Dies to Removal

Bacon is delicious.

LoL sucks because no matter how good you are, one person can A) be terrible and cause you to waste 20 minutes + waiting to lose or B) can just troll you from the start and you have to wait 20 minutes to surrender.

Long live vCoD/UO and CS 1.5

I made it to Diamond I by being better than my opponents. Your team doesn't matter nearly as much in League of Legends as bad players would like to think it does. I mean, I got to Diamond playing nothing but Katarina...and it STILL works in Diamond even though she's pretty awful as a champion because her individual skill ceiling is very high. The only time I play a different champion is when I get queued with people who are clearly better than me at mid or I got early counter picked.

Sauce: http://www.lolking.net/summoner/na/24977679

This is so true. My buddy started doing a lot better once he stopped worrying about other people. He got to Plat 2 before the grind did him in. He said that he was a lot happier after he stopped playing LoL. I think an equivalent scape goat in Magic is when people blame unlucky draws instead of bad plays or deck design for their loses.

The highest I got was Gold I. I had a knack for winning early, but couldn't close a game out. Before I quit the game awhile ago, I noticed that I had an easier time carrying a game as a mid or a top than I did as an AD carry (preferred role). Don't know if you've noticed the same thing or if it was all in my head.

The typical DotA/LoL/HoN whatever community is a bunch of loud mouthed wanna-be's nagging you for every decision that goes against the established meta and mistake (yours or theirs, it's your fault). Everyone thinks they're an upcoming pro where their Elo/MMR/Rank doesn't reflect their true skill and will bitch endlessly about their bad team mates that keep them from that. Every single game has the losing team devolving into a flame war, where one player will always appeal to the other team for sympathy for how their team sucks.

Ranking up in the game is quite the slog. Let's say you're actually pretty good and you have a 65ish percent win rate. In LoL, if you're getting +/-10 LP per game, then you advance 10 LP every 3 games (about 2 hours or so). However, if the system thinks you're just lucky, you'll start to get +10/-15 per game. Where you'll advance 5 LP every 2 hours. Actually ranking up in that game is utterly soul crushing and will eat every bit of free time you have. Which makes the community even more venomous because there's so much at stake each game.

One of the worst parts is that any opinion that isn't held by a top 1% player is completely invalid, even if it's correct. Acting on or stating said opinion will just get you harassed because you aren't pro, so need to STFU and do the meta, scrub.

Happy B-Day, LP

Man, GP Orlando was a fucking blast. Once I figured out a system to go infinite in the win-a-boxes, it's been nothing but profit. I made a lot of money and won a ton LOT of cards and played soooo many games of Magic. I also waded through stenches of the foulest odors, battled my way through waves of scrumps, and saw some sights I that I wish I could forget. Other than that last part, 10/10, would scrump again.

Can you talk a little more about how you've gone infinite in win a box tournaments? I basically win my way into whatever deck I've got so figuring out how to win more cards outside of the occasional win a box tournament here and FNMs.

http://themeadery.org/articles/format-s ... f-standard

“The Caryatids are really there to set up the most powerful play in Standard,” said Standish. “Turn-one Forest. Turn-two Caryatid. Turn-three Courser, followed by a land drop. Bam. Chicken: It’s what’s for dinner.”

Fuck man, I'm converted.

[deck]
Creature 20
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 War-Name Aspirant
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Ashcloud Phoenix

Spells 18
4 Titan's Strength
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Arc Lightning
4 Stoke the Flames

Land 22
22 Mountain
[/deck]

I like this Khaos. It seems like it'll run right through anyone who stumbles or any annoying green cards. Have you tried running some number of
Stormbreath/Sarkhan in this shell? If you did, how'd it go?

After the little bit of actual playing I've done, this is where I'm starting to steer to. I just want something reliable and consistent that can punch through some early resistance but can also switch gears if need be

There's actually a couple of flex slots, mainly in the 2 drop section.I could play Eidolon or Bloodseeker, but I really think that anything with some kind of evasion will be the best choice. I assume that most of the early game opposition will be tokens, caryatids, and coursers, so aspirant seems to be the way to go. The Titans Strengths are really going to shine when attacking head on into coursers, plus the Scry will be good for helping me dig for Burn

Haven't tested THIS list with the Dragons yet, but I have played similar shells before with 23 land and 2 dragons. It can be done, I think, just by removing a Phoenix and 2 burn spells for a land and 2 Stormbreaths.

