STANDARD DEKTEK – ReaniCrater

It’s not “Hoof there it is”.

It’s not “Reanimator”.

It’s REANICRATER!

… Which is basically a less efficient version of the Hoof / Reanimator decks all squashed into one.

I played this deck the past two weeks to a 3-1 and 4-0-1 (win!) record. Now that it’s had its FNM victory, I can safely retire it to the annals of history, never to be played again. I don’t think this deck is as good as either Reanimator or Hoof, as it lacks the consistency that both of those decks share. I can safely say that this report will be more on what went wrong in the deck building process than how it actually won games, as in a competitive field it would not have gone the distance as my Bant and Naya decks did.

Sometimes I like to try and “recreate the wheel” when it wasn’t broken in the first place just to add a little personality to my decks. There is always conflict in me to either:

a)      Play the best deck.

b)      Play something that I design myself.

So I end up going with:

c)       Take a good deck and modify it to my tastes!

In the case of my Bant and Naya decks, the tweaks worked out. In the case of Reanicrater, they did not.

TO CREATE VS. TO COPY

One of the things I struggle with is the concept that most times decks become successful because people who are better players than myself invest lots and lots of time into refining them, play testing them, and finding that perfect 75. I normally whip up a homebrew the day of a tournament and just hope it works out, relying on my play skills to make up for poor card decisions. I think the pros have taken the whole “get creatures into the graveyard / play fatties” concept to its uppermost echelon, and that any modifications made to their lists just result in suboptimal choices at this point.

I’m going to link to a few of the successful lists first, then post mine:

Brad Nelson’s “Hoof there it is” Deck:

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1070645

Brad Nelson’s deck uses fast ramping creatures to power out Craterhoof Behemoth, and finds them with cards like “Tracker’s Instincts” (4x). It doesn’t matter that his deck has 15 accelerators (including Deathrite Shaman) because they end up amazing for him once he hits a Craterhoof. They all add to the +1/+1 count and overrun for the win, So it’s OK that Hoof is really all he’s got as a fatty because that’s what he’s aiming to hit.

Kenji Tsumura’s “Reanimator” Deck:

http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=3939&d=223329

Kenji on the other hand has both Angel of Serenity AND Craterhoof Behemoth in his deck, and looks a lot more like I tried to make mine. If I were to play this type of deck again, I’d probably use a list much more similar to his. It has midrange elements to it like REstoration Angel, Centaur Healer and Thragtusk, which give him some game against the fast aggressive decks in the format, and let him just play out “good creatures” until he’s able to reanimate (or hard cast) a Craterhoof or Angel and win the game on the spot.

Both of these decks have focus on doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Mine is a mix that loses its consistency in the hopes of doing something great. Here it is:

CARL SZALICH’S REANI-CRATER DECK

SPELLS (18)

4x Grisly Salvage

4x Mulch

2x Tracker’s Instincts

4x Lingering Souls

4x Unburial Rites

CREATURES (19)

3x Avacyn’s Pilgrim

2x Arbor Elf

4x Somberwald Sage

4x Thragtusk

2x Angel of Serenity

1x Griselbrand

3x Craterhoof Behemoth

LANDS (23)

4x Temple Garden

4x Sunpetal Grove

4x Overgrown Tomb

4x Woodland Cemetery

2x Hallowed Fountain

2x Isolated Chapel

3x Forest

SIDEBOARD (15)

4x Centaur Healer

4x Restoration Angel

2x Ray of Revelation

3x Deathrite Shaman

1x Angel of Serenity

1x Griselbrand

MODS MODS MODS

Now I’m not going to say that this deck is terrible, clearly its record over two tournaments of 7-1-1 is a testament to its raw power and ability to win games. It was just too “clunky” a lot of the time. It didn’t ramp when it was supposed to (note that it only has 5x 1 drop accelerators + the Somberwald Sages). Its ratio of Unburial Rites vs. Cards that put things in the graveyard was off. It really only had Thragtusk main to combat ANY aggressive strategy without pulling off the god hand T4 kill. All in all, I never had the feeling like I was ever “in control” of games. It felt more like I was always having to backpedal and just hope that the right sequence of cards would magically appear in my hand through the 10 sources of deck manipulation I main. Every game I boarded out some of my spells and added Restoration Angel, and since I was boarding out graveyard interaction, it blanked the Deathrite Shamans in my board… they never came in once. So even the sideboard was a mess that I hadn’t thought through.

