On Affinity

Hello and welcome to How to Be a Robot. First off, minus five points if you don't have Daft Punk playing already.

Second off, there's loads of great How To articles out there already. I prefer Frank Karsten's articles because of his mathematic approach to everything, and his videos are great quality too. He's look at many varients of Affinity as well, including Ghostfire Blade, Chalice of the Void, Ensoul Artifact, basically whatever card shows up and makes waves.

I'm writing this article assuming you've seen a lot of that and know the deck already. I'm looking more at the fringe cards, the last few choices that constantly shift and change, as you play different decks, and get a different feel for Modern. At the time of writing the Eldrazi have just landed, but if you read last article you'll know I don't it too much. It's a great fun match, it really tests both players, and Affinity aren't much of an underdog. I play MTGO mostly, and I think I've won one time less then I've lost.

So what interactions am I looking at today? These are more like the 'flavours' of an Affinity deck, and changes for each person playing. Everybody knows that you bring along one Basic, thanks to Ghost Quarter and Path to Exile being real cards, but which one?

Island or Mountain?

My answer is both. I wouldn't fault someone for not knowing which one to play, and I wouldn't be surprised if you decided on one in the Main and the Sideboard. This way, you can build a very aggressive deck game 1, Galvanic Blast always castable, and then you can sideboard into a more controlling deck, with an Island to guarentee that blue mana for your Master of Etherium.

On MTGO I run one Mountain in the main deck constantly, but as I mostly play 2-mans I don't have the longer term in mind. If I did, I'd definitely pack an Island in the Sideboard. I've seen some lists run only 2 Glimmervoids and 2 Basics main, but I think this is too cute. Cutting yourself off BB when you've got a Cranial Plating swing-for-the-win is no fun, as cute as it might be to surprise your enemy with a second Basic off of their second Path to Exile. The Basics are far more solid than Glimmervoid, but the range of colours is great.

And if you are running two, it's obvious I think that Mountain/Island is better than Island/Island (unless you're using counterspells) and Mountain/Mountain is never a real thing (no one plays the Atog version anymore, right?).

How about Welding Jar?

Welding Jar, that cute little broken pile of life-saver. It's a zero cost artifact that saves your bacon against mana pieces of removal, although -x/-x will still work, as will exile, BUT don't let that ruin the little artifact that's could resume. He also turns on Mox Opal, powers up Cranial Plating, Master of Etherium, Galvanic Blast and Thoughtcast, so what's to not like about it?

Well, the numbers. I think starting 1 is fine, as it gives you some slight presideboard protection against more generic answers, but I wouldn't fault you if you ran 0. I think this is another card that you could Sideboard a second copy of, but what about those hands where you get 2 Welding Jars and no one to protect? It's a rough job, but in a long tournament you will face someone with Wrath effects, and that's where Welding Jar really shines.

I've considered a lot of different cards for sideboard builds, and while a second Welding Jar sounds great there's just so little space for it. In fact Jar often comes out against White/x/y decks, because they have Path. I think 1 in the main is perfect, with no second in the sideboard, unless you're exactly a very aggressive metagame with Lightning Bolts everywhere.

What's the PERFECT HAND?

OH, the perfect hand. Or the God hand, what evs. What 7 cards are you most hoping to see when you lay your upons your seven pieces of expensive cardboard? I never actually thought about this, until I had a few great hands online. Then it went something like this:

Mox Opal (100%), Darksteel Citadel (100%) Springleaf Drum (100%), Signal Pest/Vault Skirge (60%/40%), Thoughtcast (100%), Welding Jar (100%), Galvanic Blast/interaction (60%/40%).

The above hand has 3 mana, refills itself, and provides protection while allowing for interaction beyond the first turn, depending on your Interaction pieces. You may run Thoughtseize, in which case you don't want to see that in your opening hand in case it gets Thoughtseize'd/Inquisition'd away. This isn't the fastest hand, but prepares you for the best seat in the house, going forward. Thoughtcast is always good drawing 2 cards, Galvanic Blast deals with any 4 toughness monsters asap, and Welding Jar is as effective as Spellskite against removal. What's not to like?

If you want a different opening hand, built for speed, try this one:

Inkmoth Nexus, Arcbound Ravager, Signal Pest, Mox Opal, Welding Jar, Steel Overseer, Blinkmoth Nexus.

Turn 1 play an Inkmoth and make a Signal Pest. Untap, Blinkmoth Nexus, Mox Opal, Welding Jar, Ravager or Steel Overseer. You'll have an Infect flyer, with Blinkmoth to pump, Welding Jar protection and Ravager or Overseer to pump it up. It's not hard to eat up all those artifacts, then dump the load on to a sizeable Inkmoth, killing in just 2 hits.

How Cute is TOO CUTE?

Cute? Disgusting stuff. How happy were you when you boarding in those Nature's Claims, only to realise giving your opponent 4 life was a bad idea, as it's ususally an extra? Precisely. When it comes to building a sideboard that's not main stream, make sure you test your cards out. For the average Affinity player, you're certainly going to see Artifact wraths like Vandalblast, Fracturing Gust or Shatterstorm. And you'll defintely see Stony Silence, but what can you do about it?

Looking at cheap options, we've got Nature's Claim, Wear // Tear and the latest addition Natural State. Do note that Natural State (and all cards that read "3 or less") are basically custom built for Modern, I feel. Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, Smother, you get my drift. Digression aside, I suggest we use the smaller targeting card, because it comes with exactly what we're after. Natural State kills artifacts or enchantments, without giving extra life to the opponent. Nature's Claim can blow up any enchantment or artifact, but what's there to target now that Pod and Splinter Twin are long since gone?

