prismari - I established an early board presence and dealt some early damage, but I was concerned about combat tricks. After having enough mana to cast two combat tricks on my own I went on the offensive, to my surprise not only my opponent had no tricks, but behaved as if I had no tricks of my own, I got rid if their early bomb and had enough stuff in my hand to ensure combat would always go my way.
GB Witherbloom - It seems my opponent wasn' an experienced player, most of all early on my opponent attacked with Dina, I cast Enthusiastic Study on a pest intending to block her, in response my opponent cast Big Play on Dina despite the fact that I could simply not block her. Some more Dina pumping later I cast Closing Statement on her, thus paving the way to kill them with a pest and a spirit, both with +1/+1 counters and with Defend the Campus and Shock in hand.
BW Silverquill - My opponent did a much better job at combat tricks. I thought I'd be in touble due to the lack of red mana sources, but I found one before I really needed it. One eventful turn I got rid of their potential blockers with Make your Mark and Defend the Campus' +1/+1, with my opponent on the defensive they drew Specter of the Fens, but with a spirit and 2/1 spirit recurring, I eventually got ahead.
GB Witherbloom - things were going my way at first, by the time my opponent got a decent board presence I had a 5/5 pest with Poet's Quill, but one eventful turn my opponent drew a million cards with harmonize and learned with Eyetwitch, removed my pest, and things turned to attrition, I got them to 3 life, then they cast Professor Onyx, fortunately for me it seemed their deck didn't have many ways to trigger magecraft, so eventually (and after a dubious block) I overwhelmed them with Enthusiastic Study.
UGr Quandrix - (The red splash is for the Prismari ddragon) An intense game, my opponent cast an early Quandrix Pledgemage that eventually grew to 10/10, but I kept gaining life through Poet's Quill, eventually my opponent cast several creatures and things stalled, I managed to stay alive some more with combat tricks but eventually with Portal Wurm I fell.
GB Witherbloom - GOD DAMNIT I messed up again. The board was super stalled, with me creating millions of spirit tokens with Quintorius but losing life to two Specter of the Fens, after a mllion turns where I was mentally prepared to wait until I was at two so my opponet was tempted to attack me with both Specters, I'd block one and remove the other, thus halting the clock and giving me what looks like the advantage, nonetheless the previous turn I cast Leech Fanatic with what I found out too late was my only black mana source.
GUB Something - Gosh I got completely dominated, I cast Poet's Quill, Venerable Warsinger and Quintorius, all of which got removed with Eliminate, Mortality Spear and a Containment Breach (searched through Field Trip), I then got mana flooded, I then drew lands nonstop and could not halt the barrage of creatures that was about to come, notably Witherbloom Pledgemage and a 8/8 fractal from Leyline Invocation.

Man, I'm miffed about that Leech Fanatic mess-up. It keeps bothering me that after nearly two decades I keep making stupid mistakes. Regardless, perhaps I should be glad that I got 6-3, a good result that's enough to pay for another Quick Draft, unfortunately I did not win the booster from the 40% chance bonus.
Several hours after the draft I was remembered that one can rummage with Learn, I wonder if there's a game I could've won if I had kept that in mind.

02/05
4-
tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-05-21-Kpw-deck/?share=e9379d6b1d01c845b483174ebcab43a8
With yesterday's results I'm more than glad to try the same colors again. This is a much less aggro hand but with ~~two~~ one board wipes, I can't ask for more.

UG Quandrix - Goddamnit, I messed up again, on a very stalled board I had Devastating Mastery and a land in hand, I knew my opponent could have one of those pay-something counters, but still forgot to play the land before casting the Mastery, and I ended up needing that extra mana source to pay for it.
GB Something - My opponent somehow didn't feel like playing spells so I was destroying them, then I disconnected. For some reason the loss did not count towads my record.
WGB Something - This was a more even match than the previous, but that didn't help when I disconnected again...
GU - I destroyed my opponent who barely played creatures, getting them removed easily with Umbral Juke and Defend the Campus. Despite the fact that I won apparently it counted as a defeat (perhaps due to the previous disconnection?) thus I'm out.

0-3. Well, that's disheartening, I thought I had something solid going on, ~~once again I screw myself due to relying on board wipes. Perhaps I should just forget I have these things in my hand and just play them as an "oh crap" button.~~ Nevermind, see edit below, Devastating Mastery did okay this draft.

5-

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-05-21-RaT-deck/?share=235c59fc189f8eaa46d67c2234472c2f

GB Witherbloom - I was on the offensive early on, brining my opponent to about 9 before things stabilized, my opponent played several large creatures and I had to make do with Cauldron (mainly discarding Brackish Trudge), until one eventful turn I managed to cast Exponential Growth with x=2 on a 3/3 Valentin with my opponent only having one blocker, thus I won.
GUR - I tried to play slowly, but this turned to be a hughe mistake. At some point I made the error of casting Owlin Shieldmage after my oppoent cast Maelstrom Muse, thus suggesting a burn spell, which was the case. Then an Elemental Mastery copied with Teach By Example and I was at a clear disadvantage,
I forgot - In which I get mana screwed and lost without getting to play the game.
URg Prismari - This was a long game, I was counting early on to be able to cheat away another victory thanks to Exponential Growth but no luck, though I did manage to force a bad trade with a 16/2 Leech Fanatic. The rest of the game was about me trying to chip off my opponent's 5 remaining life, but after a couple Elemental tokens and other stuff, that did not happen.

1-3. There was a match deck I forgot to write about. The more frustrated I get, the less likely I am to remember either to write something here or to take screenshots as a memory aid.