Being able to fly overhead is going to
be really strong as I suspect that many people will be trying to just play big fatties to brick wall aggro strategies

Agree with everything here.

I did some light testing with the deck and Ashcloud Phoenix is way better than I thought. Once you get to 6 mana that bird never dies. I noticed that it had an awesome interaction with Purphoros. When you're opponent kills the bird, it hits the graveyard then comes back morphed and triggers Purphoros. Turns any kill spell on the bird into a 2 for 1 in your favor. I'm not sure how powerful of a combo it is though, probably just cute.

How have your thoughts on side boarding been? I like how flexible this deck is so it can go a lot of ways. Almost like a transformative side board could work. Something like

[deck]Side Board Idea[/deck]

I think Magma Spray is going to be relevant in aggro mirrors because
it's a 1 mana kill spell and it exiles Bloodsoaked Champion. The Mountain, Dragon, and Harness is there for Abzan/Temur decks. Hammer is there for the BUG control list to keep the gas going.

[deck]
Creature 20
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 War-Name Aspirant
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Ashcloud Phoenix

Spells 18
4 Titan's Strength
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Arc Lightning
4 Stoke the Flames

Land 22
22 Mountain
[/deck]

I like this Khaos. It seems like it'll run right through anyone who stumbles or any annoying green cards. Have you tried running some number of Stormbreath/Sarkhan in this shell? If you did, how'd it go?

Ok people, start churning out red aggro decks. I'm unhappy with all of mine and I need ideas.

I've been playing around with a token theme, I have two ideas. Probably aren't that amazing but whatever.

[deck]Rw Token Burn[/deck]

Untested but the idea is to go through Courser/Caryatid with Swiftspear + spells. Uses Token Spells +
Rabblemaster to burn at Purphoros. Or just say fuck it and fly over with Stormbreath.

[deck]RW That Solider Deck From the Protour[/deck]

This is adapting the Rw soldier deck from the protour for the new standard. The basic idea is to vomit your hand, play a pump spell and just push through every bit of damage that you can.

Lsd and mtg don't mix. That's now been established for me. Should have gone without saying I suppose.

Guy at my LGS was recently diagnosed with cancer and fell down the stairs and broke his leg. He claims that a week of continuous LSD, THC, and opiates usage not only healed his leg in record time, but also cured the cancer he had been fighting for the last couple months.

Have you considered using Purphoros? It'd turn all the token makers into free burn spells.

I'm keeping my play set, but I'm a sucker for tribal decks. If you don't need them, sell them. Turn that money into other modern or standard staples you do need.

Katie, where's the limited videos? I need you to guide me or I won't be able to reach the promised land of X-2 at my next limited event!

I saw the Conley Woods vs Ivan Floch match last night. Ivan's expression was great. It's like you could see him thinking, "The fuck is this?" and then chuckling to himself, "The fuck is this FNM deck at the PT?"

@Taking too long - As long as you're not stalling, take all the time you need. If they get pissed off, tell them to fuck off. Think your decisions through properly. They can learn to wait.

I usually take longer than average to finish a game. At the stores I frequent I'm known to take the longest of all the red players, like it's not uncommon for me to tank for a minute or two at a time. My longest match ups are almost always aggro mirrors. Like, it'll be small aggro vs small aggro and we'll go longer than the control mirror every single time.

Can I tap my Maverick, remove 3 groan counters to boo target comedian off stage?

3 color block that's for the horde?

@MDU - Sure that video isn't about the current standard? That's how I feel if I see a turn 2 pack rat without burn in hand.

I went against Lily twice. She's annoying, but the best use for her I saw was tutoring up bombs. The discard was annoying, sort of.

The top 4 at my prerelease were RB, RW, BW, and GB, so that might be good read.

Seems like we played similar decks Zman. Were turn 2 Borderland Marauders tearing up games for you? I had a few games where I went Borderland Marauder -> Infernofist for either a 5/2, swing, then kill their dude on their end step. Even without the enchantment, the Marauder seemed to really apply pressure.