Were I to play it again I would make the following changes main:

-1 Griselbrand / +1 Angel of Serenity

-1 Unburial Rites / +1 Arbor Elf

-1 Grisly Salvage -1 Mulch / +2 Restoration Angel

-2 Somberwald Sage / +2 Centaur Healer

MATCHUPS / SIDEBOARDING STRATEGIES

I’m not sure where that would leave the sideboard, but it would have to be completely reworked as it really wasn’t that great to begin with. I found the only things I was really doing were boarding out Griselbrand, a Behemoth, a Rites and a few of my dig spells to board into 4x Restoration Angel + 4x Centaur Healers all the time. That was my whole strategy it seemed… shore up on the aggro matches because G1 was always just “pray to get lucky and block their stuff until I resolve a fatty”.

So since the board was terrible, I really don’t have any other advice to offer. That’s a big reason why I feel that the main deck changes are so crucial. They give you the best buddies of Resto Angel + Thrag + Healer again and make the deck more capable of holding its own without having to rely on any kind of “combo” to ensure victory. Now you can just grind out like a midrange deck and pull off an “ooops, I win” out of nowhere!

SUM IT UP!

I like how the deck has the capability to do 364 damage all at once (swung for that in G3 vs. my round 1 opponent last Friday!), and playing powerful creatures always feels good. I think that in its newest form it would play a much smoother G1 and actually allow you have a coherent sideboard. You don’t need a ton of cute tricks when your deck is streamlined and focused and just has a “backup plan” instead of trying to go all in on a longshot, which is what it was doing previously.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

This holiday season think about what you’ve already got, and not what you hope to receive. If you’re healthy and have a roof over your head, you’re already in a better place than many other people. That new WII or Playstation game doesn’t mean as much as having family and friends who love and support you, as without them, where would the joy of the Christmas season come from anyways?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Carl Szalich

Standard DEKTEK – Naya Midrange

In our latest installment of DEKTEK we’re going to take a look at a Naya Midrange deck that I’ve been piloting to 2 very successful finishes in the past month. It took first at my local FNM on December 7 / 2012, and just yesterday brought me into the top 8 of a 48 player charity tournament! I really like this deck because of its consistency. It has ramp, fat creatures, removal, card draw… everything you’d want in a midrange deck. While it may seem inferior to Bant because it doesn’t have the huge CA that Sphinx’s Revelation and Jace, Architect of Thought bring to the table, its threats are for the most part quicker to play and more diverse.

Here it is:

CARL SZALICH’S MIDRANGE NAYA DECK

SPELLS (10)

4x Farseek

3x Searing Spear

3x Bonfire of the Damned

Bonfire and Farseek are pretty self explanatory… one is ramp the other is Bonfire. Bonfire is just amazing, and I can’t believe that its price had dropped from the $40 it was commanding a few months ago to the modest $20 it’s at now. When Gatecrash is released and inevitably Boros becomes a thing again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it jump back to at least $30. People have forgotten how good it is!

One of the questionable choices in this deck (I don’t question it, but others do) is running Searing Spear over Selesnya Charm. I like the reach Searing Spear gives you more than the versatility of the charm. Yes, charm really shines against decks like “Hoof, There It Is” where you want to exile their creatures, or decks that run Thundermaw Hellkites and other fatties, but when your opponent drops a Huntmaster of the Fells, or you need to deal with a flipped Delver of Secrets it’s really not all that great. Sure the +2/+2 and trample is sometimes relevant as well, but being able to burn out a Planeswalker, kill a Centaur Healer they’re using to block your Thragtusk, or just doming your opponent for that last 3 damage are all super relevant plays as well. With all the fast aggro running around, I feel that it’s better positioned right now. There are few things that feel better than Spearing an attacking Silverblade Paladin and blocking the now doublestrikeless chump it was soulbonded to, or causing that annoying Rancor to fizzle when they try to cast it.