6-

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/03-05-21-EhE-deck/?share=ee617f823f3a4606c9eb0a5325c7ea64
(Edit: Apparently I confused myself and this is the draft I really screwed myself by relying on board wipes.)

GB Witherbloom - This was a very lengthy game. I tried to the best I could with Devatating Mastery and Draconic Intervention, but my opponent never overextended, and in the latter case had a very timely Professor's Warning to save their 6/6 Blood Researcher, after that I tried to somehow deal with the Researcher b to no avail.
GB Witherbloom - I somehow managed to get mana flooded and instant-and-sorcery-screwed, having drawn 10 by turn 8 or so (and an eleventh from Pilgrim of the Ages), all while I was hoping to draw an instand/sorcery to be able to cast Draconic Intervention to deal with Blood Researchers, but that never happened.
UG Quandrix - Gosh, with five mana sources including four white ones, I took my chances not expanding my board in hopes of getting a profitable Devastating Mastery off, but after several turns of not drawing the sixth land I was at two, I was forced to pay the 2WW mana cost, next turn my opponent cast a million dudes.

0-3. I gotta finish this for the day, I'm getting tilted.

Not a good day. I'm getting Kaldheim draft flashbacks.

glennmagusharvey · 2021-05-13 06:41:47

one day i will get around to making that deck centered around Giant Fan's very unique ability

lrdgck · 2021-05-13 16:24:10

> harold.jpg
> mfw I think I have had the same slow ineffective blue-white for the last ten years

Huh, this makes me think. You have some thoughts on a decent defensive blue-white? Preferably on cards from between Urza and Onslaught. Not too many opportunities for anything these days, but I wonder what your advice might be.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-14 08:04:51

UW control decks were super good around Onslaught, so that'd be Counterspell/Mana Leak, Wrath of God, Akroma's Vengeance, Renewed Faith maybe?, Exalted Angel, if we're counting Scourge it also had Decree of Justice (edit: maybe Decree of Silence too) and Wing Shards, a bit later in Mirrodin there was Thirst for Knowledge, Oblivion Stone and Mindslaver, Invasion had Fact or Fiction and Absorb, Nemesis had Parallax Wave and Parallax Tide, and Urza block being so overpowered must have had some good stuff for it, at the very least I know it had Faerie Conclave, maybe Morphling or Masticore too?

For something more creature-based, hmmm... I know there was Meddling Mage, Voidmage Prodigy and Patron Wizard, so that's a start. There were also those decks that relied on Tradewind Rider plus Opposition to stop your opponents from doing whatever.

Edit: Astral Slide decks were also good during Onslaught, though the version with blue was one of the least popular ones (and very similar to the control one above). So Astral Slide, Cephallid Sage, Exalted Angel, Complicate, Renewed Faith, Secluded Steppe, Lonely Sandbar, Eternal Dragon, Decree of Justice/Silence, Wrath of God, Akroma's Vengeance, maybe Teroh's Faithful? Conveniently, Urza block was where Cycling was born so that's at least Lonely Sandbar, Drifting Meadow and I assume Fluctuator is Good.

lrdgck · 2021-05-14 09:00:59

The problem I always had was that even if I put on successful defense, I failed at offense. Like, my deck is pretty much the M:tG equivalent of turtling, one time I put my mind to it, I figured my deck's offensive power is pretty much restricted to two Diving Griffins. And these are too easily taken out by any random direct damage. And I never have enough mana since when you play control you must keep at least two islands untapped at any time, because your entire edge depends on it. (Preferably four.)

So, what's your view on how to actually pummel the other guy, with the premise I have given?

(I mean, I'd like you to see it as a challenge rather than me begging you to do my work for me, but I don't have a right to complain here.)

Stormtroper · 2021-05-15 05:03:07

Well, typically in control decks the win condition is not terribly important, it only needs to have one or two copies of some late-game threat that your opponents can't easily deal with.
It's often explained that by the time turn eight, after you've spent several turns countering/removing stuff and drawing cards while your opponent has long ran out of fuel, you've already won, with actually bringing your opponent to 0 (or whatever) being more of a formality. Whether it actually turns out like this in actual games is a bit more complicated but the gist of it is that you shouldn't worry about whether you're pummeling the guy early on or not.
Some of the cards I mentioned above do that (some do something else besides being a win condition, like Decree of Justice and Eternal Dragon), but as you said, something like Diving Griffin is too easy to deal with.

lrdgck · 2021-05-16 10:54:20

Well, typically in control decks the win condition is not terribly important, it only needs to have one or two copies of some late-game threat that your opponents can't easily deal with.

Still, you need to fulfill some win condition, and that's most simply done by attacking with creatures. Before I checked out the cards you recommended, I thought they'd be of that Platinum Angel variety.

It's often explained that by the time turn eight, after you've spent several turns countering/removing stuff and drawing cards while your opponent has long ran out of fuel, you've already won, with actually bringing your opponent to 0 (or whatever) being more of a formality. Whether it actually turns out like this in actual games is a bit more complicated but the gist of it is that you shouldn't worry about whether you're pummeling the guy early on or not.

Yeah, I never claimed I'm any good at Magic, but this seems to be the clue. In my games it's more like, I try to hold the line before I mount a defense and hope by then I can switch to using my remaining control cards to protect my offensive power. First problem is, whether I can pull it off; the second, whether I still have an opening to attack by that point.

Overally, I wouldn't want to ditch the concept behind my deck. Like, I hold them out first and mount the counterattack. Too bad it's usually too slow.

So, now onto your recommendations:

Counterspell/Mana Leak

A classic.

Wrath of God, Akroma's Vengeance

I'm using Rout, it's five mana, but you can drop it as an instant for seven. Won't say it's a staple, but it's been useful.

