Will on MTG

Magic: The Gathering strategy, decks and culture

[willbotmtg]

Evaluating Garruk, Apex Predator

Out of all the cards in M15 the new Garruk has had me thinking the most about how to evaluate it. Planeswalkers are always hard to judge until you sit and play with them a few times on either side of the table, but I've come to a reasonably firm conclusion on this card.

In terms of raw power Garruk is a bomb. All of the abilities are relevant and board effecting, however the key to this card's potential impact on the game (or lack of) will be in the role it will play.

Let's start with the cost: You will be playing this fairly at turn seven at best. In limited there's probably a fair board state however in standard the game is near done. Whatever you play has to stick and has to have an instant and important impact on the game if you're losing. And if you're winning, well you're winning.

On the turn it's played the most likely mode is going to be the +1 to play a 3/3 deathtoucher, else you're leaving Garruk open. On one body and as a token the beast is wide open to any removal, bounce and blink. The other +1 or the -3 potentially turn him in to expensive, awkward removal.

In most cases the beast will be hanging back looking to trade up, however there's a chance you may wish to swing with them to chip away. Once you have yourself and Garruk bubbled behind a deathtouch line the other modes switch on.

The +1 and -3 are pure card advantage, allowing you to shape the board and gain life. But not until at least turn eight, with the ultimate at turn 11. And that's the massive downfall to this card - it comes too late. And when it does the impact it has is too small.

I've seen people say that the card could see a place in a ramp deck, but there's less risky, more impactful things to do with seven mana. The card is only good if you're winning or there's little threat at hand and only then when you can play it without risk of it being countered and it's token being disrupted.

The most likely competitive (non-Turbo Fog) constructed home for this card would be in a Jund control list. But I'd struggle to give it a spot over a solid removal spell or a win condition.

Whilst it's certainly a card that would pull me strongly to green and black if I opened it in a sealed pool and something that will undoubtedly fit a lot of EDH decks, I can't see the card having much impact in standard let alone other constructed formats.

D+

[willbotmtg]

How Much I Spend on Magic

I calculated I'd spent $380 on MTGO since February, so I estimated these figures the other day: MTGO: ~$70 per month Paper: ~$110 per month Total: ~$180 per month ($2,160 per year) None of this includes tournament travel and food, but is a lot less money than I expected. At times in the past when I was regularly playing constructed (now just draft) this amount was certainly higher.

[level8seamstress-deactivated201]

My #level8seamstress messenger bags are getting a long overdue overhaul! These (pictured) are the last 3 of the old design to be finished and they’ll be available later today for purchase! #yaynewthings #illmisstheoldonesbuthereistothefuture #veryexcited #etsy #handmade #mtg #nerdy #geeky

[willbotmtg]

Love these bags - one of my favourite things. Buy one when you can.

[willbotmtg]

One of the nicest foils I've seen #mtg #foil #shiny #theros

[willbotmtg]

gg lucksack

[willbotmtg]

The Best of Chimney Imp Reviews

How powerful is Chimney Imp? Let Gatherer's discussion show you.

Shotoku64 shooting for Platinum with Chim' Imp:

I took Chimney Imp to a Grand Prix and lost every round. Clearly Chimney Imp refuses to be used for such selfish purposes as winning

Kryptnyt needs help:

Few actually appreciate the card for what it is; a work of art. You can actually hear the haunting laughter of the imp in your mind. You can feel the smooth skin of the imp. You can taste the papery wings. But the smell is the most horrible. The odor had me not sleeping for 4 years. That's a long time to go without sleeping.

Meanwhile Zoltantf is harnessing the power of the Imp beyond the board:

I once pulled this card out to an officer, instead of my license. He immediately apologized for pulling me over, and let me go.

Faisjdas on the post-Imp meta:

Chimney Imp is so good it completely destroyed the current meatgame and created a new one, which it then proceeded to destroy... Life is Chimney Imp.

CI is no gamble. It's a guaranteed win, proven by justinianwtf:

I once dropped Chimney Imp at a blackjack table in Vegas. The dealer just bowed his head and scooped

redcap04 points out what we already know. The card is OP:

This card should at least have a drawback

PeterRabit is obviously a douche:

You would not believe the puss I pull in a chimney imp t-shirt

This goes on for 23 pages.

