1600 or The Server Fries!
David Gonterman
1/25/2005
Chapter 1
Not everyone who posts on MTG-themed web sites are grand champion material. Some posters are underachieving dolts who couldn't even get out of bed without failing at something. They're convinced that the only way they can win in a tournament match is that the other guy times out. And that's while piloting Affinity.
Despite being one of those people, this isn't that kind of article. This is a blog of my quest out of the purgatory that is my sub 1600 rating-the rating you start off with when you open a MTGO account-with all the signposts, map readings, calls for directions, and what not herein. I can't guarantee that I'll be successful, but it'll make for an interesting read whether I make it or not.
My name's David Gonterman. My friends call me Daveykins FoxFire. I'm one of those online cartoonists who's success depends on what day of the week it is. My web site is at foxfirestudios.us if you wish to know more. I'm also a budding writer and making a story to submit to Wizards of the Coast. I play Magic: The Gathering Online under the screen name FoxStudiosDavid, and have Eight and a Half Tails as my Avatar. No. I don't work for Fox. No. Fox is not allowed to sue me.
I just like foxes, okay?
I jumped back to Magic: the Gathering after leaving around the Ice Age block with the online version. I remember my first competitive deck that still has a place in the cockles in my heart, UG Madness. I still have that deck. Unfortunately, during the Onslaught block, things were not kind to me. Let's just say that my rating fell to the pit of Hades-below 1500. At 14XX, even the lowest caste geek in school would beat you up. I got limited success with Goblins, but I finally decided, "Phrack it, I'm getting a new account."
Don't you wish that your DCI rating is this easy to reset?
I got my new account during Mirrodin block. I can hear the moans already coming through the speaker as I'm writing the first draft of this article., and I write my first drafts on paper. With Mirrodin block, the Standard metagame fell into two categories: Ravager Affinity and decks that hate Ravager Affinity. I decided just to say "Phrack it," again, and wait til Kamigawa Block Constructed.
There are two things in Magic: the Gathering that I really can't stand more than metagames as polarized as American politics; cards that costs too much (We're talking commons for a full ticket, uncommons for 5, and rares that require two 'CTRL-Q, Number Key' commands to post the price, as the packs they are in are still available!) and decks that ask to be screwed by the shuffler. Folks, be not deceived, Urza is not mocked; when you play MTGO, you play against two opponents, the human at the other side of the screen and the shuffler routine. No matter how friendly and affable the other player is, the shuffler routine is for all intents and purposes Seto Kaiba and in it's eyes you're Joey Wheeler. In fact, you can just hear it call you a chihuahua through the speakers as you see the dueling table pop up and the dice roll.
Oh, and by the way, the most expensive part of my collection is that Eight and a Half Tails avatar. I bought it for 19 ticks. It's going to remain the most expensive part of my collection. I wasn't kidding when I said that I like foxes.
When I decided to pull out of the tournament scene and just hang around the Casual tables, my rating was thus: 1564 Constructed, 1587 Limited, 1575 Composite.
Pause for those to use the close window button because my rating doesn't grant me the right to draw breath. Let's move on.
That was the sorry rating I had when I began to wait for Champions of Kamigawa. When I heard that they'll have kitsune in Champions of Kamigawa, I was waiting in earnest.
Pause for those to use the close window button because they think I'm a furvert who'll sleep with those furballs. I'll plead the fifth.
At first, I thought a White Weenie deck taking advantage of the Bushido mechanic would be good. I'll keep that deck waiting in the wings for now. I've found a deck that I enjoy all the more. It fills most of my criteria in a deck that interests me: It's cheap-no card more than 7 ticks a pop-easy to play, resilient in case trouble comes, and allows me to get in touch with my inner Johnny. While I was playing with this particular deck, looking for cards that will give it added umph, I thought up this hairbrained idea to blog my progress back to 1600. My main reason is to keep my writing skills in practice, but if the occasional $50 deposit comes into my PayPal account, more power to me. If I have people watching my progress and rooting me on, maybe even sending me a pointer or two, that can't hurt either, can it?
The deck I discovered is a tweaked version of a deck Nate Heiss showed in a Brainburst Premium Article, GR Spiritcraft. Spiritcraft are special abilities that kick in whenever a Spirit Creature or Arcane Spell is put on the stack. The spell can be countered or get struck out by the Legendary Rule and Spiritcraft will still kick in. It also works well with Splice into Arcane, which is the new toy for plenty of players. If you have Lava Spike and Glacial Ray in hand, you can do a Lava Axe for 1RR, and not only will you keep half the card but you can split some of the damage with a creature if need be. Then the poor soul who had 5 taken to the dome has to deal with what Spiritcraft did to your creatures.
Not that I wanted to take away from Brainburst's profits, but I need to mention the deck as a reference:
[Nate Heiss Champion-Standard GR Spiritcraft deck.]