If you play Wear // Tear that's also a good answer, but the Enchantment destruction and Artifact destruction are two halves of the same coin, and you can't really play both. I can't think of many situations where an Artifact and Enchantment needed answering at the same time, so it feels more like you're playing an Erase that also catches the odd Artifact.

If you play either Wear // Tear or Natural State I think you'll be fine, but really don't use Nature's Claim. They made THAT one for Infect.dec, and we're only an Infect killer a small perception of the time. Not so much that we can give out free chunks of life willy-nilly.

Does thats cover what I mean by cute? For example; you're new to the deck and want to know what your opponent is doing, but can't read their tells very well. You jam 4 Gitaxian Probe into the deck, running 64, because you figure you can just pay 2 life and now their hand, and what best to play. Great, right? Affinity doesn't lose life over it lands, so we'll have oodles to spare...

Or will we? We've got to pay life for Vault Skirge, remember, what if your opener is Git Probe, double Vault Skirge? Do you want to start of 14 life? I think that's an example of "cute, perhaps workable". It needs testing, but I wouldn't fault someone for trying.

How about Ingot Chewer? There's a good idea, he deals with any artifact, regardless of cost, doesn't give life, and even dodges a Chalice of the Void set to 1 (believe me, it works. It's cmc is always 5, even if you only pay R to Evoke). It's a very good tech I've seen used in Vintage and Legacy, so Modern can certainly do with the same trickery. That doesn't sound 'cute', but rather tried and tested, but VERY metagame specific. What if no one is playing Void? Then he's a sorcery speed, no-enchantment-killing version of Wear // Tear. What a downgrade!

Anyway, that's a look into my thoughts behind the deck. Not tricky plays, but rather the trickiness of building the deck. Before you even see 7 cards, what are you hoping for and just what did you bring to the fight?

Thanks for reading,
Fox Murdoch.

Affinity, Eldrazi, Modern.

Hello all, welcome to this article. It's all about my love affair with Affinity.

First though, Eldrazi. They're everywhere, and trouble. Let's compare to Affinity, in every way. We'll be focusing specifically on PT OGW, which featured only 2 decks in the Top 8: Affinity (2 decks) and Eldrazi (the remaining 6).

Both are colorless, more or less. There is the blue/red Eldrazi deck, but by far and large the deck doesn't choke on it's mana very often. This is a huge benefit to both decks, as color screw is a smaller issue than it would be for something like Naya beatdown. Not that it's hard to fix colours in Naya beatdown, but having to pay 6 life for it leaves you at 14 by turn 2, is your aggro really worth that much self inflicted damage?

Both are aggressive as hell. Not that you build a 3/3 on the cheap then smash, but rather there's a huge presence all of a sudden, and we see monsters from nowhere. With Eldrazi this is more subtle, as it can spit out 2/2s and 2/1s for a few turns, then make a 4/4 that Better-than-Thoughtseize's you, but both do the same thing. Affinity can dump it's whole hand on turn 1 if it's really lucky, but that's just the speed of the format for you.

Both are like psuedo ramp decks. If they draw too much mana, but not enough "action cards" they flounder about the place. Every deck can do this, but there's nothing so upsetting as having 2 Springleaf Drums, a Mox Opal, another in hand, and a Darksteel Citadel supporting a lonesome Ornithopter. Ditto Eldrazi without an Eye of Ugin.

Both are resilient. Affinity can make a 5/5 Infect flier out of nowhere and suddenly you're on a one turn clock. Eldrazai have a 5/5 trample haste that's punishing to deal with.

One advantage Affinity has over Eldrazi is the lifegain from Vault Skirge. If Affinity can make a sizeable VS and give it a Cranial Plating they're in a better position to steady the board, and racing becomes a great idea.

Where Eldrazi have a hand over Affinity is the benefits the creatures come with. Haste is huge, Thought-Knot Seer is ridiculous (exile, no life loss, Thoughtsieze's range), a two mana "huge/huge" anyway. Eldrazi have their power up-front, while Affinity need to work at it.

I haven't played the Eldrazi deck myself, but I've played against it plenty online, and watched the coverage from PT OGW. Apart from being a great event (I love me some Magic coverage) it really show cased great plays. My favourite play was by Frank Karsten in a feature match, against Infect. Fearing a Viridian Corrupter (ETB kill your Artifact) he played a Blinkmoth and passed the turn. His other permanents were a Glimmervoid and Springleaf Drum.

It's subtle, but beautiful. If the Corrupter blows up the Springleaf Drum, there goes the Glimmervoid too, and the game. With an Inkmoth out (either manland would do) if the Corrupter play happens Karsten can tap either land to activate Nexus, keeping an Artifact around, then again next turn using the other land. It's risky, it gives up playing a load of Artifacts anyway, but the play was very aware of it's opponent's capabilities, respected them and played toward it. That's top level stuff and no what you'd expect to hear when people discuss their favourite plays from a Pro Tour.

Let's Ban It Already!

Now let's talk about the banning, because everyone knows there' something coming. If Eldrazi and Affinity seem so similar though, is it possible both could see a banning? I don't think so, but let's discuss it.

Eldrazi's biggest cheat is having 2 lands that make 2 mana. Eye of Ugin is super cheap cheatiness early on, with free 2/1s who're often 4/4 ot 5/5, and free 2/2s or bigger via Endless One. Eldrazi Temple is the least offensive of the cards, seeing it only gives you CC once a turn, but Eye of Ugin does it once-per-card. Easily the bigger offender, right?