Update: How to do a Puca Trade wants list https://www.diigo.com/item/image/4ozyg/yep2

[willbotmtg]

Grand Unified Theory of Magic the Gathering

Since may of last year I've had a draft post on the dashboard of my blog entitled "How to Win at Games" which had the lofty goal of explaining in abstract how you can win at any game. Stuart King who is a very good strategist of, not just Magic, but all games had a similar idea and we talked a little about the idea after playtest my new standard brew (which happened to suck).

Have you ever stopped and thought about how you win at Magic? That might seem like an odd question or one with an obvious answer. At the very basic level (ignoring decking, DQs, concessions, poison counters or alternative win conditions) it is reducing your opponent's life to zero.

However killing your opponent explains only what the win condition is. It does not explain the process by which you get there. How you win a game of Magic is by a negotiation of resources with your opponent via the rules of the game.

When you tap out, play a bomb and I tap and counter it you are offering a trade: Your mana and that card for my mana and this card.

So what resources do we have in Magic? Well, there are many but I believe the main ones are:

Cards

Life

Turns (or time)

Mana

There are also less common or intertwined elements such as card state (tapped, untapped, flipped, in deck, in the graveyard, in hand, on the battlefield etc) and speed (instant or sorcery speed).

Could we, using some staple cards, work out what a good exchange rate is between each resource creating a solid, albeit abstract, theory on which to evaluate what plays are correct? Could we use this exchange rate to model the constant flow of resources in a game and what would that tell us?

For example, what is the value of single color of mana? Commonly it's once per turn per card (a basic land). What's the value of a turn? According to Time Walk it's a card and two mana whilst according to Time Warp it's a card and five mana. The former, as you know, is a better value.

How then does this help us win more games? In chess theory there is system called chess piece relative value that tells us, for example, that a knight is worth around three pawns, ergo if I lose two pawns to take a knight then I am up on resources and theoretically ahead in the game.

The dominant strategy theories in Magic, such as beatdown theory, tempo and card advantage, all explain in more practical terms what is happening in a game: The constant exchange of resources.

When building a deck and playing a game of Magic the player takes on a strategy of exchanging the resources in a way that he or she believes will ultimately win the game for them.

An aggro deck aims to exchange cards and turns for an opponent's life total as quick as possible.

A control deck aims to exchange his or her cards for an opponent's cards in the most efficient way possible whilst maintaining their own life total until such point that their opponent cannot win.

A mill player aims to diminish a player's cards in their deck through their own efficient means whilst maintaining their own life total.

A combo player looks to assemble a certain interaction of cards that can create incredible value.

If a player doesn't understand their own deck's strategy (or worse, build without one) and the strategy of their opponent's deck then they're unlikely to see where the plays they make offer value. However, even for well seasoned player with a good grasp of these concepts, it can be hard to evaluate what play is good or bad value.

An abstracted theory which gives comparative values for each resource in Magic as a base could well help players new and old to make better decisions in a game and win more often.

However, is it possible?

[willbotmtg]

Competition, Rules and Sportsmanship in Magic: The Gathering

This morning I asked a Facebook group of a store two rules question relating to competitive REL which were along the lines of:

Can I knowingly let an opponent infract the rules, forcing a game loss? (They draw a card they shouldn't).

If an opponent reveals they cheated (by not letting a creature die that they know should have) after a game what happens? i.e. do they get a game loss?

A friend who is judge-in-training came and answered the question, whilst someone else in the group called me "unsportsmanlike" and another "looking for ways to ruin the game".

I play about one competitive REL event a month (GPTs, PTQs and GPs) and the reason why I play them is because I like to compete. I like to compete because I like to challenge myself and I like to win. I invest a lot of time and effort in to winning more regularly and it's important that I know how I can and can't make that happen. I need to know and understand the rules.

And Magic has very hard and fast, albeit complex, rules about what I can and cannot do. These are the rules I will follow as to how I interact with an opponent in order to gain my desired outcome: A win. I won't be guided by your subjective notions of what constitutes "sportsmanship". Especially not if they are detrimental to me.

