Patriot Games

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Deck building 101

I have started this blog about 4 times now and have not been able to capture the feel for the subject in quite the right way.  I've tried mentioning net decking and it's strengths and weaknesses, using your intuition to look for cards with natural synergy and several other tacks.  I was not happy with any of them so I have started again once more.

Deck building is an art form all of its own some people get it and some don't.  That is a fairly negative statement to start with but its true.  There are some really great Pro Magic players who can't build a deck for toffee!  Others, and I will name Mike Flores as a prime example here, are truly innovative deck builders whose ability as players does not reflect their understanding of card synergy and deck design.

Mike's knowledge and deck building skills do not translate 
to as many wins as they should.

So what can we do to make ourselves better deck builders?  There are things which we can ask themselves when looking at cards to put together which may help when it comes to building decks.  Rather than do a top ten tips list I am going to use a number of words to remember when building decks and hopefully this will provide you with a "formula" to use when building decks.



Lets take a look at the above card.  This card is a prime example of "value" with regards to mana cost against what it potentially does.  A 1 mana 1/2 guy is slightly above the standard for 1 mana which is good in itself.  Then we look at what he can do once he doesn't have summoning sickness; turn 3 Thraktusk - no problem, make your Lightning bolt say BR deal 5 damage to target player - sure thing, exile the snapcaster that you flashed in as a chump blocker and gain 2 more life - and why not?  This card is amazing it also stops the mad rush of Stromkirk Noble from getting in ad gaining +1/+1 counters (its not a human but an Elf - oh wait elves are like a deck or something I think).  Value is all about cards that "do" something other than just give you a man, mostly with Enter the Battlefield (ETB) effects.  Prime examples of these are Snapcaster Mage, Restoration Angel and of course the M11/M12 Titans cycle.


A card with obvious value...

So value is a card that costs about what it should but has extra benefits and is something we look for when we are building decks.  Not all cards that have ETB/keyword effects are worth playing.  Trained Caracal is a bad card but people keep including it in decks at FNM Relax, please don't.  Some cards have greater value in other formats than they do in standard, Deathrite Shamen is very playable in Legacy as an anti Tarmogoyf card among other things.


A game winning combo with Restoration Angel.

The second thing I want to look at is Synergy.  I looked up the definition of synergy and found this;


"Synergy is when two or more forces come together with a positive effect."

Kiki Jiki in combination with various other cards was a massively strong combo in the recent Modern GP where it would win out of nowhere and people found it very hard to do anything about it.  

Synergy is talked about a lot when it comes to Magic, not just in combo but for all decks.  Cards that work together can make exceptionally strong pairings and give you massive advantage against your opponent.  For synergy to really make an impact your deck has to have a purpose or plan, it needs to do something and for you to know in advance what that thing is.  I know that sounds kind of obvious right?  You would be amazed how many people don't know exactly what their deck does and lose games as a result!  Mike Boon tells a great story of a game he played one time at quite high level where he had to tell the guy he was playing how to play his deck!  If you have a clear idea what your deck does you should find it easy to build decks with synergy as you can recognise which cards will work with which in order to obtain your desired outcome with your deck.


Why do I see this card so much?

There are some cards which are the opposite of value and I just wanted to pick on one of them right now - Wayfaring Temple.  When you play this card the only creature you can be sure you will have is itself.  This means you are paying 3 mana for a 1/1 guy that comes in and does nothing.  If you have some guys or tokens in play he is bigger and should you be lucky enough to get him through to a player (he doesn't have trample so can be chump blocked all day) you get another token, as long as you had one to start off with.  That's a lot of ifs.  Good cards don't need ifs, they are good cards that get better if...  For the same price Centaur Healer gives you a guaranteed 3/3 creature and you get the incidental life gain of 3 when it comes in as well for the exact same amount of mana.  This fortunately goes into the next essential element of deck building - consistency.


Consistently good in so many things.