CREATURES (24)

4x Avacyn’s Pilgrim

2x Centaur Healer

3x Daybreak Ranger

4x Huntmaster of the Fells

4x Restoration Angel

4x Thragtusk

3x Thundermaw Hellkite

If you’re playing green, you’re playing Thragtusk. If you’re playing Thragtusk, you’re probably going to find some way to squeeze Restoration Angel in there as well because that’s probably the strongest “combo” in standard right now. We all know about how great a play it is to blink Tust with Angel so I won’t elaborate on it further. However, there are a few other cards in here that also play nice with Angel: Thundermaw Hellkite, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Centaur Healer! For that reason (and the fact that she’s amazing in her own right) I play her as a 4x.

Huntmaster is incredible in both of its modes, and Thundermaw has proved to be so powerful that I bumped it to 3x instead of what seems to be the standard 2x. That leaves a card that most of my opponents tell me is terrible, and has caused the most debate (and outrage!) when they see it: Daybreak Ranger. I don’t understand why more people don’t play this card… it’s amazing. It has singlehandedly won me matches I had no right winning. Sticking a T2 Ranger and just letting it flip has spelled the end of many an aggressive deck. I can literally just sit back and play out threats while my opponent sits there with a pile of creatures in hand they can’t even cast because it will just die in a fight. I chose to play him over the universally accepted Borderland Ranger in that slot. Sure, there has been a game or two when Borderland Ranger could have gotten me that crucial basic land, but more often than not he’s just a chump blocker that does nothing impressive save get me more mana when I’ve already got a full board. He can’t lock my opponent out of a game the way Daybreak does, and he’s 1000% better to draw in the late game when both you and your opponent are looking for answers. Heck, you can even get tricky and announce him as a blocker and fight pre-combat damage to get a juicy 2-for-1!

I got laughed at when I played him… but the laughter turned to tears when he owned the board all by his lonesome.

PLANESWALKERS (2)

2x Garruk, Primal Hunter

I’ve never used his ultimate and frankly, that doesn’t bother me in the slightest and I consider it a blank. When I’ve got a Tusk on the board I’ll often even just play him and use his -3 right away just to draw 5. Against control  and midrange he’s especially savage and does both things they don’t want to see happen: Draw you cards AND recover from Terminus / Divine Verdict. There is a reason his value has doubled from $6 to $12 in the past month.

LANDS (24)

4x Temple Garden

4x Sunpetal Grove

4x Rootbound Crag

4x Clifftop Retreat

2x Kessig Wolf Run

2x Cavern of Souls

2x Forest

2x Mountain

Nothing special here, really. If I wasn’t lending out my other Cavern of Souls to a friend I’d probably run a 3^rd over a Mountain since this is a creature based deck. I have no need of a basic Plains since I’m not running Borderland Ranger but with 12 sources main + the 2 Caverns I haven’t found it to be an issue.

SIDEBOARD (15)

3x Rest in Peace

2x Centaur Healer

3x Flames of the Firebrand

3x Rhox Faithmender

2x Acidic Slime

2x Sigarda, Host of Herons

I don’t think I thought through my board properly, as many of the cards didn’t come in when I thought they would. I really feel like I wasn’t shoring up on my worst matchups enough (Hoof / Control) and was focusing too much on beating aggro which my deck is already really good at. I’d have to do a more formal breakdown of take outs vs put ins to really narrow down why it wasn’t working the way I wanted, but this is the way it’s currently configured. As much as I love them, I don’t think this deck needs the Rhox Faithmenders and could use more Acidic Slime and Rest in Peace more. Slime shines against control and the midrange mirror, and the Centaurs + Thragtusk + Huntmasters are enough lifegain (and threats!) to normally win the aggro matchup. This deck just doesn’t need the help against little red men and their zombie brethren.

·         -3 Rhox  / +2 Slime +1 RiP = New Sideboard?

