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We're all just here for the deep Urza lore - Talking about Magic: The Gathering!

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
Been jamming this in standard: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-dimir-demons-dmu

Has mana costs above 1 and actual downsides on its cards where sometimes I just kill myself.
Funnily enough that deck does a pretty good job of beating this Burn deck. It can't deal with a 6/6 very well, so just that + Life drain means it falls behind very fast.

It's funny that I feel White is the strongest color right now, but the best decks are Dimir.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
Mostly wondering if green can ever catch back up, been terrible since Kaldheim rotated.

They teased us with foundations Coco but lol, collector's boosters.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
As a Green Enjoyer since 1994, I desperately wish they'd make it good in constructed again. But I feel like with Llanowar Elves in Standard for the next five years, they're probably going to be extremely careful about what kinds of three drops they print. The color also desperately needs some better removal to be relevant -- Blizzard Brawl was one of the best we've had for a long time, and nothing currently in rotation comes close.

It's funny that I feel White is the strongest color right now, but the best decks are Dimir.
Purely anecdotal, but I've been doing extremely well with Azorius Oculus. I'm surprised I don't see more of it on the ladder, though I'm also very glad to not have to play endless mirror matches. I don't know why but I've never been a fan of those, no matter what deck I'm playing.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
I stopped playing oculus because it's absurdly boring and every game plays out the same way.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I mean...that's just what playing a meta deck entails? You have a plan and you try to execute the plan. How is that any different from playing Prowess, or Domain, or Greasefang, or Phoenix, or...?

Also, it's facetious to say that every game is the same, especially when that deck's plan changes radically post-board. Which, again, is part of playing a meta deck. You put in reps and learn to adapt to what your opponents are doing. Games 2 and 3 are typically very different from game 1 and if you don't adjust accordingly, those are matches you'll lose.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
Midrange or control are a lot more fun because you care about your opponent's deck instead of just doing your thing.

But I only care about limited, as fr as actually being competitive, so...
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
So here's something I've been wondering about 17lands... why do their bots value dual lands so highly? Like... pack 1 pick 2 dual land in a color you haven't picked yet seems bad no matter what?
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I've never used them (didn't even know 17lands had draft bots, I've only ever looked at card data), but my guess is for no other reason than most draft bots are dumber than dirt.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
I think I'm giving up using their simulator because they make a lot if questionable decisions. Honestly I've liked using draftsim the most, I guess...
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
How the fuck can you even tell what's in standard any more!?

Feels like foundations backdoored like 300 extra cards that aren't even in the set. While also leaving out stuff like Embercleave which are...
 
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lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Unironically, whatsinstandard.com is a good resource.

And, once again, Embercleave is not Standard-legal. Special Guest reprints from sets that have already rotated are never Standard-legal. They really don't try very hard to communicate any of that info, though.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
Mystical fucking Teachings is in standard!?

What a disaster of communication, foundations is like four products in a trench coat.

I'm a super involved active player, though mostly with limited, and I still have no idea about any of this. Wow.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I mean, on some level it makes sense that cards from the beginner box and starter collection (or whatever those two products are called) would also be standard-legal, since it seems like their new MO is "let people play with the shit they bought", but there had to have been a better way to make that known.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
After much conversation with my partner, tonight we decided she wanted me to build her a lifegain deck on MTGA. She had something like 8 Rare wildcards, which I knew wouldn't be enough to make a good one, so I spent all her gold and bought her some gems for packs of Foundations and got enough wildcards to build one for her (it can be a Christmas present!).

It's been interesting trying to teach her deckbuilding. We both agreed that me building her a deck would be a good starting point, since then she can at least look at an example of a good deck (she doesn't seem too interested in scouring decklists online just yet).

But I seem to lack the vocabulary to explain certain things about the process, so I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a YouTube video that would be a good intro for "how to build a Constructed deck," preferably something with Bloomburrow or newer cards.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
Honestly having a hard time finding something good for 60 card, rather than commander.
 

Mr Bean

Chief Detective
It’s a couple of years out of date but here’s a guide Jim Davis did for the official MTGA channel:


I was sure Prof would have something but I couldn’t find any brewing videos on his channel.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
Oh thanks, I'll check that out with my partner.

I did come across a very recent video that Nile did on her channel, but it ended up being less detailed/nuts-and-bolts than what I was looking for.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
Aetherdrift previews! I'm calling it now: there's gonna end up being some busted combos with Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Exhaust abilities.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I've tried hard to stay positive about Magic for the past year, but I just can't do it with Aetherdrift. This set looks dumb.

There's a chance they'll surprise me and it'll turn out like OTJ (dumb set, fun limited environment), but I'm not holding my breath.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
I am only invested in the set in terms of what it's bringing to Standard... the setting is definitely pretty whatever. But I am optimistic that it will be fun in Limited.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I dunno, they've never been great at balancing vehicles in limited. It could very easily be a set where half the cards are unplayable.
 

Mr Bean

Chief Detective
The set looks super goofy but I’m also kinda down with it? They’ve got Chandra doing the Akira slide on her card art plus some very deliberate Speed Racer and Mad Max homages. When the designers get into the theme this much it usually bodes well.
 

shivam

commander damage
(he/hiim)
I worked on Aetherdrift worldbuilding (and renamed Kaladesh to Avishkar!) so i'm super biased about how cool this set is =)
 

Mr Bean

Chief Detective
Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction beg to differ.

I’ll give you MKM, but I think Thunder Junction would have worked much better if not for the decision to cram the aftermath bonus set in there. That one I’m blaming on management rather than the design team.

I worked on Aetherdrift worldbuilding (and renamed Kaladesh to Avishkar!) so i'm super biased about how cool this set is =)

Sweet Shivam! Looking forward to seeing you on the PPR.
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
Aetherdrift seems pretty similar to Kamigawa Neon Dynasty. You've got the Vehicles, you've got the mix of high- and low-tech, and you've got a plane revisit after a major cultural shift happened. I think it's mostly the death race framing device that makes it feel "not like Magic." Which I don't strictly disagree with that! Also, I love we're getting more Amonkhet Gods.

I worked on Aetherdrift worldbuilding (and renamed Kaladesh to Avishkar!) so i'm super biased about how cool this set is =)
That is really awesome!
 
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