Renewed Faith maybe?, Exalted Angel

My lifesaver of choice is Congregate, possibly the most useful card in my deck ever when you average over all my games. It's like I get another try over the same game.

Exalted Angel is like a cross between Air Elemental and Gerrard Capashen, both of them being my late-game staples. As long as I can afford it, I don't see how my deck wouldn't be improved by it.

For something more creature-based, hmmm... I know there was Meddling Mage, Voidmage Prodigy and Patron Wizard, so that's a start.

Heh, I had an idea to switch to a Wizard-themed deck. The premise was to use Prodigal Sorcerer and its quivalents to deal damage without attacking, while maintaining a bunch of enchantments along the lines of Parapet and Lashknife Barrier (I like this one) to protect them from harm (Castle too, but it fails when you have to tap). The problems were, they are third-turn cards (fifth-turn if you hold out on two blue mana), each of them alone is too valuable to just spend on a sacrificial block against a quickly developing deck, and I haven't had enough of them in my collection anyway. But with the cards you name, this could actually work.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-17 02:59:41

When it comes to defensive UW creatures, it won't get much better than Plumeveil, and when it comes to things to protect your guys it won't get much better than Privileged Position, though of course both of these postdate the sets you referred to.
Rout is also good, no doubt.

Zennistrad · 2021-05-20 05:41:32

^^If you're playing blue, then the OG control deck finisher is definitely Morphling. Its successor Aetherling was, if anything, even more powerful.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-29 04:26:17

Excavation - Whenever a card leaves your graveyard, ...
Oratory - Whenever a creature..., if it has/had a +1/+1 counter on it, ...
Masterpiece - Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell with mana value of five or more, ...
Octal - As long as you control eight lands, ...
Biomancy - Whenever you gain life, ...

Alright, my deck list got full and I've ran out of decks to delete, so perhaps I should get around to posting my long-overdue draft results:

For some reason MTGA is now counting sideboard cards for the purpose of figuring out draft decks, so annoyingly now my decks are listed as 4-5 colors.

7.

WBR Aggro

UG Quandrix - I went aggro, but things slowed down after my opponent cast a Fractal Summoning with x=4 with me having little on board, nonetheless I had Lorehold Pledgemage and Efreet Flamepainter so it was only a matter of attacking when I had reliable combat tricks on hand. A Defend the Campus and Show of Confidence in hand and I swung, I messed up, leaving my opponent at 1 and failing to kill Rootha, but they conceded anyways.
WGB - Ill-adviced block Enthusiastic Study on Lorehold Pledgemage, resulting in me killing the green Quandrix Dean and a counterless Promising Duskmage in what ended up being a three-for-zero. My opponent tried to recover to no avail.
BGw - Got stuck with the two lands I started with (on the draw), and never drew any more in the six turns the game lasted. I thought Pilgrim of the Ages would help with mana issues but of course that requires not being swarmed with bad luck.
UGr - Again I went aggro. I did my best attacking while dealing with would-be blockers and had my opponent on the ropes at five with me having a Pigment Storm in hand, nonetheless a Bookwurm later and my dreams and hopes faded away.

2-3. It seems I failed to record a defeat.

8.

UR Prismari.

WGB - I cast a turn five Mascot Exhibition thanks to Maelstrom Muse with Enthusiastic Study. The game stalled due to my opponent's 4/5 Promising Duskmage, but in the end I got through thanks to two Vortex Runners.
GB Something - My opponent's deck apparently was very slow, they only cast Promising Duskmage, Specter of the Fens and Witherbloom Pledgemage, to which I dealt with using Academic Dispute, them deciding to chump block, and Pigment Storm respectively.
Prismari - I thought I was in for a long game, but my opponent conceded not long after I cast a three-copies Grapeshot that dealt with their 3/3 Prismari Pledgemage and Burrog Befudler, although the fact that I had just learned Mascot Exhibition probably had more to do with it.
RW Lorehold - My opponent brought me low thanks to Hall Monitor and Twinscroll Shaman. I wasn't mana screwed, but I did not have enough to make use of the good stuff I had in hand and only got to one-spell for a good while, nonetheless my spells had much greater value than my opponent's, so as long as I wasn't too pressed I would end up ahead, I wasn't so I won.
RW Lorehold - I got trounced by an Eager FIrst-Year followed by Lorehold Pledgemage with Team Tanner, all while I had neither removal nor blockers. I did get to play some stuff and I'd say I wasn't far from stabilizing, but it was too late nonetheless, not helped that I misplayed at some point by assigning damage to a newly cast Lorehold Pledgemage rather than the one with the Tanner, but I doubt that would've made a difference.
UGb Quandrix - I got out-controlled. We both played slowly, I tried to deal with their Quandrix Pledgemage with Grapeshot knowing it was unlikely to succeed, but my opponent cast Snakeskin Veil on it which meant it failed harder than I calculated, thus I was on a clock. I had stuff to cast but only later in the game. In hindsight I could've turned some spells into treasures early on, and risked learning some
BW Something - My opponent had a veeeery slow hand/deck for a BW deck, they only cast Agonizing Remorse by turn four, Study Break by five and Inkling Summoing by six, protecting the token with Beaming Defiance. I was concerned about mass removal but I never knew if they had it, I just won with a slowly growing board.
BW Something - Between my opponent getting mana screwed at three lands and me getting a super hand (another turn five Mascot Exhibition), they had no chance.
GB Witherbloom - I got trounced, this unusually aggro deck ramped with Emergent Sequence into Professor of Zoomancy, same-turn Hunt for Specimens and Necrotic Fumes and two Leyline Invocations for two 6/6 fractals. With my removal spent, my only hope was that a triple block on the second fractal wouldn't be disruped with some combat trick, but a Mortality Spear later and the game was pretty much over.