The issue with selecting Eye of Ugin over Eldrazi Temple is that it unfairly nerfs UrzaTron at the same time (and where was THAT at the PT?). If you go ahead and ban the card it stops the "dump your hand" aspect of Eldrazi as well as stopping turn 2 Thought-Knot. While it provides the same gritty opening turns as Thoughtseize it really doesn't feel fair when it comes with a 4/4 attached. Sure you get a card if you kill the 4/4, but you know what it does? Takes the removal in your hand when it shows up!

I feel as though Eldrazi would still be fine with Eldrazi Temple as it's only 4 mana card, seeing it can play multiples and still have the occasionally bonkers turn. Nothing wrong with the opponent getting a great hand, but not when it comes with the consistency of 8 such lands.

The advantage to banning Temple over Eye dodges around harming an innocent bystander, leaving UrzaTron with it's favourite Legendary Land, but I think in this case it's better for the entire format to not have such an obvious best deck, even if two decks get clipped from the one banning. So my vote would be to acknowledge the hit to UrzaTron (sorry!) but ban Eye of Ugin.

Looking at Affinity, who was the only deck that looked fight to really even stand up against Eldrazi, I don't see a need to ban anything. The great thing about the deck is that it's already got three huge angles to attack it.

First, the deck is full of creatures. They're easy to kill, with Bolt, Path to Exile, Dismember, etc. Second, it's full of Artifacts. I think there's an Artifact wrath for every colour, or close to, or even multiples. Second, plenty of the creatures start off with only 1 toughness. Ravager, Vault Skirge, Signal Pest, Steel Overseer, you get the point -- you're at no end of answers to the deck, and none of the creatures are rewarding the Affinity player with a Thoughtseize or better for simply playing it. You can see the explosive Ravager turns, where everyone gets eaten on to a unfair duo of attackers, with BB open so there isn't a safe block, but the Affinity player has to put so much more work into getting that keen edge on their game, it's easily far more work.

If I think the deck has enough angles of weakness then let's look at the mana, seeing that's where I identified Eldrazi's biggest issue. Mox Opal is the only real double mana for the deck, being an artifact, costing 0 and providing mana. Even that isn't gaurenteed because you need Metalcraft. The second fast mana I can think of is Springleaf Drum, providing a mana as soon as it shows up, but only if you have a creature you don't want to attack with. That's two cards as well, sure, and one of them Legendary while the other not, yes, but both of them need other cards to work. Mox Opal without two other Artifacts does nothing but buff your Metalcraft, and Springleaf Drum without a creature is a Darksteel Relic without indestructible. Both are spells, and give the opponent a chance to counter them. I don't feel like you could attack Affinity for it's mana, nor it's cards, when considering where to ban things.

So where does that leave things? To be honest, I don't think any immediate action is needed. The Eldrazi menace is real, and here, and EVERYONE knows about it. That means we can adopt, either building our decks toward beating the deck, or switching to the deck ourselves. Suddenly a "4/4" becomes to norm for turn 2 plays, and Lightning Bolt is out of a job (that's gotta be scary for WOTC). Given time, and a few GPs, we'll see how people build your decks that win around it. If the deck is just too strong and it's not possible to build a way to interact with it, then action is required, and some kind of banning. How long is long enough to determine Eldrazi are worse for the format then not? I think that's a gauge for Wizards to decide for themselves, but it obviously needs listening to the social media out there, as well as tournament results. If Wizards made changes because people complained about a card they'd never print another set again -- every card has been complained about at some point guaranteed.

If we saw an event with 8 Eldrazi's in the Top 8, or over 50% in the Top 16, that's when warning flags go flying up and Wizards needs to perhaps exercise an emergency banning. I don't think anyone would want that, but it's better than leaving the Modern format with it's first genuine Rav-inity Mirrodin Standard. Ditto goes for seeing perhaps a similar mix of nothing but aggro, or a lopsided Top 8 like Eldrazi v Affinity as we saw in PT OGW. Likewise, if there IS a range of decks but they're all very heavily geared toward Eldrazi hate, we see a warping of the format that no one likes.

Compare that to the format without Eldrazi, with Splinter Twin again. I'm not about to say the deck is a missing hero at the moment, I never played it much myself nor against it, but it certainly was slower, and a poster child for the "Turn 4 kill" that Modern is aiming towards. Eldrazi is threatening to knock Thoughtseize and Lightning Bolt out of a job, and the only deck that's Top 8'd alongside is known as the best Game 1 deck in the format.

I'm all for shake up, and PT OGW was plenty of that, but not without a very measured and reasonable response afterward. I have no doubt Wizards have their finger on the pulse, but each voice out there helps provide a point of view, or give more volume to all the others, so that's why I'm posting my point of view here.

Now then, to "eat all my Artifacts and dump them onto an unblockable Signal Pest" (or to summarise, what evs):

I wouldn't ban anything yet, I'd give the format a chance to react, absorb and respond to the Eldrazi menace. If problems persist, THEN we've got an issue that needs addressing. This "wait and see" approach may seem unfair, if people are going to spend money buying into Eldrazi, only to be told very quickly afterwards the deck's no longer so playable, but that's just peanuts to the whole format, and all the decks that people like to play. Imagine you really like Merfolk, but just knew how poorly the deck played? You're already a Tier 2 deck, but against Eldrazi? It's almost like they're got their own Tier, Tier E.

What's Next for Fox Murdoch?