Piloting this deck is straightforward: Turn one, drop a land and say 'go.' Turn Two, drop a kami, preferably Soilshaper. Turn Three, either swing with a 3/3 land-make sure that you're targeting a land you didn't play this turn-or drop Kami of the Hunt. By turn 4, you should be at full strength and with a Spirit or Arcane spell each turn, you'll be going for the win within a turn or two. If you need to turn all your real estate sideways to put Kodama on the table, do so. Oh, and be sure to put Kodama's Spiritcraft ability on the stack first, especially before you target your lands for Soilshaper. It's easy to mix them up but the difference between a 3/3 stick and a 4/4 trampler is apparent.
The first thing I did was make everything Kamigawa Block legal: I took out Arc-Slogger and the Birds. (I don't care if it's one of the most useful one-drops in Standard. At $20 a pop, I'm just not interested.) I moved Blind with Anger to the sideboard and expect it to be little more than filler since this card isn't as powerful in a block full of Legendary cards.
I then looked at the land count; 13 Forests, 8 Mountains, 21 lands in all. Any deck with 20 lands or less makes me squeamish. You might as well put a t-shirt on your avatar saying "Land Hose Me, Please." Remember what I said earlier: The shuffler does not like you, and it'll insure that you'll either get no land or all lands in your draw, and you can swear that you hear it mock you when you need to do a Paris Mulligan. Even with Affinity decks with Welding Jars and Ornithopters maindecked to help out there's the possibility that the colored mana that you need to get yourself the win will always be at least 2 draws after you're forced to say {sarcasm} My five favorite words in MTGO {/sarcasm}, "Lost to the shuffler, concede."
With this deck, you will need four lands on the table to really get going. By the time you get five on the table you either got a bad shuffle or you're going for that win.
Therefore I'll replace the Birds with a set of lands. I wanted split lands. I'm not too thrilled with Pinecrest Ridge because it'll lock itself out for a turn, but I'm stuck with it. I'd be more happy with 8th Edition's Shivan Oasis; with the deck plan stating that no one-drops are necessary, you can play it on turn one and not mind it coming in tapped. 25 Lands may be a bit much even with my standards; 22-24 is the standard for me. But the block's still young, and so is this deck.
That leaves three slots to fill up, and those will replace Blind with Anger. Since I see Kodama's Reach almost all the time in Casual play, I decided to put that card in this place. This card will not only put down two lands in the clutch when you're one land short, it is also good in the late game. Not only does it thin the deck of unnecessary lands thus improving the chances of you drawing a card you can use; a card that triggers the Spiritcraft mechanic, but it's also an Arcane. You can Splice some pain into it.
With the changes in the deck, this is the deck I came up with so far:
At the time I'm writing this, Betrayers of Kamigawa is still in its preview weeks, and the block's metagame is still being developed. I don't think that Blind with Anger will be anything more than filler for now, though I could be proved wrong later. (Ditto with that fourth Reach.) Rootrunner is good mostly for its Soulshift ability, you can get a lost Spirit back when it goes to the 'yard. Unearthly Blizzard is there to nudge blockers out of the way so you can go for the finish in creature heavy decks, and Wear Away is the required tech against the occasional Artifact or Enchantment.
Betrayers has yet to arrive. Nothing is assured in the Kami Block Metagame.
So my first entry in this blog has to end at this point. It is now time for me to stop yapping my mouth and start listening to those who stuck around to read my first entry on a MTG-themed site. Feel free to comment here or give me a E-Mail to daveykins@foxfirestudios.us and give me your opinion, send me a pointer, or just shoot the breeze. Unless you're acting like a jerk I won't bite. You can even call me a sick freak. I hope to come back here in a couple weeks, or maybe sooner if I get enough feedback. If nothing else, I could tell you about the prismatic deck that's giving people the chills.
At least it's something to do until Betrayers finally gets on MTGO.
---To Be Continued. (I hope. -Zep)
- David "Daveykins FoxFire" Gonterman
http://foxfirestudios.us
daveykins@foxfirestudios.us
FoxStudiosDavid@MTGO (Avatar: 8.5 Tails)
David Gonterman
1/25/2005
Chapter 1
Not everyone who posts on MTG-themed web sites are grand champion material. Some posters are underachieving dolts who couldn't even get out of bed without failing at something. They're convinced that the only way they can win in a tournament match is that the other guy times out. And that's while piloting Affinity.
Despite being one of those people, this isn't that kind of article. This is a blog of my quest out of the purgatory that is my sub 1600 rating-the rating you start off with when you open a MTGO account-with all the signposts, map readings, calls for directions, and what not herein. I can't guarantee that I'll be successful, but it'll make for an interesting read whether I make it or not.