I should be glad about my results, but I'm kinda bothered by the fact that I only got four rares, like I somehow wasted my time. I know it doesn't make sense, but ehhh, we aren't made of feelings.
I think I learned a bit about Prismari decks, I build this deck with my idea of what a control deck should be, but perhaps I should've had more blockers (like the one-mana 0/4 wall) instead of so many huge spells.

9.

Slow Lorehold
Man, I had so much trouble picking creatures for this deck, in the end I ended up

BW Silverquill - A slow version of Silverquill, I got hit a bit early on by Unwilling Ingredient and Leech Fanatic, but no biggie. I was stuck for a while at four lands and couldn't make good use of the things I had in hand, I brought my opponent to 8 but Leech Fanatic kept me out of reach, something I believe my opponent wasn't aware of.
GB Witherbloom - I got stuck at three lands throughout the game with a second Archway Commons I never got to play. I made good use of a buffed Twinscroll Shaman with which I dealt lots of damage. My opponent conceded before long but that was frustrating.
UG Quandrix - I burnt an early land from Emergent Sequence, afterwards it seems my opponent refused to try to win, attacking indiscriminately with everything, letting me get the victory through Twinscroll Shaman and Stonebound Mentor.
GB Witherbloom - Perhaps I went too far with the aggro, I kept attacking with Twinscroll Shaman and Combat Professor and used several combat tricks to keep the damage rolling, nonetheless by turn four my opponent started playing one beefy creature per turn, although I had them at almost lethal throughout, I didn't get the opportunity to finish them off. In hindsight I would've won if I had spread better the targets of Show of Confidence.
GB Witherbloom - That's a lot of Witherbloom. I forgot to take away the Flamethrower Sonata, and this came to bit me back. My opponent cast two early Blood Researcher but with little to buff them, that is, until a nasty combat later to which I was prepared for in case they had a combat trick, but not specifically Fortifying Draught, after that it was a matter of trying to survive, but no way I could've dealt with a Moldering Karok with Exponential Growth with x = 2.

Crackle with Power was a complete disappointment, I never got a good chance to use it, even with x = 1. Other than that my deck clearly suffered from not being clearly aggro or control, with my attempts to aggro often failing due to running out of fuel.

10.

I forgot the details of the first two games.
GB Witherbloom - I got aggroed early on but I stabilized at 4. My opponent had an Eyetwitch with two +2/+2 counters and an Inkcaster, I had to be roundabout with flyers and reachers so as to avoid dying to it, but after a lengthy game and especially thanks to Jadzi, I succeeded.
BW Silverquill - My opponent cast several decent creatures starting at turn four, notably including Mavinda. I had an early Kianne who unfortunately exiled both my Mage Duels which I really needed, she gave me some fractals to chump block with but that was not enough. Also for some reason I was under the impression that Mavinda's ability could only be activated as a sorcery.
BW Silverquill - I got destroyed so hard by a turn four Shadrix Silverquill while I had trouble finding blue mana sources. My opponent made me draw several cards while they created inklings that I couldn't profitably deal with, so I succumbed very quickly.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-29 04:40:07

11.

I had serious doubts about including Dramatic Finale, in the end I tried it out, I guess even at turn six or something it would be worth it.

BW Silverquill - I deleted my opponent with Leech Fanatic and Blood Researcher on Curve. My opponent tried to defend themselves with Spiteful Squad and then Tenured Inkcaster, I Mage Duel'd my Researcher with their Inkcaster, but they cast Make Your Mark on their creature, so I cast a second Mage Duel, killing their spirit and swinging for lethal.
WR Lorehold - In this game alone Dramatic FInale justified its inclusion in this deck. I aggroed early on with two Leech Fanatics and a Blood Researcher who got removed early, then I cast Dramatic Finale and kept attacking, trusting that the Inklings would let me win a race, indeed my opponent buffed their Tome Shredder several times with its own ability plus Enlarged Anatomy. Although I had Flunk in hand, I could never use it to kill the shredder until a last-turn combat between their shredder and my Witherbloom Pledgemage.
UG Quandrix - Both me and my opponent had slow hands. My opponent was apparently stuck at four lands, though from what I saw of their hand they didn't need it. Nonetheless I pressured them with a Witherbloom Pledgemage, Bayou Groff and Blood Researcher, all with the help of Poet's Quill. Eventually they cast Ecological Appreciation with x=2, but something happened (either a mistake or my opponent not having enough creatures to use it properly) and I shuffle the only card they revealed. Next turn I drew the Flunk I needed to swing for lethal.
GBW Something - I had a really nasty hand with Leech Fanatic, Blood Researcher, Professor of Zoomancy, Lash of Malice and Flunk, unfortunately my opponent
BW Silverquill - I messed up yet again by passing a turn doing nothing when I could've simply destroyed my opponent's Poet's Quill with the otherwise useless Containment Breach I had in hand. In the end I lost with my opponent being at exactly the two life I let them gain. Gosh I'm a goddamn idiot.
UG Quandrix - I had a good (6 card) hand but I was worried I'd get stuck at three lands. I had two Blood Researcher that were dealt with with a Teach By Example'd Mage Duel. My opponent tried to race me but with a timely Agonizing Remose, my opponent stuck without a second green mana source for Witherbloom Pledgemage and me reaching with Specter of the Fens, in the end I came out ahead.
UG Quandrix - My opponent mulliganed to 5, in turn I got stuck at two lands for several turns. I brought my opponent low with two Leech Fanatic, but in the end I started playing terribly, notably trying to three-for-one that wouldn't have been a good idea even if my opponent hadn't sabotaged it with Big Play. I should've just cast Dramatic Finale.
BW Silverquill - Things turned quickly into a standstill, I had three Leech Fanatics, Blood Researcher and Specter of the Fens, my opponent had a 4/5 Specter of the Fens and other goodies. We'd slowly drain each other's life and I'd get counters off it, but there was the thread of the Specter (that for some reason my opponent didn't attack with). One fateful turn for heaven knows what reason my opponent cast Secret Rendezvous and attacked, I drew Flunk and used it plus the Doom Blade I already had to neutralize that attack (that was reckless even disregarding that) and counter-attacked after dealing with their only blocker with the Mage Duel that I also drew.
RW Lorehold - This game was intense. My opponent went aggro early on, but thanks to some Leech Fanatics it became clear I'd win a race. Things started to go awry for me when my opponent cast a Show of Confidence for two counters and a Combat Professor, which turned the clock in their favor, then even more so with Hofri, nonetheless they were low enough that they had to be very careful not to attack too hard, indeed one dubious attack later and they lost Hofri in a trade with my Bayou Groff, which I cast sacrificing Mage Hunter which had, of all things, Detention Sphere on it, which actually prevented me from swinging for lethal. At this point I was low enough that Specter of the Fens would be decisive, they cast Reduce to Memory on it and thus things simply reduced to me either drawing removal or something like Dramatic Finale? and allowing me to swing for lethal, or not draw it and lose, unfortunately for me I didn't draw it.