Oh right, me. Well I'm flying down to Melbourne for GP Melbourne, and it's going to be great. I have the deck, am a dedicated Affinity fan, would probably get a tattoo if I was into that, and suggest nothing but Daft Punk while you practice. I wouldn't fault anyone for playing Eldrazi, but I really hope people get behind their decks and look for ways to deal with the Eldrazi, keeping the format from warping horribly.

See you there!
Fox Murdoch.

GP Melbourne excitement!

I've only a few minutes, so here's the hot stuff:

I'm going to GP Melbourne, which means I'm going to Melbourne for a weekend. LOVE the place, so this'll be sweet. Also likely visiting friends.

The Twin menace and the Bloom bastard are gone, only to be replaced instantly by the Eldrazi brothers (colorless and blue/red versions) as well as the best first line of defense, heartless robot Affinity! Whoever said Modern didn't have room to be discovered should be happy with that, right?

As for the Eldrazi menace, the biggest offender is having 2 double lands (Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin) and one of them needs banning--but not instantly. The format needs a chance to breath, for all the decks that exist to respond to the Eldrazi menace, and to see if it can't be contained by a severe warping of the format, meta, and sideboards everyone. Cards as simple as Trinisphere (buy all you can, it's worth $10 atm but that could shoot up) give other decks a chance to force them to play fair. Regardless there may be a banning if the deck is as easy to target hate against as Affinity.

I'm playing Affinity at GP Sydney, having the cards and the online version of the deck. I love me robots, Daft Punk, anything roboty.

I have written a novel about a robot, but that's pure brags, nothing to do with Magic.

It was interesting to see a Top 8 of purely aggressive decks. Modern being a turn 4 format has really push the speed, and there was 2 Affinity in the PT OGW top 8 and more Eldrazi. Control was nowhere, and UrzaTron was totally a blip on the radar.

I feel as if playing one deck and playing it well is the best way to get good at Modern, moreso now then ever. Twin players do need to find a new deck, so why not Eldrazi? I'm kidding, play Merfolk. I want an easy win if I ever play you at an event.

I will write more later, now I have to head off to work.

Fox Murdoch.

Standardised standard.

Well we've all seen MaRo's announcement about the changes coming to standard. If you haven't, here's the link:

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mm/metamorphosis

In short, no more Core Set, and instead we get two full sets a year, newly remade into a 1 Large, 1 Small expansion format. That's the same number of sets a year, but two stories, told quicker, more succinctly, with no Core Set. I don't know what will replace that, and they haven't said anything about it yet, but that's for another day I guess.

The Standard rotation also changes, meaning a new set will bump an older block out every 18 months. This used to happen once every 24 months, that is a new set would be around for two years. Yes, you get six months less time to play with your cards in Standard, but what Modern?

This decision was made to a fix a few things, the biggest two of which are the "third sets suck" stigma that has plagued Magic since forever, and the actual identity of the Core set. While MaRo put it best, I can offer my view on things for what it's worth.

The third set sucks stigma was true in a lot of ways, and I say it comes from my time spent writing and reading. A good idea is great, and then expanded upon, and then it's kind of time to RESOLVE the story, which is always a bore. Do you know what the most exciting Star Wars movie is? The Empire Strikes Back. It creates tension, Luke loses a hand as soon as he gains a father, everything goes crook for the good guys -- how are they going to fix it? Like wise which was the best Pirates of the Caribbean movie? If you said the first one I wont argue there, but my personal favourite was the second, because it did the same -- set up the worst situation for the heroes to content with. Jack is dead, whatever that means in a fantasy pirate Disney setting, Barbosa is revived but he's no Jack Sparrow, and the bad guys have the control of the Kraken, thanks to owning Bill Nighy! I mean, er, Davy Jones!

Likewise Magic and her own stories. Innistrad was great, horror theme! Monsters vs humans! Dark Ascension was sweet, the balance was REALLY thrown out, and elegantly (there's that word, MaRo!) threatened the planes eco system, killing first the humans (or food supply) and then the eaters (monsters eat what after humans? Each other/nothing!) Then Avacyn came along, and won the day. "Avacyn Restored" really blew the entire story out of the water, instantly. She returns, good wins. There isn't a story, that's a bottomline. That's how you SELL the story to your boss, not how you actually tell the story, or name it. "Fractured Sanctity" would've been a better name, and I came up with that on the spot. It gives an impression of something once sacred, but now returned. It's far less than it used to be, but we've still got a tool to use, and hopefully the good guys will win, right?

I should point out right now that I only really like stories where characters get killed in defense of their beliefs, and I really think the 'reward' for characters who save the entire universe (think Fry from Futurama, or Donna Noble from Doctor Who) should definitely be nothing at all, and an erasure of all memories involved. Surely being the only one to save the entirety of existence is prize enough, and to actually remember it destroys the ego of humble simpleton. Not only that, but it demands that characters should eventually go crazy, if they keep telling people "Hey, I saved existence" and no one believes them, etc.

Having said that, Magic shouldn't be without resolving it's stories, but certainly not in such an obvious, drawn out matter.

Second, we can actually see the workings of this in Magic's design over the years. The biggest pre-footprint of the this is the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block design. It was Big Small Big Small, two blocks connected by being on the same plane, only the flip side of one another. Where Lorwyn was considered a block Shadowmoor was likewise connected, and we had the start of experiments. Second we saw the Big Small Big of Zendikar block, where we were given a Land theme for two sets, then the plane remained the same, but the mechanics were overthrown as the Eldrazi rose from their earthern cages, irrevocably changing the plane (and likewise it's feel for adventure).