MATCHUPS / SIDEBOARDING STRATEGIES

1)      Against aggro it has a great game 1, and only gets better after sideboarding.

·         -2 Garruk -1 Thundermaw / +3 Flames of the Firebrand

·         -2 Farseek / +2 Centaur Healer

Again we’re just trying to reduce our casting costs so that we can survive long enough to trump their little people with our bigger guys. That brings our lifegain count up to 12 cards (Healer, Huntmaster & Thragtusk) and all of them can be blinked for super value with Restoration Angel. Losing the Farseeks is OK because of the reduced CC of our spells, and Flames is easily a 2-for-1 and sometimes a 3 for one. Even if it hits a single threat it still buys you time, which is all you really need.

2)      Midrange vs. Midrange is often just a grinding match, so you need to be sure that you’re threats are consistent and that every card counts. Just like last time I suggest removing cards that end up dead on the draw late game in order to keep applying pressure while they may stall out.

This strategy was super relevant for me yesterday when in a mirror my opponent was drawing farseeks as I continued drawing gas. After our match he criticized my choice to remove cards like Pilgrims and Farseeks in exchange for Slimes and Sigardas, but blowing up his Kessig Wolf Runs and creating 5/5 hexproof walls is what won me that crucial game 3.

·         -2 Avacyn’s Pilgrim / +2 Acidic Slime

·         -2 Farseek / +2 Sigarda, Host of Herons

I sometimes also like a few Flames of the Firebrand if they’re running their own Pilgrims and Huntmasters.

·         -2 Centaur Healer / +2 Flames of the Firebrand

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE resolving my aforementioned pet card Daybreak Ranger in these matches. He is the trump that they just don’t have access to. Think outside the bun, folks! :P

Against U/W Flash. “Hoof There It Is”, and other reanimator strategies you obviously want to bring in your RiP’s. Healer is not so great against them so is an easy board out, and I’d also consider removing Farseek. Again, I’d play 4x RiP in the board since it’s one of this decks problem matches so:

·         -2 Healer -2 Farseek / +4 Rest in Peace (<- new board)

3)      It seems like midrange has become the new rage, so I don’t see a lot of dedicated control decks these days. However, it seems like they’d still wilt to Sigarda, and Acidic Slime basically reads: “When your opponent casts Sphinx’s Revelation, they draw one less card and gain 1 less life”. It also slows them down enough that you can hopefully keep them off of Angel of Serenity mana, and provides more threat density. Speaking of threat density, I don’t like removing creatures from the deck if I don’t have to because everything counts when they’re likely boarding into a full complement of Divine Verdict and at least a few Terminus. Even the lowly Centaur Healer has a purpose!

·         -4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim / +4 Acidic Slime (<- new board)

·         -2 Farseek / +2 Sigarda, Host of Herons

I’m not entirely convinced that this is correct, but for now I think our 24 lands are enough to see us through to the late game which is where Control decks will actually start to cast their own spells as well. Pilgrim just gets killed with their board sweep so isn’t as efficient as Farseek in this matchup.

SO FAR, IT’S MY FAVORITE!

I think if I had to choose only one deck to play week after week, it would be this one. Its threat diversity is amazing, and it has a great matchup against almost every deck. It’s a lot of fun to play because you get to use all the most broken cads available in standard, and has a lot of built in card advantage so you never really feel like you’re falling behind. The fact that it got me really close to winning a pretty big tourney yesterday is also a testament to its power. Keep swinging with those Hellkites!

PLAY ERRORS, PLAY ERRORS…

I also want to mention that knowing the rules inside and out really do give you a huge advantage in professional play. In my T8 match I basically lost to not being familiar enough with the rules to have a go against a much more experienced player (I was paired against Kyle Duncan, a former member of the Canadian National team!). It all came down to understanding priority, and I messed it up twice to basically give my shot at T4 away.