Thragtusk has been seeing high levels of play all over the place recently.  His synergy with Restoration Angel is obvious, chump block with him, flash in Restoration Angel, Target Thragtusk, Blink out get a 3/3 Beast, blink in gain 5 life and now have an extra 6 power on the table to swing with.  So how do we make sure that we can do this consistently?  Well 4 Thragtusk and 4 Restoration Angel make the likely hood of pulling off the above much greater.  Consistency is about far more than just putting 4 of each key card into the deck it is about every card in the deck getting you closer to winning.  In this case Farseek is your friend to ramp a bit and drop a turn 4 Thraktusk.  A turn 3 Garruk Relentless that gets flipped will help you go find the Angel or Thragtusk if you need them, and make your deck more consistent.


Sometimes the right common is the perfect piece of the puzzle.

In my Eldrazi ramp deck that I played in Standard when Rise was legal every card in the deck worked towards casting Emrakul and his Eldrazi buddies.  Explore allowed me to consistently drop a turn 3 Primeval Titan and go get those Eldrazi Temples/Eye of Ugin.

So next time you want to build a deck for FNM remember these words:


  • Value
  • Synergy
  • Consistency

That's all for the blog until after Christmas.  Mr Smith and myself will again be teaming up to take on all challengers this Friday in 2 Headed Giant at FNM Relax with a combination of Esper tokens and Bant Tempo.  So from all at Patriot Games Sheffield and the Magic team let me wish you;


Merry
Christmas
and a 
Happy New Year!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Future Sight

So another week is with us.  Firstly let me apologise for the lack of a blog on Friday but work got in the way!  I will endeavour to bring you the blog on deck building this Friday instead.  Seems my Standard deck was very good on Friday as it won all 4 matches without loosing a game.  Sorry to Henry Hart who has apparently been beaten by me every week he has come along, what can I say the computer is not your friend Henry.
This Friday is Modern Pauper and I am playing a Bant version of my soldier deck from last time.  I have not got the full list yet but it may well have these fellas in it:

War!  What is it good for?

This is the last Modern Pauper event at FNM Relax as we go to full on Pauper from January.  Te soldier deck I played last time worked really well but it was very one dimensional and I decided that by going 3 colours I could have a lot more possibilities and make the deck far stronger.

That's enough about pauper and FNM Relax and I think it is time to look at what is coming up over the next few weeks.

This Sunday is a festive Steel City magic tournament with standard @ £7 and a draft later on in the day if standard went a bit wrong for you @ £10.  As always Mark will put up boosters or store credit in prize support.

I got one of these last time with my store credit...

FNM will continue over the Yuletide season with 2 Headed Giant on the 21st December 2012 and a fond farewell to extended on 28th December 2012 before it is replaced by Modern in the New Year.

Kiki Pod - just what we needed!

Our first FNM of 2013 will be Standard on 4th January with something very special the following day.  As you are well aware we had an invitational tournament in October which went down very well - for full details see here and here.  We have decided to do it again in 2013.  Here are the players who have already guaranteed their place in the invitational 2013;

Robert Tinsley
Andrew Mather
Daniel Cocking
Andy Sims
Mike Boon
Patrick Bateman
John Roberts
James Brook
Diarmuid Verrier
Grzegorz Flis
Fabian Quinn
Stephen Kay
Richard Tinsley
Adam Pollard
Matt Cooper
Owen Debenham
Matteo Orsini Jones


This year the entrants were invited based on their results in tournament's and on their contribution to the Magic community of Sheffield.  Next year there will be a chance for people to earn an invitation by being in the top 4 of a qualifier event, the first of which will be on Saturday January 5th 2013.  We will actually be running two tournaments that day with Standard starting at 10:30 am and Modern starting at 12:30 pm.  The price for each tournament is £5 with 2 boosters going into the prize pool for each player.  The top 4 from each event will receive an invitation to the tournament in October 2013 for a chance to be a member of Team Steel City Patriots and gain a sponsorship package similar to that enjoyed by the team members from this year.

But that is all for next year and we have not finished this one yet!  Patriot Sheffield will have a number of events over the Christmas break which look like this;

Thursday 27th December 2012
General casual play and testing for January 2013

Friday 28th December 2012 
EDH from Midday onwards and FNM from 6pm

Saturday 29th December 2012 
A festive Christmas draft at 11am full details next week


So there are many, many reasons to come play MTG at Patriot Games Sheffield.  See you soon.