12.

BG Witherbloom - It seems clear by now how good my decks is not related so much with my capacity to assemble synergetic combinations and evaluate cards properly and more so with how much I raredraft.
BG Witherbloom - My opponent threatened me with a Daemogoth Titan, however the turn in which my opponent made a large scale attack I Flunked it, allowing me to block it without trading (at this point my opponent made the mistake of not using in response the ability of the Unwilling Ingredient they had just sacrificed, and I made the mistake of not casting Flunk in response to the sacrifice trigger).
BG Witherbloom - My opponent had a monstruous deck/hand: Witherbloom Apprentice, Flunk'd Blood Researcher, Flunk'd Blood Researcher, Cram Session, Lash of Malice, Dina, Necrotic Fumes, Leech Fanatic and Tendrils of Agony and I lost without putting up much of a fight.
BG Witherbloom - I was being harassed by a Blood Reseracher to which unfortunately I had no removal for. I was waiting for the opportunity to cheat out a victory from Exponential Growth, but the opportunity did not present itself. Eventually, between the Researcher and a Specter of the Fens, I lost what little life I had.
Gur - Things went very badly for my opponent early on, they tried to have their Honor Troll fight my Witherbloom Pledgemage in response to my Expanded Anatomy, but I had Professor's Warning tu turn the table. After that it was only a matter of attacking until my opponent dropped.
BW Silverquill - I got a deadly curve of Witherbloom Apprentice, Blood Researcher and Moldering Karok with Daemogoth Woe-Eater and Witherbloom Pledgemage for the mid-game. My opponent kept gaining life with Leech Fanatic and seemed like they'd stabilize with Poet's Quill on a Specter of the Fens, but I then cast Exponential Growth with x = 2 on the Karok and, although my opponent could survive thanks to Lifelink, they did not block properly to do so.
WR Lorehold - Again I messed up, not casting Tend the Pests on Daemogoth Woe-Eater knowing that my opponent could later recurr Test of Talents.

13.

I have high hopes for this deck.
UGb Control - I got very nice hand/draws with Spectacle Mage, Cultivate and two Elemental Masterpieces, which allowed me to aggro my opponent while still being careful in the unlikely case they had mass removal. Perhaps too careful. Eventually my opponent cast a Teach By Example'd Tendrils of Agony, it hurt but it wasn't nearly enough to kill me.
UG Quandrix - This game was intense, I missed several land drops early on but still made do with ramping spells. By mid-game my opponent started creating several large fractals and maintained control mainly through bounce spells. I was going wide and had brought them low, but not nearly enough to beat them until one fateful turn I draw Oggyar Battle-seer and after some thinking I find out I have lethal, as long as my opponent didn't have... anything really, I was just barely able to scrape enough damage to win.
UR Prismari - I got a very slow hand, without much to do except turn four Pillardrop Warden, turn six Leyline Invocation and creating a treasure token from Elemental Expressionism, which in hindsight was probably a good idea so as to feed the two Serpentine Curve I had in hand. Nonetheless my opponent beat me with tiny flyers (Warden died to a Spectaacle Mage that was studying enthusiastically).
Green something, perhaps Witherbloom - My opponent got stuck at three forests and conceded after a second missed land drop.
UBg something - I had lots of ramping and large spells to cast, I cast Oggyar Battle-seer and two Elemental Masterpiece, being wary not to overextend in case my opponent had Crux of Fate, nonetheless after several unfavourable blocks, I won.
UR Prismari - We both played super controlly. I ramped early on, my opponent drew cards and copied things with Rootha, which I eventually dealt with using Introduction to Anihilation. I kept a Test of Talents in hand and enough mana to cast, I had doubts about whether it was a good idea not to counter things like Pop Quiz, but it paid off when I countered the Elemental Masterpiece my opponent needed to survive.
BW Silverquill - I got into a bit of a mana screw. For some reason my opponent had two Reflective Golem, I dealt with a mid-combat Burrog Befudler and another with Containment Breach, and did some instant trickery to avoid my opponent buffing their creatures, but after a point I was out of things to do and succumbed.
BW Silverquill - I got mana stuck, I had to make do with the treasure from Elemental Masterpiece and some ramping, I did manage to put up something of a defense later on (my opponent's deck wasn't that aggressive) but in the end I died unable to deal first with Killian, then with two Specter of the Fens.