Two small notes here. I thought Zendikar being an "adventure theme" block was really stupid -- surely ALL of Magic is adventure by default, so what WAS the real flavour here? You can't say Indiana Jones, because he's from a very definite pulp era of comics, even though he has a lot of the usual dungeoneering feats. Saying Magic was having an adventure themed set was like saying we're going to go back to Mirrodin, and this time with robots!

Second I recall an article where MaRo discusses why the Lands theme was only present for two sets, basically to keep the theme from growing old too quickly. It made sense as a defense but I didn't believe, non Basic Lands are one of the funnest things in Magic, and all players love the things! If this was true however, that MaRo thought we wouldn't really be entertained by Lands as a Thing for three full sets then WHY ON EARTH were we given Enchantments as a theme for three full sets? I don't mean to attack Theros block, but surely Enchantments are ok, Auras are cool when you stumble upon a Std/Mdn playable one, but Enchantments that also attack and are Gods and someone's pants until the pants fall off and then they're someone themselves and THEY can wear likewise Magic enchantment-pants...

You get the point. Theros was great fun, with the Gods and their Weapons, Born of the Gods really felt like the entire Magic world felt the gravel shift under their feet (especially when Brimaz was IT for the cards to chase, and even then you didn't really need to) and Journey into Nyx was a pure overload of "just bash, or play enchantments." That was saturation to be sure, and everyone had Enchantments everywhere.

Also final grumble here: Journey into Nyx was the perfect set to reprint Nix, from Time Spiral block, and if we had Scry returning why can't we give blue Preordain? I think has suffered for a while without it's 1 mana cantrip, and it was a perfect opportunity. It'd give players a chance to use their beloved card of old, seeing it's not been welcome in Modern for so long, and the ability to flavour it with Theros' divination themes would've made it a really sweet card.

Eitherway, those are my thoughts and reactions to the news about the removal of the third set. As a really good tie up, that speaks volumes about how early this concept should really have been gotten onto, Sonic the Hedgehog came out in 1991, and had 6 zones to play through, all with 3 separate stages. The following year in 1992 Sonic 2 came out, and each zone was reduced to only 2 stages apiece, with more zones. There was one zone that still had 3 stages, but it was the Air Ship zone, the level that was literally the big bad bosses spaceship that the player had to fly to (stage 1 is played on the back of a biplane). At the end of this you get taken up into space for the final battle, against two Legendary Artifact Creatures (- Hedgehog and - Robotnik respectively) before the greatest ending sequence on any gaming system ever. The point here is that the change occurred as soon as possible, and stuck for Sonic 3, "& Knuckles" and had a much greater impact on the game, even being 'used' as a tool when a particular zone felt immense enough to warrant 3 stages.

As for the Core Sets goodbye, I really don't know how that will feel. I've always enjoyed the palette cleanser that was the Core set, because if you like or hate or love the flavoured/big sets, you could always get down to business, bashing with simple creatures, and killing with typical spells. After Theros I was looking forward to M15 MORE than I've looked forward to any other Core set!

Thanks for reading, Fox Murdoch.

Further testing.

I don't remember precisely what I wrote this morning, it bears going over and being worked into something more sensible. Further efforts:

After phantom #3, our opponent didn't show up for round one. Our round 2 opponent exampled a very typical deck of the higher up tables, featuring Soul of Zendikar, Soul of Shandalar and Phytotitan. Phytotitan is the most annoying of the three, because it creates a minigame, can you outblock/chump 7 damage a turn? In games 1 and 3 his Wall of Fire was actually super critical to keeping my smaller, 3 or less power creatures from attacking profitably, and his six drops were so plentiful and powerful that even drawing two Flesh to Dusts didn't help. Game 2 I did win, off the back of a Goblin Rabblerouser who got there all of his own.

Round 3 is a bye which I auto win, so the only match I actually played I lost to a very nifty deck. My own deck was black, red and fast, which was good, but I kept a 5 land 2 spell hand that got close, but I could've mulliganed that. My tricks weren't enough for his steady stream of big green guys. I told him I liked his deck, and he said mine too.

Again!

M15 testing.

Well I'm using the new MODO client, and not noticing a great many bugs. I have to point out that this is likely because of my new computer though.

I won the first phantom M15x6 sealed, and didn't realise it was only 3 rounds. It was quite casual considering, and it's easy to notice how much better I played when I didn't think it was for all the marbles, yet. Of course this leads any player to realise that a lot of what makes for a bad play session is simply feeling like it's a big, important game.

So the value of any game is zero, regardless of what's riding on it. Practicing at FNM, play more games, and quicker. Only stop when a really interesting situation comes up, and not flavour matches/mismatches (Yes, how CAN a Bird of Paradise wield a Sword of Body and Mind?).

When I'm at FNM or playing at a kitchen table I wonder what choice I would make if it was the finals match of a GP, and go with that decision. Do I like this 1 lander? What if $6,000 was riding on the result? Well certainly not, I'd prefer an "ok, playable 6" to a "don't draw a land and you're dead 7". Right?

I dd a second flight and went 2-1, but my first round opponent had a greater deck than I did, round 2 was a normal fight, and round 3 my opponent took ten minutes to show up, I killed them for exactsies after that attacked me DOWN to 1, but whilst trading off all their creations, and then I drew Lava Axe, Lightning Strike, and remembered that Sign in Blood targets ANYONE and ah ha ha, got them.