Suffice to say: If your opponent plays a Huntmaster of the Fells, don’t follow it up on your turn by playing one of your own. They will just pass their turn, and since active players triggers will resolve last, their Huntmaster will flip first, killing yours. After it happened in G1 I had the opportunity to do something similar with my Daybreak Ranger against him, but I messed it up. The important thing is that I learned a valuable lesson that I will bring with me to all of my future matches, so in SOME ways (yes I’m trying to look on the bright side here) it was a good thing. (Rationalized! Lol)

This segues us nicely into my:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

It’s OK to be wrong. Nobody is perfect, and we can’t possibly know the answers to everything all the time. Sometimes making mistakes is actually beneficial… as long as we learn from them and avoid their repetition. Don’t let a fear of being wrong stop you from doing something that you may enjoy. Instead ask questions, or look things up. We all want to protect our egos, and when someone says “well actually, that’s not entirely correct…” we have a tendency to become defensive instead of open minded to the possibility that we aren’t infallible. Learning and evolving involves the occasional mistake here and there, and nobody can possibly expect you to be omnipotent.

How did this little rant come about? Well my Canadian friends can probably relate to this especially well at this time of the year:

On our way back from my friend Erics place after lunch break of the tourney, I remarked: “Man, you should be wearing a hat, you’re going to catch a cold!” To which he replied: “Ummm… you catch a cold from germs and viruses, it has nothing to do with the weather”. I, of course, having been raised on the old adage of “wear layers and bundle up or it will be the death of you” got defensive and took it as a personal affront to my intelligence. I didn’t make a big deal out of it, but it definitely had me thinking what world he was living in to possibly think that.

… A little internet research at home later revealed his statement to be true.

·         Ear aches? Check.

·         Lowered immune system making you more susceptible to a cold? Check.

·         Actually being the CAUSE of a cold / flu? NOT check.

So let’s end this with a quote that has been immortalized in every 80’s child minds for decades now:

“Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!”

Yo Joe indeed! :)

Cheers!

Carl Szalich

Follow me on Twitter! @Psilence6K

Standard DEKTEK – Bant Midrange

Following through with my convictions and creating another post within a week? SWEET!

A few people have been asking for my decklists since I’ve been on a tournament winning roll these past few weeks, and while I find the chaos of my LGS isn’t the greatest place to sit down and chat about them between rounds, this blog seems much more appropriate. Besides, I hardly want to spread out my 75 when we’re in the middle of a tournament and possibly give someone an “edge” to take away my hard earned crown! :P

So my next few articles are going to play catch up on a few of the decks that I’ve been running with a great degree of success these past weeks at my local FNM’s. In a field riddled with fast agro and only a few control decks, midrange is oft my weapon of choice, and I piloted this Bant deck to first place on October 30^th / 2012. Nothing particularly ingenious about it except a few of the numbers, but it went 3-0-1 in a 16+ person field which resulted in a split for 1^st.

CARL SZALICH’S MIDRANGE BANT DECK

 

SPELLS (17)

2x Cyclonic Rift

3x Azorious Charm

4x Farseek

3x Detention Sphere

3x Supreme Verdict

2x Sphinx’s Revelation

CREATURES (14)

3x Centaur Healer

4x Restoration Angel

4x Thragtusk

1x Armada Wurm

2x Angel of Serenity

PLANESWALKERS (4)

2x Jace, Architect of Though

2x Garruk, Primal Hunter

LANDS (25)

4x Temple Garden

4x Sunpetal Grove

4x Hallowed Fountain

4x Glacial Fortress

4x Hinterland Harbour

1x Moorland Haunt

2x Forest

1x Plains

1x Island

SIDEBOARD (15)

2x Loxodon Smiter

1x Centaur Healer

3x Rest in Peace

1x Detention Sphere

1x Supreme Verdict

2x Acidic Slime

3x Geist of Saint Traft

2x Sigarda, Host of Herons

MATCHUPS / SIDEBOARDING STRATEGIES

There are a few reasons why I like this deck.

1)      It’s not TERRIBLE vs. aggro, as it packs plenty of removal and life gain.

·         5 early tempo spells: 3 Azorious Charm / 2 Cyclonic Rift… both pull double duty

·         3 Detention Spheres to take out Gerralf Messengers and tokens

·         3 Divine Verdict as a catch all

·         4 Thragtusk / 3 Centaur Healers main for me to blink with Restoration Angel

·         2 Sphinx Revelation to draw me cards and gain me loads of life.

