This is a long time coming, to say the least... Can I get by with saying the past year or so has been crazy for me? My grandfather passed away around this time last year, I've been bouncing from job to job, and I have been trying to get my web design career off the ground with freelance gigs in between temp jobs.
The migration is complete, but there is still the small matter of building a nerdy theme that'll work for a DOTA fanatic, web designer, humble, and all-around nice guy. All kidding aside, I'll probably also throw in the occasional CSS trick, Git tip, or the latest Internet Explorer compatibility workaround (does anyone still use IE?... ).
Anyway, this will be my last post at this address. The new one: blog.wrightonlineworks.com. See you on the other side!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Migration!
Happy New Year, everyone! Hope it's been a good one so far. If it hasn't, you still have 364 days left after today to make it a good one.
Though not in my immediate future, I plan on migrating my blog to a WordPress-based site (details forthcoming). I have also thought about plying my writing skills on PucaTrade, as my primary goal in Magic: the Gathering is for it to be a financially self-sustaining hobby.
My new site will also provide a place to show off my skills as a front-end web developer and provide a point of contact between me and potential employers. Something's gotta give... getting sick of going from temp job to temp job. Maybe I'll start streaming full-time?
Yeah right... I have a growing distaste for MTGO, and I doubt I'll grow out of it soon... Maybe they'll fix it before Vintage Masters comes out, and I can pick up some Power 9 and other sweet goodies while face-planting some drafts.
What's Vintage Masters you ask? It's an online-only set on MTGO coming out in June that will cost $6.99 per pack, and will be similar to Modern Masters, except with Vintage staples, including the Power 9 (printed at Mythic obviously).
Anyway, I'm off... Nursing a throbbing headache this afternoon (just kidding!).
Though not in my immediate future, I plan on migrating my blog to a WordPress-based site (details forthcoming). I have also thought about plying my writing skills on PucaTrade, as my primary goal in Magic: the Gathering is for it to be a financially self-sustaining hobby.
My new site will also provide a place to show off my skills as a front-end web developer and provide a point of contact between me and potential employers. Something's gotta give... getting sick of going from temp job to temp job. Maybe I'll start streaming full-time?
Yeah right... I have a growing distaste for MTGO, and I doubt I'll grow out of it soon... Maybe they'll fix it before Vintage Masters comes out, and I can pick up some Power 9 and other sweet goodies while face-planting some drafts.
What's Vintage Masters you ask? It's an online-only set on MTGO coming out in June that will cost $6.99 per pack, and will be similar to Modern Masters, except with Vintage staples, including the Power 9 (printed at Mythic obviously).
Anyway, I'm off... Nursing a throbbing headache this afternoon (just kidding!).
Sunday, December 22, 2013
UR Control: Why NOT to build it like UW...
In all honesty, UR Control seems fair, but some of the cards clash pretty hard. I've been running Trading Posts in place of the Young Pyromancers I don't have and am too cheap to purchase right now. The deck is durdly, even for durdly decks, and really wants to be on the offensive... or at least it seems that way. Ral Zarek is pretty unimpressive without some kind of backup, or creatures to clear the way for, or to untap after they attack. Elixir of Immortality is in primarily because U/W control runs it, but hitting it with Steam Augury is REALLY miserable. Sure, you can get four cards off your Steam Augury when that happens some of the time, but you would rather have the Elixir in those situations. You're also not going to be drawing 10 cards every turn like U/W gets to do. Not gonna happen. Period. Don't get me wrong... Steam Augury is an all-star of a card, but it can under-perform when you are digging for one card in particular and your opponent knows it (cough, cough, Aetherling, cough...).
If you get to Aetherling mana, the game will be over in quick order usually. Overloading Cyclonic Rift is sometimes your only way to stabilize, which makes a pretty good case for adding Mizzium Mortars. The only way I can conceive of to compensate properly is to make the deck more aggressive. (earlier posts have a link to the original control list if desired). The deck really wants to be on the more aggressive side.
Here's what I'm thinking:
8 UR sources
2 Islands
13 Mountains
total: 23 lands
2 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Izzet Charm
1 Ordeal of Thassa
4 Steam Augury
1 Bident of Thassa
4 Lightning Strike
2 Counterflux
1 Negate
1 Voyage's End
total: 19 spells
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Splatter Thug (sort of trades w/ Reckoner, solid blocker in the matchups where it's relevant. Probably should be Reconer, but I'm cheap and not running Fanatic of Mogis, which is probably incorrect...)
total: 18 creatures
sideboard:
3 Ral Zarek (goes in against UW Control, red aggro, mono-B devotion.. I'm sure there are others...)
2 Negate
2 Counterflux
3 Divination
1-2 Island (or UR source once Born of the Gods comes out?)
1 Frostburn Weird
1-2 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Ordeal of Thassa
The post-board controlling version seems decent, but will be a bit top-heavy on its curve, even after adding 1-2 lands. That might be reason enough to cut another Ral Zarek from the sideboard or make Prognostic Sphinx a 1-of in the board. The Sphinx is a solid blocker against most of BW midrage's threats, Mono-G, Mono-R, and Mono-U devotion decks, and lets you rifle through your deck or set up for some stacked Steam Augury's.