14.

This is possibly the worst deck I've drafted so far in Strixhaven.

RW Lorehold - I was brought very low early on with Conspiracy Theorist and Stonebound Mentor, but things stabilized after a while. One fateful turn my opponent attacked with everything they had after tapping two of my stuff, but I countered with a copied Arcane Subtraction and Beffudler, turning things greatly in my favour, nonetheless with so little life it was only a matter of time my opponent did something I did not answer properly, in this case not blocking Veteran Warsinger with enough creatures to not die to it being Infuriated.
GB I got destroyed by a Brackish Trudge and a 4/5 Specter of the Fens that I was unable to deal with.
WUBRG of all things - Everything was going my way, my opponent had a very slow start, I had a rather fast one for this deck, but things stopped going my way after my opponent cast Approach of the Second Sun, setting me up for a clock I could've won handily if my opponent hadn't cast Crux of Fate next turn. I still had a good chance to beat the clock but then Reconstruct History to recover the Crux of Fate (and a Revitalize), thus I had no chance afterwards.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-29 04:43:30

15.

Much better.

BW - I had a good hand, but that went to the toilet when my opponent cast Agonizing Remorse, making me use the Shock and discarding the Rootha I was relying on. Much later I was stuck at four lands, fortunately by then I had drawn a second Rootha and a second Bury in Books, when I used the to wreck their board my opponent conceded even thought I'd say I was still far behind.
BG Witherbloom - I went aggro-control on this one; I cast Prismari Pledgemage and Vortex Runner (would've been a 6/6 fractal too but it died to Mage Hunter's Onslaught) and with those two I brought my opponent to zero, dealing with what little they had with Shock and Bury in Books.
URG mirror - Another intense game. I spent the "early" turns of the game wondering if I messed up by not hardcasting Bury in Books on Rootha, after which she copied Electrolyze. The game turned to a standstill with me hitting with an unblockable Vortex Runner after I got the eight land (which took a while) while my opponent was getting good value out of their engine. Eventually my opponent cast Wormhole Serpent and that was going to be the end of me, I all-out attacked and hoped for the better, I actually thought I had lost but I miscalculated, my opponent had only enough mana/power to leave me at one, so next turn I won.
BW Silverquill - Things went awry for my opponent when they cast Village Rites so as to feed their Clever Lumimancer, which I Buried in Books in response. With things slowing down to a halt I spent the rest of the game making use of Rootha, Arcane Subtraction and fractal spells to ensure the win, making sure not to overextend in case they had a mass removal spell.
BW Silverquill - My opponent had a rather slow play. I did what I could with Rootha, but she got removed before getting out of hand. I had large spells in hand but it'd take a while before I had the mana to cast them. Nonetheless between Conspiracy Theorist and a spirit token I brought them lowly enough that even if my opponent did something to halt the race, I'd win anyways.
UR Prismari - It wasn't clear who was the beatdown here, but it turned out to be me (and it took a bit too long for my opponent to realize this). My opponent tried to slow me down with Frost Trickster, a Dream Strix and a Torrent Sculptor, but with two Arcane Subtraction and a Bury in Books, I didn't have much trouble.
BW SIlverquill - I got trounced. First of all I idiotically attacked with Rootha into a 4/4 Unwilling Ingredient, but that likely wouldn't have influenced the outcome that much, as my opponent cast several stuff on curve that had me on my knees by turn five.
UR Prismari - Both of us relied heavily on Rootha, not so much me due to being behind on land count, nonetheless I brought them to 6 somewhat early on thanks to Waterfall Aerialist, but still had a tough time either getting them to 5 so as to be in range for the Creative Outburst I had in han,d or have seven lands so as to cast said Outburst. It took a while and losing both Roothas I had but I managed to do so and won.

Gosh I hadn't realized how strong the interaction between Bury in Books and copy spell effects is. Five mana wreck your opponent's side of the board, potentially ruining future draws too if they were relying on counters and whatnot.

16.

Yeah, I didn't write down any of this, suffice to say Tend the Pests with the Daemogoths is still a great combo.
2-3. I was expecting more from this deck. I did get the second booster, tho.

17.

BG Witherbloom - I got stuck at four lands, getting only to play subpar creatures that made me unable to deal with their 6/5 Bayou Groff (from Big Play so as to not have it die to my Gnarled Professor)
BW Silverquill - My opponent got an aggressive hand with Eager FIrst-Year, Mila and Owlin Shieldmage plus buffs/control stuff that made it so that either I couldn't block profitably or unable to block at all.
BW Silverquill - I cast turn three Efreet Flamepainter thanks to Elemental Masterpiece, nonetheless I was unable to get through due to their Eager First-Year and Combat Professor, I had Bury in Books and Codie but with the vigilance (from the prof. and Expanded Anatomy). This game showed that I badly, baaadly needed removal there, there's a problem if I can't deal with a two drop with only a couple buffing spells cast over it.

0-3, between that and the fact that I only picked up five rares, yeah, this is the most disastrous Strixhaven draft I've done.

18.