I do notice the small, bad plays, however. I had the sweet combo of Xathrid Slyblade with the lifelink/when a critter dies, +1/+1 counter enchantment, and my first two opponents in the first flight were green/white. I joked at the end of the last article (read it, I interviewed Sasha Markovic!) that Triplicate Spirits is a crap card when your opponent is playing Festergloom. Well I had two copies of Festergloom and my opponent had 3 creatures that were green/white and had 1 toughness, so I had a 4/4 lifelink hexproof monster!

There was plays where I killed a creature, THEN put the enchantment on, which was obviously sloppy. I catch it now, sure, but what other mistakes am I missing that will occur at the GP? I think the attitude is better to attain now, to take into it, moreso than situational mistakes.

The other mistake was when I cast Lava Axe, Sign in Blood and Lightning Strike to win. It was my second main phase, and I cast them in that order. My opponent had mana untapped, and I was at 1 life, so if I had've drawn him into any burn he could've used it against me when I let off the final Lightning Strike. Bad play, absolutely would cost you the game in certain situations, but luckily not this one.

That's the other interesting "map of play" that seems to develop as I play more. Playing U/W at GP Melbourne earlier in the year, I had a design for how I wanted my turns to go.

"Draw first." That meant if you had Jace, use his -2. Then, scry if you had a scry land. Then after that, did we need to cast any PWs before combat? Maybe Elspeth could clear the way, blocked by fatties? If we've drawn, and didn't have Jace, do we cast him now and then draw?

All of these lines of thought get vague once you're inside a deck/game/match, but they seem to stay basically true, as follows:

Draw all your cards. This doesn't include your draw for the turn, you can't avoid that one. Maybe you've got Sign in Blood, or Miss 2/2 four Green Blossom of Card Drawness. Whatever. Draw that card before you even play your land for the turn.
Next, spells to better your position. Usually board position, so you can clear a blocker for your monsters to mash face.
Next, ready to attack? What spells really wreck you, should the opponent have it?
OK, snapshot that image, and ponder how we can rebuild IF that is the case. Do we still like how it looks? We're not going to trade off all our creatures to leave our opponent on a minscule-but-still-alive 1, are we?
After attackers and all the smoke is cleared, do we need to redeploy anyone? Haven't we got some PW we didn't activate yet?
Then finally, pass. Get ready for end of turn, kill your guy shinanigans.

Do also note the time, it is 5:09am as I write this. It's sloppier, and unedited, but I think that's another key point I'd like to make. As the day goes on, you'll get sloppier if you don't rest. Just read through this! Disgusting!!

Fox Murdoch.

GP Sydney primer, featuring Sasha Markovic!

Today readers we have two treats for you! First a conversation with an Australian great, Marko Victory, and then a quick word on how to prepare for the mental game that is Magic, da Big Eventz! For starters though:

HI MARK, THANKS FOR JOINING US.
My pleasure, cheers for having me. Let’s get this started.

WHAT'S YOUR MAGIC CAREER LIKE? AND DO YOU RECKON YOU'D BE DOING BETTER OR ABOUT THE SAME IF YOU MAGIC IN AMERICAN?
My career’s included a few PT attendances, one good finish missing top 25 on breakers. I’ve represented Australia in the WMC in 2013. I’ve also got some crazy statistic of something along the lines of 80%+ on cashing a GP, having played around ten. I first started playing competitive MTG in 2010, but a majority of my success has been in the past two years.
I would definitely hope to have a better resume if I lived in the States. They get a much larger piece of the pie when it comes to GP’s, especially compared to the insanely low amount of events we get down here. I also believe that the American skill level is much lower on average than here in Australia.

I KNEW I WASN'T THAT BAD! TRUE, IT'D BE GREAT TO GET MORE AUSSIE EVENTS. TODAY WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW YOU APPROACH SEALED, RELEVANT WITH GP SYDNEY LOOMING IN JUST A WEEK.
A loaded topic. As I’m answering this I’ve played around a hundred matches of M15 limited, most of which has been draft, with maybe 20-25% being sealed. So I feel slightly confident talking about the format. One thing that I have to make clear is that sealed and draft are two pretty different animals in this limited format.
Ok, first things first; when you sit down with the sealed pool that you’ve got to work with I would organise each colour into sub categories, being B.R.E.A.D: Bombs, Removal, Evasion, Abilities, Dudes. This is a pretty generic rule of thumb when it comes to sealed deck play, with order of importance going from left to right.
Ultimately though I am going to try and maximise the amount of powerful spells and pieces of interaction that I can play. I find the sealed format much slower and more midrange than draft. All I’m really hoping for is a bunch of dorky 2/3s to hold the ground in the early game and then trade haymakers later on. It isn’t the most skill intensive limited format of all time, classic MTG in a sense. Being familiar with certain synergies and interactions can be very fruitful though, you don’t want to be taken off guard by anything that's considered common knowledge.
With the nature of the sealed format being this midrange bomb-fest and filler cards to stay alive long enough to cast them you need to value your removal correctly for the appropriate bomb.
I would also advocate playing one Artifact/Enchantment removal spell in the main deck. Almost every deck will have a decent target, be it Juggernaught, Marked by Honor, etc. I will also always play at least one Bronze Sable main if I have the option, even over a “better” two drop. It is very easy to lose to Krenko’s Inforcer or Accursed Spirit, which pack a punch when the board is so clogged and when you’d rather not spend removal on them.
Have a plan for enemy Soul of Xs. They are crazy efficient and powerful. You will lose to them at one point or another and Pillar of Light can see main deck play for this reason.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU GET A REALLY BAD POOL? I MEAN ONE WHERE YOU'RE FORCED INTO THREE COLOURS, AND THEN CREATURES COST 2 THEN 7?
In a normal event I would probably accept the 0-2 Scotch as a consolation prize, but I’ll be taking the GP a lot more seriously. I guess I would still aim for the same idea of dorky defensive cheap creatures, then any pieces of fat/bomb I can play. I might opt for a higher density of bigger threats to help offset the power level difference with better decks. It is MTG though, and sometimes you will open these pools, not much else you can do but move forward and make the best of the situation.