My name's David Gonterman. My friends call me Daveykins FoxFire. I'm one of those online cartoonists who's success depends on what day of the week it is. My web site is at foxfirestudios.us if you wish to know more. I'm also a budding writer and making a story to submit to Wizards of the Coast. I play Magic: The Gathering Online under the screen name FoxStudiosDavid, and have Eight and a Half Tails as my Avatar. No. I don't work for Fox. No. Fox is not allowed to sue me.
I just like foxes, okay?
I jumped back to Magic: the Gathering after leaving around the Ice Age block with the online version. I remember my first competitive deck that still has a place in the cockles in my heart, UG Madness. I still have that deck. Unfortunately, during the Onslaught block, things were not kind to me. Let's just say that my rating fell to the pit of Hades-below 1500. At 14XX, even the lowest caste geek in school would beat you up. I got limited success with Goblins, but I finally decided, "Phrack it, I'm getting a new account."
Don't you wish that your DCI rating is this easy to reset?
I got my new account during Mirrodin block. I can hear the moans already coming through the speaker as I'm writing the first draft of this article., and I write my first drafts on paper. With Mirrodin block, the Standard metagame fell into two categories: Ravager Affinity and decks that hate Ravager Affinity. I decided just to say "Phrack it," again, and wait til Kamigawa Block Constructed.
There are two things in Magic: the Gathering that I really can't stand more than metagames as polarized as American politics; cards that costs too much (We're talking commons for a full ticket, uncommons for 5, and rares that require two 'CTRL-Q, Number Key' commands to post the price, as the packs they are in are still available!) and decks that ask to be screwed by the shuffler. Folks, be not deceived, Urza is not mocked; when you play MTGO, you play against two opponents, the human at the other side of the screen and the shuffler routine. No matter how friendly and affable the other player is, the shuffler routine is for all intents and purposes Seto Kaiba and in it's eyes you're Joey Wheeler. In fact, you can just hear it call you a chihuahua through the speakers as you see the dueling table pop up and the dice roll.
Oh, and by the way, the most expensive part of my collection is that Eight and a Half Tails avatar. I bought it for 19 ticks. It's going to remain the most expensive part of my collection. I wasn't kidding when I said that I like foxes.
When I decided to pull out of the tournament scene and just hang around the Casual tables, my rating was thus: 1564 Constructed, 1587 Limited, 1575 Composite.
Pause for those to use the close window button because my rating doesn't grant me the right to draw breath. Let's move on.
That was the sorry rating I had when I began to wait for Champions of Kamigawa. When I heard that they'll have kitsune in Champions of Kamigawa, I was waiting in earnest.
Pause for those to use the close window button because they think I'm a furvert who'll sleep with those furballs. I'll plead the fifth.
At first, I thought a White Weenie deck taking advantage of the Bushido mechanic would be good. I'll keep that deck waiting in the wings for now. I've found a deck that I enjoy all the more. It fills most of my criteria in a deck that interests me: It's cheap-no card more than 7 ticks a pop-easy to play, resilient in case trouble comes, and allows me to get in touch with my inner Johnny. While I was playing with this particular deck, looking for cards that will give it added umph, I thought up this hairbrained idea to blog my progress back to 1600. My main reason is to keep my writing skills in practice, but if the occasional $50 deposit comes into my PayPal account, more power to me. If I have people watching my progress and rooting me on, maybe even sending me a pointer or two, that can't hurt either, can it?
The deck I discovered is a tweaked version of a deck Nate Heiss showed in a Brainburst Premium Article, GR Spiritcraft. Spiritcraft are special abilities that kick in whenever a Spirit Creature or Arcane Spell is put on the stack. The spell can be countered or get struck out by the Legendary Rule and Spiritcraft will still kick in. It also works well with Splice into Arcane, which is the new toy for plenty of players. If you have Lava Spike and Glacial Ray in hand, you can do a Lava Axe for 1RR, and not only will you keep half the card but you can split some of the damage with a creature if need be. Then the poor soul who had 5 taken to the dome has to deal with what Spiritcraft did to your creatures.
Not that I wanted to take away from Brainburst's profits, but I need to mention the deck as a reference:
[Nate Heiss Champion-Standard GR Spiritcraft deck.]
|
||||
| Format: Type II: CHK | ||||
 |
||||
|
4 Birds of Paradise 4 Hana Kami 4 Hearth Kami 4 Kami of the Hunt 4 Kodama of the South Tree 4 Soilshaper 3 Blind with Anger 4 Glacial Ray 4 Kodama's Might 4 Lava Spike 13 Forest 8 Mountain |
4 Arc-Slogger 4 Rootrunner 3 Unearthly Blizzard 4 Wear Away |
|||
Total deck value: $95.09
|
||||
| Notes: | ||||
|
As originally appeared on Brainburst! |
||||
Piloting this deck is straightforward: Turn one, drop a land and say 'go.' Turn Two, drop a kami, preferably Soilshaper. Turn Three, either swing with a 3/3 land-make sure that you're targeting a land you didn't play this turn-or drop Kami of the Hunt. By turn 4, you should be at full strength and with a Spirit or Arcane spell each turn, you'll be going for the win within a turn or two. If you need to turn all your real estate sideways to put Kodama on the table, do so. Oh, and be sure to put Kodama's Spiritcraft ability on the stack first, especially before you target your lands for Soilshaper. It's easy to mix them up but the difference between a 3/3 stick and a 4/4 trampler is apparent.