(I accidentally left in Academic Probation)

GB Witherbloom - My opponent cast a turn two Poet's Quill, but they got mana screwed and was completely unable to do something with it. By the time they got their third land I was already well-set to win within a few turns.
BWr Silverquill - Gosh my heart rate is skyhigh. I went very aggro on a super convenient curve of Eager First-Year, Essence Infussion, Silverquill Pledgemage, Spiteful Squad and Tenured Inkcaster, but I ran out of fuel at three life, my opponent had very little on the board by then but each turn they had just enough stuff (notably Specter of the Fens) that I wasn't seeing how I'd get out of it. Eventually I drew Defend the Campus and one large attack later I got rid of everything except the Specter, but it and the incoming Pilgrim of the Ages would stop me from reaching 0. Eventually I drew Rise of Extus, but between newly drawn removal and the Pilgrim, I still was unable to finish them off until eventually I drew a Specter of my own.
UG Quandrix - For some reason my opponent was super aggressive on removal early on, including wasting a Mage Duel on Clever Lumimancer. I had a very slow hand that only got going later on with two Specter of the Fens, nonetheless between those, an inkling from Umbral Juke and Pilgrim of the Ages for blocking, I did eventually get through.
BW Silverquill - Mirror! I went all-out aggro on this and it worked out splendidly with Professor of Symbology, Essence Infusion, Specter of the Fens, Owlin Shieldmage and Tenured Inkcaster for much of the game I kept ahead of my opponent's would-be blockers. Things stabilized with my opponent at 5 life, but with me having the Inkcaster and Specter (with one in hand as backup) I eventually came out ahead. Also I cast Tainted Pact for the first time here and was greeted by two Plains in the top of my deck, the shrugging valkyrie emote was made for this.
UGb Quandrix - Again I went all out on aggro, with Silverquill Apprentice, Pilgrim of the Ages (so as to use Defiant Strike to trade with their elemental token), Owlin Shieldmage, Professor of Symbology to fetch Necrotic Fumes exiling my newly cast Clever Lumimancer and their Quandrix Pledgemage and that was it, they cast no creatures besides those two. On their last turn they played their first swamp and Culling Ritual, perhaps things would've turned out differently if they had drawn that swamp earlier (I assume they didn't have it then).
BW Silerquill - I had a great hand with Clever Lumimancer, Humilliate, Umbral Juke, Professor of Symbology and Rise of Extus so I thought I'd have an easy time, things changed when I saw my opponent's hand when casting Humilliate: two Killians, Combat Professor, Mage Hunters' Onslaught and Owlin Shieldmage. I went with the aggro plan but clearly one of the Killians was enough to greatly slow me down while reducing me to the point where if they switched to aggro I wouldn't last long. Nonetheless I think I made good use (if I may say so myself) of Umbral Juke (for the token), removal and Tainted Pact so although it was tense, I never gave my opponent a chance to stabilize and I came out ahead.

Stormtroper · 2021-05-29 04:49:15

19.

GUR Quandrix - I kept a hand with no red mana sources on it, but no problem, I destroyed them with Blade Historian plus some tiny dudes.
BWR Aggro - I thought I had control of the situation but things went wrong when my opponent exiled the Elemental Summoning I had just learned from my hand and the only non-land card on it, and kept buffing their Leech Fanatic such that I couldn't block it with what I had in the board, and had trouble with the fact that spirit token creators put them tapped on the battlefield. Thus I lost.
RW Something - Weird game. I had an excellent hand with Thunderous Orator and Sparring Regime, but my opponent sabotaged me with Strict Proctor. I attacked with the Orator and Lorehold Pledgemage and my opponent blocked each with Clever Lumimancer and the Proctor, I cast Make Your Mark and they conceded right away, as if they hadn't considered pretty much any combat trick being involved.
BW Silverquill - A very close game, my opponent was beatdown early on, we did some trades until I drew Blade Historian and immediately started wrecking them, that is until they killed him with Closing Statement, we both then started trying to hack away the last few points of life the other had, me with a Lorehold Pledgemage with Team Pennant that couldn't be blocked profitably, and them with flyers. Eventually I both survived and killed them off with Lorehold Excavation. Also I messed up by not casting Inkling Summoning before a combat, thus buffing my trampling Pledgemage (it was going to get blocked due to Academic Dispute so I didn't think much of it, but it trampled so it did matter).
Lorehold - Gosh is there a way for Blade Historian to not be an obscenely good card. Anyhows, it got removed early on, but after a single turn of my opponent not being able to attack or block profitably, that was more than enough to get a beatdown advantage that my opponent would never get over.
BWr Silverquill - This time I won with a more conventional assortment of aggressive creatures, equipment and combat tricks. Team Tanner and Thunderous Orator served me greatly, so did Defend the Campus on an increasingly wide board.
GBw Witherbloom - I won again thanks to the Thunderous Orator + Twinscroll Shaman "combo", I got my opponent to about 10 before things stabilized, but I had an Illustrous Historian with Zephyr Boots that would make their life dwindle. My opponent had Witherbloom Apprentice, but before long I drew Retriever Phoenix that along with Inkling Summoned made it clear that I was about to win.
BW Silverquill - I got out-combat-tricked at each turn. My opponent beat me early on with Leech Fanatic and Silverquill Silencer (and correctly guessed that Lorehold Pledgemage was a good naming despite the fact that my only visible cards had been Thunderous Orator and Plains and from then on beat me at each turn with Beaing Defiance, Professor's Warning and Make Your Mark.
BW Silverquill - Maaaan, I didn't blunder, but I feel like I could've done more with this hand. I had Stonebinder's Familiar, Illustrous Historian, Thunderous Orator and Academic Dispute. I kept control early on making them unable to block profitably, killed their Witherbloom Pledgemage with Lorehold Pledgemage and Academic Dispute (learning Expanded Anatomy, which warranted it getting Expelled) and made one combat go in my favour with Defend the Campus (my opponent had Professor's Warning that would've been terrible for me if I hadn't been able to do something about it) but things turned for the worse at one point when, having only one source of white mana available, I was forced to cast Blade Historian with very little on the board rather than expanding my side of the board with Silverquill Pledgemage (it was either that or do nothing that turn so as to drop Archway Commons. After that I was still able to cast my stuff, but my opponent stabilized with well enough life to survive most things I had to throw at them. It took several turns of back and forth with small creatures and the occassional combat trick, but eventually I succumbed.