Prognostic Sphinx won't be in against UW because of their wraths, which will undoubtedly get left in.
The mise Ordeal is to provide a mana sink, add extra damage, and make for a ruthlessly explosive start in some games. I can't see running more than two Ordeals, and it might be right to just run none of them, but give me a break... I came up with this from scratch with no playtesting to support it. I think Ordeal of Thassa barely edges out Ordeal of Purphoros because of its ability to compensate for the card disadvantage when you manage to cash it in. Riding a turn 1 Cackler to victory seems pretty satisfying, and it seems more likely to happen when you're drawing 2 extra cards when you attack on turn 3 instead of dealing 3 damage to a player/creature. I don't think it would be the case in a less controlling deck, but here, I think it is. Madcap Skills would get the nod over Ordeal if the curve were dropped further and the deck became still more aggressive.
Counterflux is a great card to have against control. Sphinx's Rev, a late Detention Sphere, an Azorius Charm to stay alive... They can't fight over anything they are casting! The drawn-out counter-wars will revolve around the spells you are trying to resolve. Since many of your spells are low casting-cost creatures, you should have a bit of an advantage in the mana department. Unfortunately, the U/W wrath isn't counterable. That doesn't mean there are no ways around it. Hammer of Purphoros provides a sustainable stream of attackers and Voyage's End lets you save a creature from certain doom. It's probably better to save that to protect Hammer against Detention Sphere, however.
Esper has a bit of an edge through Duress and Thoughtseize. Getting your hand torn apart is a real possibility. If given the opportunity, trade Izzet Charms for Thoughtsiezes and Duresses. It won't be useful outside of that unless they have Pack Rat in the main.
That's all I've got for now. Merry Christmas!
If you get to Aetherling mana, the game will be over in quick order usually. Overloading Cyclonic Rift is sometimes your only way to stabilize, which makes a pretty good case for adding Mizzium Mortars. The only way I can conceive of to compensate properly is to make the deck more aggressive. (earlier posts have a link to the original control list if desired). The deck really wants to be on the more aggressive side.
Here's what I'm thinking:
8 UR sources
2 Islands
13 Mountains
total: 23 lands
2 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Izzet Charm
1 Ordeal of Thassa
4 Steam Augury
1 Bident of Thassa
4 Lightning Strike
2 Counterflux
1 Negate
1 Voyage's End
total: 19 spells
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Splatter Thug (sort of trades w/ Reckoner, solid blocker in the matchups where it's relevant. Probably should be Reconer, but I'm cheap and not running Fanatic of Mogis, which is probably incorrect...)
total: 18 creatures
sideboard:
3 Ral Zarek (goes in against UW Control, red aggro, mono-B devotion.. I'm sure there are others...)
2 Negate
2 Counterflux
3 Divination
1-2 Island (or UR source once Born of the Gods comes out?)
1 Frostburn Weird
1-2 Prognostic Sphinx
1 Ordeal of Thassa
The post-board controlling version seems decent, but will be a bit top-heavy on its curve, even after adding 1-2 lands. That might be reason enough to cut another Ral Zarek from the sideboard or make Prognostic Sphinx a 1-of in the board. The Sphinx is a solid blocker against most of BW midrage's threats, Mono-G, Mono-R, and Mono-U devotion decks, and lets you rifle through your deck or set up for some stacked Steam Augury's.
Prognostic Sphinx won't be in against UW because of their wraths, which will undoubtedly get left in.
The mise Ordeal is to provide a mana sink, add extra damage, and make for a ruthlessly explosive start in some games. I can't see running more than two Ordeals, and it might be right to just run none of them, but give me a break... I came up with this from scratch with no playtesting to support it. I think Ordeal of Thassa barely edges out Ordeal of Purphoros because of its ability to compensate for the card disadvantage when you manage to cash it in. Riding a turn 1 Cackler to victory seems pretty satisfying, and it seems more likely to happen when you're drawing 2 extra cards when you attack on turn 3 instead of dealing 3 damage to a player/creature. I don't think it would be the case in a less controlling deck, but here, I think it is. Madcap Skills would get the nod over Ordeal if the curve were dropped further and the deck became still more aggressive.
Counterflux is a great card to have against control. Sphinx's Rev, a late Detention Sphere, an Azorius Charm to stay alive... They can't fight over anything they are casting! The drawn-out counter-wars will revolve around the spells you are trying to resolve. Since many of your spells are low casting-cost creatures, you should have a bit of an advantage in the mana department. Unfortunately, the U/W wrath isn't counterable. That doesn't mean there are no ways around it. Hammer of Purphoros provides a sustainable stream of attackers and Voyage's End lets you save a creature from certain doom. It's probably better to save that to protect Hammer against Detention Sphere, however.
Esper has a bit of an edge through Duress and Thoughtseize. Getting your hand torn apart is a real possibility. If given the opportunity, trade Izzet Charms for Thoughtsiezes and Duresses. It won't be useful outside of that unless they have Pack Rat in the main.
That's all I've got for now. Merry Christmas!
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