Out of the sideboard I use the following strategy:

·         -2 Angel of Serenity / +2 Loxodon Smiter

·         -1 Armada Wurm / +1 Centaur Healer

·         -2 Garruk / +1 DSphere +1 Supreme Verdict

This reduces the casting cost of my deck significantly, and still gives me all the trumps that it takes to beat the aggro match. Almost 50% of your deck is now geared to outlive their initial assault and just drop bigger and better threats than they have.

2)      It’s got legs against other midrange decks. You’ve basically got a transformational sideboard that lets you board into bigger and better threats than your opponent. Game 1 they see the lackluster Centaur Healers (that they’re probably also running) and figure it’s just going to come down to whoever draws the most Thragtusk, or the first Jace. That’s then they get the rabbit punch as I make a few changes:

·         -3 Verdict + 3 Geist of Saint Traft

·         -4 Farseek + 2 Sigarda +2 Acidic Slime

·         -3 Centaur Healer + 2 Loxodon Smiter + 1 DSphere

There is no longer a need to have board wipe (Divine Verdict) because now all your creatures are awesome and you don’t want to end up with a Verdict in hand when your board is full and all they’ve got is a Healer or Tusk. You don’t really want to waste time ramping anymore because you’re not facing an aggressive deck (-4 farseek) so instead of drawing blanks late game, you’ve got more pressure. Your Smiters are blocking their healers all day long and can kill a blocking Restoration angel when they swing. Acidic Slime removes annoying Kessig Wolf Runs or opposing Moorland Haunts and you’ve still got all of your card advantage to boot! You may no longer be dropping T4 Garruks, but instead your Geists and Sigardas are shoring up the match by just being uber threats that kill their planeswalkers with air superiority.

3)      Control decks are tough, but you use a similar strategy as midrange against them… overwhelm them with efficient “must kill” threats before they can stabilize their board. If you land am early Geist or Sigarda, they’re sweating!

·         -3 Supreme Verdict + 3 Geist of Saint Traft

·         -4 Farseek + 2 Sigarda + 2 Acidic Slime

·         -3 Centaur Healer + 2 Loxodon Smiter + 1 DSphere

If you’re playing against a heavy graveyard themed build like U/W Flash you probably want the Rest in Peace so instead of boarding in the 4^th DSphere go with a RiP and take out the Angels of Serenity for 2x more. They really don’t run enough creatures for them to matter that much, though drawing your own dead guys back to hand is quite nice. Blinking Acidic Slimes with Resto Angels targeting their lands is a really hot play as well! And don’t forget, they can’t counter your Smiters, and only their own Divine Verdicts can take out Geist / Sigarda!

WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL THIS?

Well, for starters, once I win a tournament with a deck I try not to play it again for a while. I enjoy the challenge of trying to win with multiple decks instead of just being “that guy with the crazy deck that he uses every week”. 

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing though! Playing the same deck every week leads to familiarity and results in less play mistakes, so I’m not knocking those who like their pet decks, or those who only have one deck. It’s just how I choose to roll.

I also feel that by playing a variety of different decks, you get a lot more experience in knowing how to combat them! It’s one thing to memorize a list and know what’s in a deck… it’s another to have firsthand experience PLAYING that deck, knowing it in and out, and understanding all of its little tricks.

I also want you as a player to improve, so that when I face you at an FNM, I’m getting more experience playing against (what I consider) tier 1 decks. That way when / if I ever manage to make it out of this accursed city to a big tournament, I’ll know that I’ve played some tough decks at a competitive level.

Helping you get better helps everyone and makes us a stronger community!

WRAP UP!