Monday 3 December 2012

A Standard approach

So this week at FNM it is Standard, I didn't define FNM between Relax and Elite as both are Standard this week.  Standard is a funny format - I still think of it as "Type 2" from way back when, because they stopped us playing all of our sweet old cards.  I was one of the many who massively objected to my old cards becoming worthless and voted with my feet by quitting Magic.  As always though just as I thought I was out they pulled me back in!

So MTG is like the Mafia now?

However, type 2 has become the "Standard" way of playing magic and it has changed the face of the game and has created a more accessible way for people to enter the game to begin with.  Other than actual  limited, Standard is the most limited format in Magic - there is currently a total of 1,109 different cards legal in Standard.

However, it has to be noted that standard is the most open and diverse it has been for a number of years with no CAW Blade or Delver deck to be the defining deck of the format at present.

I didn't break standard - I am Standard!

I am not a massive fan of net decking but I thought it might be useful to look at the top decks from this weekends Star City Games Standard Open:

Naya midrange 1st place

Creatures (24)

4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Thundermaw Hellkite

Lands (24)

4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Clifftop Retreat
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Temple Garden

Spells (12)

4 Selesnya Charm
4 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Farseek

Sideboard

3 Angel of Serenity
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Rest in Peace
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
4 Pillar of Flame
_______________________________________________________________________

We even have a playable dragon in Standard...


Jund Midrange 2nd Place

Creatures (14)

2 Deathrite Shaman
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Olivia Voldaren

Planeswalkers (5)

2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Liliana of the Veil

Lands (24)

2 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Dragonskull Summit
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Woodland Cemetery

Spells (17)

3 Abrupt Decay
2 Ultimate Price
1 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Dreadbore
4 Farseek
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Sever the Bloodline

Sideboard

2 Deathrite Shaman
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Slaughter Games
1 Cavern of Souls

So very good - try her with Basilisk Collar in extended...
_______________________________________________________________________


5 Colour Control 3rd Place

Creatures (10)

4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Thragtusk
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Griselbrand

Planeswalkers (2)

1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Lands (26)

1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Blood Crypt
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Hinterland Harbor
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Rootbound Crag
1 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden

Spells (22)

3 Chromatic Lantern
2 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Detention Sphere
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Ultimate Price
4 Farseek
3 Lingering Souls
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus

Sideboard

1 Door To Nothingness
2 Centaur Healer
2 Rhox Faithmender
1 Curse of Echoes
2 Rest in Peace
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Tragic Slip
1 Jace, Memory Adept
3 Duress
Will see more play come Gatecrash.
_______________________________________________________________________

B/R Zombies 4th Place


Creatures (29)

4 Blood Artist
1 Bloodflow Connoisseur
3 Bloodthrone Vampire
4 Butcher Ghoul
4 Diregraf Ghoul
3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Gravecrawler
1 Hellrider
1 Zealous Conscripts

Lands (21)

6 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Rakdos Guildgate

Spells (10)

4 Brimstone Volley
2 Searing Spear
3 Tragic Slip
1 Flames of the Firebrand

Sideboard

2 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Ultimate Price
1 Dreadbore
4 Pillar of Flame
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Sever the Bloodline

Brainssssssssssssssssssss!!!
_______________________________________________________________________

U/W Control 5th Place

Creatures (14)

3 Augur of Bolas
4 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Geist of Saint Traft

Planeswalkers (2)

2 Jace, Architect of Thought

Lands (23)

8 Island
3 Plains
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Moorland Haunt

Spells (21)

2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Azorius Charm
4 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
2 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Think Twice
3 Thought Scour
2 Unsummon

Sideboard

2 Detention Sphere
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Dispel
2 Negate
2 Purify the Grave
2 Righteous Blow
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Supreme Verdict

Card advantage and incidental life gain - Boo-Yaa!


This really is a massively eclectic mix of decks.  There is full on control, including the holy grail of Magic in 5 colour control as well as uber aggro in the form of B/R Zombies and the whole thing got won by Naya midrange.  The top 3 decks all ran 4 copies of Thragtusk who seems to be the right card at the right time just now.  With all these top tier possibilities I am looking forward to what we may see on Friday.

That's all for today but I will be back on Friday with the first part of an article on how to build a deck.  I know that there are a number of people at FNM Relax who have asked about this so I hope the blog will answer these questions.  Goodbye till then.