Went to prerelease, got first at 5-0-1, picking red as my color. I started the tournament playing Jund, but later realized that playing green just because it had mana fixing and hard to cast bombs, wasn't worth it. Played the R/b deck with a ton of 3 and 4 drops. Did much, much better. Goblin Ramblemaster was the hustler. I think I drew my one of like... 80% of the time.

Best pulls of the night were Chord of Calling, Uraborg, Swamp of Swampiness, and a Hushwing Griff. I wanted more Griffs and Scuttling Doom Buggies.

nobody but ben bleiweiss and fat guys hungry enough to empathize big ben's feeding habit and give him more money for
cheeseburgers

And Europeans, let's not forget the Europeans

Specifically, the French.

Zem's gonna git you.

I woke up in the middle of the night to post, eerie.

There's day light out there son. Kids these days, sleepin' during the days like a bunch of owls. Next, you're going to tell me it's the middle of winter.

@MDU - It's not really possible to go infinite here like you can on MTGO. Most events in my area are free with some sort of pay out. At one store, if you don't buy anything but go on a winning spree, he'll accuse you of stealing cards and ban you (happened to a friend).

The tournaments don't work the same either. Take a 4 round tournament for example. Going 3-1 doesn't guarantee a pay out. Prizes typically go to the top 3 and third place is a crap shoot because of swiss rounds math. The pay out is either X booster packs divided between the top 3 where X is the number of players or $30/$20/$10 of store credit with stipulations. For example, you can't use the prize support as entry into another tournament.

Furthermore, stores here do not buy booster packs, ever. There are 5 near my house, not a single one will buy boosters. Honestly, if the owner doesn't know you and you come in with sealed product to sell, he's
more likely to think you stole it. Even if he does know you, he still won't buy them.

So on one hand, you can play as much as you want because there's jack all for entry fees. On the other, it's harder to win your way up.

Satyr Hedonist has been in Standard for awhile now but seen no play. This is a bit different since it grants haste, but a lot of 5s we'd be ramping into have haste anyway. Let's not get too excited.

The mana can be used for noncreature spells too just like Satyr Hedonist, except you don't need a green splash to play this new card.

I think the haste might be what pushes it over the top in some sort of G/R deck. Fantasyland of turn 3 Kalonian Hydra, swing for 8, and then 16 on turn 4 sounds pretty good. There might be some sort of shenanigans with it because it doesn't require R to get the effect. Like bring it in off a BTE or Caryatid or something.

I don't feel like this one pigeon holes you into a specific archetype as much as Hedonist
does.

I'd probably go for it. x2 threads is about $50 and the you're getting $52ish for it. Snapcasters are used in a lot more decks than threads.

I don't get why everyone fawns over legacy. It's the cheesiest format of them all.

Ignoring the fact that the pros enjoy Legacy because the cards are *their* cards and *they* built the decks. They're forty years old, loving every minute of what got them hooked.

The Legacy envy that budgo's and scrumps have is alarming, because they don't even understand why they like Legacy. They're still trying to fit in, even after high school. I have to tell them why they like it, and they have to listen.

At the Theros prerelease a guy that's basically this was my quarter finals opponent. While we were playing he kept going on and on about legacy, turn 2 wins, and creatureless decks. Then half the LGS sees the price tag on those decks and it's like some badge of
neckbeard honor to even have a deck in legacy.

Has anyone ever felt like the Magic games they play are like solving a puzzle? Sort of like an awkward puzzle that's always changing and allows for multiple right answers. When I was playing last Friday, I remember sitting down across from my opponent, taking a look at my hand, and then, after seeing the first land they put out, I thought, "Ah, they're playing X deck. Their win conditions are A, B, and C. How do I answer that?"

I would look at my hand and start crafting a solution to the puzzle that's their deck. It wasn't a concrete plan where I need to do steps S, T, and U. It was more like simple instructions, "pressure now", "hold back in case of verdict", "he'll stall with Courser, remove it", "Go all in, this is your moment to win", etc. Anyone else have that experience?

Oh, back to the Japan thing, I appreciate all the advice you guys gave me.