The first thing I did was make everything Kamigawa Block legal: I took out Arc-Slogger and the Birds. (I don't care if it's one of the most useful one-drops in Standard. At $20 a pop, I'm just not interested.) I moved Blind with Anger to the sideboard and expect it to be little more than filler since this card isn't as powerful in a block full of Legendary cards.
I then looked at the land count; 13 Forests, 8 Mountains, 21 lands in all. Any deck with 20 lands or less makes me squeamish. You might as well put a t-shirt on your avatar saying "Land Hose Me, Please." Remember what I said earlier: The shuffler does not like you, and it'll insure that you'll either get no land or all lands in your draw, and you can swear that you hear it mock you when you need to do a Paris Mulligan. Even with Affinity decks with Welding Jars and Ornithopters maindecked to help out there's the possibility that the colored mana that you need to get yourself the win will always be at least 2 draws after you're forced to say {sarcasm} My five favorite words in MTGO {/sarcasm}, "Lost to the shuffler, concede."
With this deck, you will need four lands on the table to really get going. By the time you get five on the table you either got a bad shuffle or you're going for that win.
Therefore I'll replace the Birds with a set of lands. I wanted split lands. I'm not too thrilled with Pinecrest Ridge because it'll lock itself out for a turn, but I'm stuck with it. I'd be more happy with 8th Edition's Shivan Oasis; with the deck plan stating that no one-drops are necessary, you can play it on turn one and not mind it coming in tapped. 25 Lands may be a bit much even with my standards; 22-24 is the standard for me. But the block's still young, and so is this deck.
That leaves three slots to fill up, and those will replace Blind with Anger. Since I see Kodama's Reach almost all the time in Casual play, I decided to put that card in this place. This card will not only put down two lands in the clutch when you're one land short, it is also good in the late game. Not only does it thin the deck of unnecessary lands thus improving the chances of you drawing a card you can use; a card that triggers the Spiritcraft mechanic, but it's also an Arcane. You can Splice some pain into it.
With the changes in the deck, this is the deck I came up with so far:
|
||||
| Format: Type II: CHK | ||||
|
|
||||
|
4 Hana Kami 4 Hearth Kami 4 Kami of the Hunt 4 Kodama of the South Tree 4 Soilshaper 4 Glacial Ray 4 Kodama's Might 3 Kodama's Reach 4 Lava Spike 13 Forest 8 Mountain 4 Pinecrest Ridge |
3 Blind with Anger 1 Kodama's Reach 4 Rootrunner 3 Unearthly Blizzard 4 Wear Away |
|||
|
Total deck value: $26.13
|
||||
| Notes: | ||||
|
Kamigawa Block Constructed Legal! |
||||
At the time I'm writing this, Betrayers of Kamigawa is still in its preview weeks, and the block's metagame is still being developed. I don't think that Blind with Anger will be anything more than filler for now, though I could be proved wrong later. (Ditto with that fourth Reach.) Rootrunner is good mostly for its Soulshift ability, you can get a lost Spirit back when it goes to the 'yard. Unearthly Blizzard is there to nudge blockers out of the way so you can go for the finish in creature heavy decks, and Wear Away is the required tech against the occasional Artifact or Enchantment.
Betrayers has yet to arrive. Nothing is assured in the Kami Block Metagame.
So my first entry in this blog has to end at this point. It is now time for me to stop yapping my mouth and start listening to those who stuck around to read my first entry on a MTG-themed site. Feel free to comment here or give me a E-Mail to daveykins@foxfirestudios.us and give me your opinion, send me a pointer, or just shoot the breeze. Unless you're acting like a jerk I won't bite. You can even call me a sick freak. I hope to come back here in a couple weeks, or maybe sooner if I get enough feedback. If nothing else, I could tell you about the prismatic deck that's giving people the chills.
At least it's something to do until Betrayers finally gets on MTGO.
---To Be Continued. (I hope. -Zep)
- David "Daveykins FoxFire" Gonterman
http://foxfirestudios.us
daveykins@foxfirestudios.us
FoxStudiosDavid@MTGO (Avatar: 8.5 Tails)