ALRIGHT AND HOW DO YOU THINK YOU'LL DO WITH GP SYDNEY? WE'VE HAD A LOT OF GPS GROW MASSIVELY IN SIZE LATELY, DO YOU THINK WE'LL BREAK THE RECORD FOR AN AUSTRALIAN GP YET AGAIN?
Hopefully I just do my best, not much else I can really ask for. I would be stoked to make it to day two though, I feel that I have a large edge in the draft portion.
I honestly think that attendance will dip a bit. The timing is kind of weird with students, a big portion of the target market, but it will be reasonably sized none the less. Sealed events tend to attract a lot more people. I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if it cracked a thousand though, but I haven’t put too much thought into it.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHANGES TO PTQS AND GPS? THEY SEEM GREAT FOR THE U.S. MOST OF ALL, AND NO SO GOOD FOR OUR BELOVED APAC REGION.
As a grinder I rather enjoy the changes even for us. I like to see the preliminary qualifiers as the first few rounds of the current larger PTQ’s. Sure, I have to win the thing, but I get multiple chances to do so. What I’m trying to say is that winning one of these preliminaries is similar to starting off 4-0/5-0 at a current PTQ. Realistically though a lot of people do not have the same view as I have and makes competitive MTG much more daunting to a newer/unexperienced player.

WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEARS GPS? BOTH SEALED, ONE IN AUCKLAND (MARCH) AND THE OTHER IN SYDNEY (NOT TIL OCTOBER)!? DO YOU PREFER WHEN GPS ARE IN SYDNEY, OR DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE SPREAD AROUND MORE AMONGST THE CAPITAL CITIES? HOW ABOUT JUST THE ACT AND SYDNEY ONE YEAR, YEAH?
Personally I’m not fussed. I’m trying to exit the game anyway so more reasons not to grind are a plus. Both formats being sealed isn’t a huge issue, a lot of the better players will prefer constructed formats but they will still show up. Any of the three major cities is fine, I don’t have any qualms with it being in Sydney again, but I always do enjoy a trip down to Melbourne.

(I WAS JOKING, OH DEAR ANGRY NON-SYDNEY READERS! I LOVE TRAVELLING TO QLD/VIC)
SURE, I SECRETLY LOVE MELBOURNE AND WOULD MOVE DOWN THERE IF WORK EVER PERMITTED IT. OK, LAST QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO OPEN AT THE GP? LIKE IMAGINE A POOL WITH ONLY TWO COLOURS, AND 2-3 BOMBS BETWEEN 'EM. WHAT COLOUR COMBO?
The dream would be mono white with multiple Soul of Theros’. Triplicate Spirits is not a very fair card.

ALRIGHT MARK, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! DO YOU HAVE A FACEBOOK OR TWITTER FOR PEOPLE TO FOLLOW YOU?
Sure do, you can find me on Facebook, just search for Markovictory, or hit me up on twitter via @markovictory.

ALRIGHT CHEERS. THANKS AGAIN MATE!
No worries, catch you at the GP. Hopefully in a feature match!


NOW for something completely expected.

This next section I want to talk about the mindset I take to a Magic tournament. I read a lot of articles (channelfireball.com is great for it, as well as the paid content on starcitygames.com, and blackborder.com, and of course yours truly isn't that bad at it, if somewhat sporadic) and that's good knowing the theory of the game, and what's correct in many different situations. The main problem I know people face is not playing enough. Knowing how to drive a car and actually driving it are totally different. You get to feel the acceleration of the peddle, how it takes a corner, how smooth it runs along the M4, whether it's a good time of day to even take it out (3pm is horrid, everyone's picking up their kids!) etc.

Likewise knowing Magic, or a match up, is good but unless you actually play it you wont have a good feel for it. So the best article advice that all the Pros definitely agree on is practice. Nothing's better than prepping yourself for the kind of deck you want to play, and that means everything is viable (there is a playable deck for all 10 colour combinations), and being able to identify and build your own pool from the choices provided is good, but you've also got to realise the opening of your cards is a real lottery.

I love blue/white skies with a red splash, but what if I open nothing playable beyond black/green? Brilliant, I love heavy ground hitters with spot removal to clear the opponent's utility creatures. Wait, Golgari are pissed at the Core set and I opened some Izzet contraption? Even better, counter-burn is always a viable deck that plenty of players will be tripped up by. Do they play their creature into your counterspell, if you even have one? What if they cast a good one, and you can burn it end of turn, untap, draw, and pass it straight back, still with a counter in hand? Adaptability to your card pool is key to not seeing your cards and tilting on the spot.

My next best advice is to keep costs down. If a card costs 1 mana, does it at least have 2 power, or an ability worth a card? Forge Devil, for example, looks incredibly weak and durdly, but there are 31 creatures with 1 toughness in M15, and they're all going to get in the way (Sunblade Elf and Xathrid Slyblade both have measures against 1 damage, mind). Not only that, but a 1/1 body can trade with a lot of creatures for the exact same reason. Is Mark's Bronze Sable holding off your Krenko's Enforcer? Forge Devil says YES! to killing it. Or probably "ICKGKRGH", I dunno, I can't speak Infernal. Another worthwhile 1 drop is Sunblade Elf. A 2/2 for G, assuming you've got a Plains, and the ability to +1/+1 your entire team will help all the weenie decks get their last few attacks through. Even better is the natural nature of "tricks in plain sight". A lot of people are aware of them and will factor them into your attack, respecting the ability without you ever having to activate it. Or they don't see the trick, and make a play that you can blow out, without spending a card!