I just found out I'll be staying in Tachikawa (somewhere near Tokyo?). Anyone familiar with that area?

I'll have threetwo weekends to be able to explore the city. What are some things I should go see?

If you decided to go a hot spring. Japanese bathing order. Shower first then get in the bath. When you go into the bath house there'll be all kinds of minishowers, use that to clean first. Then, if you feel like sharing a bath with a bunch of other dudes, get in.

But now you have a 16,384 block to make.

Hero worship is one thing but that's... that's... like... one step away from a Brian Kibler body pillow. You know the ones that Japanese otaku have with anime girls that have the "fuck me" look?

Is 2/2/2 JOU/BNG/THS for the pool? Also, could you post up your deck list whenever you get the chance?

@DocLawless - That would be a cool promo card. It's incredibly flavorful. Better than a dude being stomped on. I think the fact it depicts 2 white characters in white would make it a no go. They're pretty consistent with the color schemes.

Shit. I'm going to Japan, and all I know about their culture comes from anime.

What do I need to know?

If you know enough Japanese to ask for directions, you have to pretend like you're super embarrassed, like middle schooler asking his crush to the dance. Otherwise, you'll freak them out and they'll run away with the words, "I no speak English!" hanging on the wind. Or, you'll get people who pretend like they can't understand a word you're saying even though the Japanese you spoke is 100% correct and you didn't mess up the pronunciation.

Bakeries are your friend. Learn to love them. For 3 or 4 bucks you get a decent amount of food that stay with you for a few hours. Go to them when you're hungry.

On the other end
of the spectrum, stay the hell away from Italian food. It's disgusting. Like... ick... Anything other type of food in Japan is better than Japanese Italian.

Trains are easy. The red box is where you are. Find where you want to go. The number inside that box is how much you need to pay to get there. If you fuck up and go to the wrong station, just hop on another train. You don't need to pay any extra as long as you don't go through any gates. If you decide you need to go somewhere else after you've paid, there are fare adjustment machines.

Shadiness level of an area in Japan is directly proportional to the number of Pachinko parlors you find. Also, even if you're in the middle of no where, you'll find a pachinko parlor.

"Nomihoudai" means all you can drink, and yes, there is all you can drink alcohol for like $10 to $20. "Tabehoudai" is all you can eat. It goes for about the same. Exploit these.

I think the guy with 7 shocklands got the better deal. Maybe not in the short term, but in a year or two, most definitely.

Trading pile assessment pls:

Guy one:
Foil Deathrite Shaman

Guy Two:
2x Snapcaster Mage
1x Deathrite Shaman

I'd do that trade in a heartbeat. But then again, I don't care about foils and I need two Snappies...

Wanted to second this.

Also, whoever is getting into DotA, if your team has picked 4 agility carries please, do not pick the 5th, pick a support. If you don't know who to pick as support, pick Crystal Maiden. Every team loves Crystal Maiden.

They killed off Elspeth? The hell? She was like my favorite planeswalker.

Seems like a cool enough plane. I'm curious what the twists are.

I hit a car while riding my bike.

While riding on the sidewalk, there's a drive way with a blind side because of a tree. I didn't see the car. The car didn't see me. So they pull out into the sidewalk and I go crashing into them. Put a small dent in the car.

I'm fine. I didn't hit my head but the shock of the impact was enough to give me a mild headache. I'll have one hell of a bruise on my left thigh and my shoulder hurts. That's it.

I've opened most of my box and so far, 1 scry land, prophetic flamespeaker, 2 gods, a mana confluence, and some jank. I plan on buying a bunch of prophetic flamespeakers. We're putting our money on it being the next master of waves.

What sort of time frame are you talking about? Do you think they'll spike during the PT, M15, or post rotation?

So it turns out that "semi charmed kind of life" (Third eye blind) is about crystal meth, "slide" (goo goo dolls) is about abortion, and "tutti frutti" (little Richard) is about gay anal sex. The first two are very explicit about it if you check them on you tube with lyrics. Mind=blown.

I always thought that Slide was about a young couple getting married when their families didn't approve. Always heard the line as, "Do you wanna get married and run away?" instead of, "or run away." Learned something new today.