Of course many players play casually and I'm not going to show up at an FNM and start rules lawyering a kid with an event deck. But if I have a shot at day two at a GP or PTQ top 8, I'm going to call out an opponent's marked sleeves or an incorrect draw to hand. And I would expect them to do the same to me.

That doesn't make me a bad person and I certainly feel empathy for my opponent when I've made these judge calls, as I know the feeling when these calls are made against me. I will talk to them after the game, shake hands, offer some trades, chat about the game and be friendly. I like people.

When I was a new player I discovered Mike Long's infamous bluff to win Pro Tour Paris 97. I didn't really know what to make: Mike had played his only win condition and had no way of coming back, yet he won the game by making his opponent concede thinking he had lost the game.

Mike's play was a fantastic display of showmanship and misdirection which is gone from the game today but well allowed within the rules. Unfortunately Mike Long was also a cheat and that is much of his legacy.

I want my legacy as a player to be that I am kindly and fair, but also that I played competitively and used all resources available to win. And for those goals the rules will be my guidance, not your notion of fairness.

[revisedangel]

The best adventures in life start with a note or little buzz from a friend. I received one of these notes from Brooke, the retail Manager at Brewport Games. Magic the Gathering is a growing and beloved hobby which has a demanding and ever evolving fan base, with ever changing needs. Brooke and...

[willbotmtg]

WANT

[willbotmtg]

Some triggers on the stack. Rite of Replication on opponents Blood Artists, then they Maelstrom Pulsed them, disconnected.

[willbotmtg]

An Interview with Richard Garfield, Creator of Magic: The Gathering | VICE United States

If you’ve ever played Magic: The Gathering, odds are high that you were at some point obsessed with it. Or at least I was, along with millions of others, both as a dorky teen and recently again as a r…

[willbotmtg]

[willbotmtg]

themisprintguy shows off more prototype cards

[willbotmtg]

Tough question for me

[willbotmtg]

Bouquet on the table at a GPT. Classy and romantic

[willbotmtg]

Me, Jace and Niv-Mizzet cold chilling at EMP, Seattle

[willbotmtg]

How to Deal with Antisocial Behavior in Magic

Likely if you’ve played a lot of Magic in local game stores (LGS) then you have heard or seen some antisocial behavior.

Other than just bad toilets I have been made to feel unconformable at LGSs due to openly expressed homophobia, sexism, transphobia, bullying and sleeves depicting semi-clad prepubescent anime girls. I have seen grown men bullied and a first time female player walk out of a store before they even started playing.

When this behavior occurs it makes me incredibly sad, but what can you do?

Talk to a judge: If your store is lucky enough to have a judge then you should bring incidents to their attention as they’re trained to deal with such things and are by far the best people to sort out problems. It’s their job.

Talk to the store owner or the group organizer: Be polite and open, talk about how the environment makes you feel (and could make others feel) and specific incidents. Likely you’ll be upset and this can certainly be awkward. I believe the tone is key – give them the option to change and not retreat to defense by offering a solution such as “could you talk to this person?” or “could you make an announcement about being more respectful?”

Start a local Planewalkers for Diversity group: P4D groups will help to encourage a more diverse group of players in your local area. More diversity at events will improve the environment as they lose their boys club feel and what is ostensibly acceptable making your store more welcoming and friendly.

If none of the above are useful then speaking with Wizards of the Coast is a great course of action. You can contact them at http://wizards.custhelp.com/ with information on what occurred or what is occurring.

Speaking with Hélène Bergeot (Wizard’s Director of Global Organized Play) she informed me that the company takes this very seriously and that “every complaint is treated confidentially (when we follow up with a store, the player’s name is not mentioned). Confidentiality works also both ways, meaning that we won’t disclose the outcome of any follow up we make with a store; the same applies to any investigation we conduct.”

Whilst I play Magic to compete, it is also a social activity. I have met and kept great friends through the game and having a place where I can feel comfortable and happy to play is not only important but a right. You deserve to have it and can make it happen. If you see people making your store unwelcoming then take action for everybody.