Whew, that was a lot of updating. I still need to go back and format things up tho. By the end I felt I was starting to get good at drafting Strixhaven, when I started I expected I would not have enough resources to draft that much, but with the results I was getting I was refunded plenty of it to be able to go much further, unfortunately my real limitation turned out to be not having more real-life free time.
I wonder if it has been a good idea to include Archway Commons-like cards in aggro-oriented decks.
Also, as underpowered as it may be, Strixhaven has made its mark on the beta, with several cards being staples in Winota decks, plus whatever else I'm forgetting about.

Stormtroper · 2021-09-03 05:15:44

I've been dragging my feet about posting my Adventures in the Forgotten Realms draft results... in fact I see I never even posted about Forgotten Realms getting released. I gotta say the art turned out really well and it's all very flavourful, though of course given that I've never played Dungeons and Dragon's there's loads of stuff I didn't understand.
As for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, I wasn't terribly interested but I like what's been spoiled so far, I'm not sure I would've counted as an active player during the first Innistrad, but I'm looking forward to experiencing one such set in full (though probably not two). The autumn harvest theme makes it feel distinct, I hope they go further with it.
It seems it's at a higher power level than other recent stuff, especially the red-green stuff, Wizard's been doing a good job toning things down from the mess that was the pervious rotation so I hope they don't screw up and we get at least one Standard at reasonable power level.
Also, this art is gorgeous.

glennmagusharvey · 2021-09-14 14:54:37

https://twitter.com/ScriptingJapan/status/1437658323810021379

glennmagusharvey · 2021-09-14 14:54:53

Also, yes, that art you linked is gorgeous.

lrdgck · 2021-09-14 15:38:13

My favourite Magic artists are, probably, Ron Spencer and Rebecca Guay.

Stormtroper · 2021-09-16 00:32:14

Same here, evidenced by the fact that those are two of the few artists I can recognize from the art. I wish Rebecca Guay still did work for MtG.

From what I understand from the Japanese translation it's an odd combination of lots of clever work and boneheaded decisions.

This was on my draft, some very old stuff about Strixhaven draft. Unfortunately I forgot to elaborate at the time thus I lost track of how the games went, so...

Played one last Strixhaven Quick Draft, right before Adventures in the Forgotten Realms comes out, so as to get two season rewards.

I see bots still pass lots of rares.

Last game: For some reason my opponent had lots of draw spells. Everything was going my way with me setting up a significant board presence, until I started drawing nothing but land for about five turns in a row, all while my opponent cast a Teach by Example'd Aether Helix, removing my 7/7 fractal and recovering their Frost Trickster, I had no way to get back from that.

Something I thought to do whenever a new plane comes out.

The lore of Strixhaven, explained by someone who hasn't read outside material.

(The deck is as follows:)

Last chance to post before Midnight Hunt gets released. So, Forgotten Realms draft, after spending so much on the Japanese Magical Archives and real-life obligations I guess I didn't have the time and money to do more, though I also wasn't terribly motivated to do more. I did not have much time to do so thus I did not track the games as I used to, but I did save the decks and take screenshots that make up a collection of avatars exploding or about to explode, available here. (Also a screenshot from a free Amonkhet draft event.)
(I also considered making videos.)
The drafts went:

WB: 3-3
WB: 7-2
WB (Almost monowhite): 7-1
UB (With deal-combat-damage triggers): 3-3
GR Aggro: 3-3
BR (With lots of treasures-matter): 7-1
BR: 2-3
BR: 3-3 (post-first-Quick-Draft-period)

Crud, I thought I had saved them all, but if memory serves there was one where I went 0-3. Actually, where was it that I saved my decklists? I thought I had them on IJBM's, ummm, draft, but apparently not. I guess I should find them?
Anyhows, I had a very good performance this set, I'd like to think I'm getting good at this though tbh I don't think I've learned much.

glennmagusharvey · 2022-01-27 17:56:50

lrdgck · 2022-01-27 20:31:47

Somebody should turn it into an infinite mana combo somehow, perhaps with the aid of some card last printed in 1995.

Stormtroper · 2022-01-30 15:40:06

63cda4a0-0dff-4edb-ae67-a2b7e2971350.jpg?1591228085

Also relevant:
cdafb8ac-e9af-4195-928a-43d004a2e9bd.jpg?1562595893

I also learned worse cases in the Japanese translations with cards from the same block sharing names, or worse, from the same set.

Interestingly, this got fixed in the Modern Horizons reprint, which annoyingly also means the card now has two names.

Also, I learned that this is now the case as well in Spanish, at least if individual sides of split cards count as individual names for translating purposes.

I had this written out in regards to Midnight Hunt (those are draft results):

https://media.wizards.com/2021/images/daily/dogeC55KfU2xgckf.gif
so innistrad, very nightbound

5-3 BG goodstuff
5-3 UB value engines
1-3 UB something
7-1 GW Aggro with an insane amount of good removal.
4-3 BW aggro, noticeably lacking in sacrifice engines.
7-1 GB midrange
3-3 UR Control
6-3 WB Sacrifice. I was 6-0, then decided to record my last victory and lost thrice.
1-3 UB value engines in theory.
3-3 UR instants and sorceries matter.
4-3 BW Aggro
3-3 UB Control

I drafted twice during Crimson Vow, both RG aggro and ended up 3-3 (all wins thanks to Halana and Alena) and 1-3. Other than that I played next to nothing, so you can say I retired from MtG, though Neon Genesis Kamigawa has been getting my attention so I'll probably start playing again, especially so if I sort out the technical issues playing it in my phone.

Howdy, Stranger!

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