Your two drops should be able to kill other two drops, and sometimes trade up. Red and white both have 3 power 2-drops (Borderland Marauder and Oresko Swiftclaw) which allows for some decks to really punish slower decks that haven't brought any early solutions. Both have 2 or less toughness though, so any body in the way must help you survive these attempts at early beaters.

3 drops become more varied, and really help the game take shape. Geist of the Moors is an Uncommon but will definitely be played for it's evasion and because it's power is oncurve with it's cost. Does that mean we'll wait until turn 3/4 to use our Forge Devil in game 2, anticipating a Geist of the Moors and allowing the Oresko Swiftclaw to hit us for one turn?

Four mana is where the game really hots up. People will cast their best spells asap, assuming you're showing no obvious signs of counters, and on four mana we have 3 Planeswalkers (Ajani, Chandra, Jace) as well Perilous Vault, plenty of chunky normal dudes and all the Paragons! This is the best turn to keep your mana open, either for killing or countering, and if you don't heed this advice then be prepared for some pain.
From five mana and above you get some slower to cast cards, but that just means they should really knock the game sideways for everyone. Garruk costs 7 but do not play him if you can't drag the game out, without milling yourself. G/B is the colour of self-mill, and there's a few cards that support the archetype, Satyr Wayfinder and Undergrowth Scavenger being enabler and abuser #1. You might feel good as the game goes long but if you've milled your deck into your bin just as Garruk comes out how much longer will your deck last?

Here's some cards that are worth paying extra mana for, because they genuinely alter how the game runs: Aegis Angel, AEtherspouts, Burning Anger, Cone of Flame, Constripting Sliver, Covenant of Blood, Feral Incarnation, Flesh to Dust, Hornet Queen, Indulgent Tormentor, Jace's Ingenuity, Master of Predicaments, Nightfire Giant, Nissa Worldwaker, Ob Nixilus, Unshackled, Overwhelm, Resolute Archangel, Sanctified Charge, Scuttling Doom Engine, Siege Wurm (who will show up before turn 7, natch'), Stormtide Leviathan, Triplicate Spirits (also cast before turn 6) and all 6 Souls of X.

The above cards all share certain characteristics in common. When cast, they either rip wholes in the current game state (Cone of Flame, Hornet Queen, Triplicate Spirits) which are pretty much my definition of Bombs. Other cards will have a hugely felt presence, even if it takes a few turns to actually utilise their full power (Master of Predicaments, Nightfire Giant, Burning Anger) which are close to game winning on their own, but simply showing up wont achieve that. There's usually a turn for your opponent to kill the creature, or remove the Enchantment, etc etc. Then there's other cards which are so versatile it's up to the opponent to have to correct response to the mode of use you've choosen for a card, like Nissa Worldwaker. Do you want +4 mana a turn, or to make creatures that your control opponent can't counter? How many 4/4s can they deal with? Do they have any way to remove an 8/8 Islandwalker when everyone else suddenly can't attack? Should your opponent now keep a hold of their Pillar of Light next game in anticipation of Stormtide Leviathan, or use it as soon as they get an opportunity, in hopes of closing out the game BEFORE that point?

A few cards I haven't listed which might seem like bombs, so I'll speak briefly about them too.
Avacyn, Endless Obedience, Hoarding Dragon, In Garruk's Wake, Kalonian Twingrove, Kapsho Kitefins, Meteorite, Miner's Bane, and Obelisk of Urd.

Avacyn is on this list purely for her low toughness, there is a lot of 4 damage spells running around (black, red and technically white have one) and she can't protect herself from anything, so she isn't a trap but is far less secure then people will give her credit for. Others like Endless Obedience and Hoarding Dragon look good, but they NEED a worthwhile card to fetch up, or they wont do anything amazing. Worse yet is the "slow draw" of Hoarding Dragon, because your opponent might just neglect to kill it, via exile or Encrust. Then where's your bomb Artifact? Kalonian Twingrove loses consistency for needing Forests, and Kapsho Kitefins cost 6, so after that point how many creatures can you have left in hand? Not a great amount, unless you're playing blue/white skies and Triplicate Spirits in hand. Miner's Bane is another bad card, because 3 toughness is simple enough to trade for. Normally paying 6 for a 6/X is where red wants it's dinosaurs, but even a 6/4 would be better. A 6/3 trades for only two mana and Lightning Strike, costing you an entire turn for no real advancement. It's also only good for one trample activation typically, because your opponent will jam 3 power in it's way. Meteorite is actually at the bottom of the good list, and the top of the bad list. It gets you from 5 to 7 mana in one turn, and can kill a 2 toughness thing, but it does cost 5. If your opponent has a 5-drop bomb, and your 5-drop is simply going to smooth out your mana and colour a little, then you are lacking in the oomph department.

So expect a lot of durdling back and forth in the early game, until serious cards begin to come online. Just make sure that you don't get trapped by what seems like a good card which is only an okay-if-nothing-else-is-happening card, and don't forget to reevaluate cards that don't-do-anything-except-against-card-X. Triplicate Spirits is a horrid card if your opponent has Festerglooms, right?

THANKS FOR READING!, and hopefully I wont take so long to write the next one,
Fox Murdoch.