Since I’ve been going through some hard times and having health issues, I’ve decided that I’m going to try and end these posts with some positive message or quote. I’ve been trying to have a more positive outlook on life, and I realize that regardless of where we are in our lives some positivity or words of wisdom never hurt. I’ve gone through some dark days in my life, and feel that I’ve got a lot of wisdom to share with you about things other than just Magic. You may not always agree with what I have to say, but hopefully these little words will always cause you to continue to think…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

If you have to change who you are to feel accepted, or are made to feel that your thoughts and ideas are unimportant and would result in ridicule from your friends… maybe it’s time to find some new ones. For a long time I would act out and do stupid things to try and gain the acceptance of my peers, but in the end they were laughing at me, not with me. It was only when I stopped caring what THEY thought of me, and started caring about what I thought of me that everything changed. My confidence was much more attractive than the mask I used to wear, and the friends that I started to attract were genuinely interested in ME, just as I was genuinely interested in them.

With love brothers,

Carl Szalich

Follow me on Twitter @Psilence6K

A Rant About MTGO And Its Changes

First I want to say that I love MTGO (Magic the Gathering Online). I think it's a great way to play the game, even when there's nobody else around to play it with. Granted, I could use another program like Cocatrice if I were desperate, but that's not the point.

I've been becoming increasingly frustrated by some of the seemingly arbitrary changes that are occuring on MTGO lately. Not that there are a ton of things I disagree with, but I'm having problems blindly accepting some of the changes they've made / are planning on making recently and I'm going to vent about a few of them. Feel free to comment if you agree or disagree, because I think that's one of the things that're missing... player input. So many of these decisions are being made without it.

1) MOCS (Magic Online Championships)

This was something that I was recently been made aware of by a friend and fellow MTGO enthusiast Dan Wilson (DeeDubs) when I told him that I thought it would be cool to actually compete in one by winning my 15 QP's (Quaification Points).

Me: "It's got to be something awesome. right?"

He rolled his eyes, and whenever he does that I can tell that I've opened a can of worms and hit a spot of contention with him. Now this has probably already been discussed to death, and outrage has probably already ensued all across the interwebs but it's the first I've heard and I found it quite disheartening.

Dan: "Yea, well, about that..."

He then preceeded to tell me about what a great thing it USED to be. About how "back in the glory days" if you qualified, you were entered into the MOCS and received your 6 free packs in order to play in a sealed event with only the best of the best. An environment full of winners, where you know that if you take a game, you aren't just beating up on a random newb who needs to ask you how to properly place his triggers and presses enter a thousand times in a row instead of F5. He told me stories about how if you weren't able to actually compete in the event because you had, say, a job that conflicted, or another event that required your attention, that you'd still be veto'd at least those 6 packs. Almost like a "thank you for playing so much and filling our pockets with your virtual gold, we appreciate your hard work and dedication and here's a little something to show you that you're appreciated."

Then a few months ago, everything changed.

First, not only did you NOT get the packs if you weren't able to attend. Now this seems reasonable from a certain vantage point I suppose: You don't play, you don't get the packs. They really were designed as a gift and pre-requisite for you to participate in the event, so cool, I can get behind that.

Second (and this is where I have a problem), they changed the tournament so that even if you DID play, the 6 packs that you open are PHANTOM PACKS! What does that mean? It means that the cards don't actually exist in your collection. It means they exist for purposes of that tournament exclusively then *poof* gone. Granted if you manage to place highly you were still rewarded with packs, but when only a few hundred each month even make it that far, it's already an accomplishment in itself.

But why should we / wizards care? Why should these greedos get ANYTHING for free?

... because it's NOT free!

When I play MTGO, I draft. If you WIN a draft (3 rounds, going 3-0) you get 1 QP. That means you would have to win 15 drafts to qualify. Let's take a best case scenario here. Let's say you're a magic GOD and never lose a game. You play 15 straight drafts and win all 15. You qualify for the MOCS! Right on! But what did that cost you in both $$$ and time? Let's find out!

Time:

Each round is 50 minutes. Plus deck construction. Plus the actual drafting portion. Not every game will go the full 50 minutes, but you're not going to get away with them all being 15 either. Let's for assumptions sake say each round lasts 40 minutes. (You have to wait for everyone to finish before the next match, so if even 1 match goes the full 50 minutes, everyone waits 50 minutes, even if you finished in 15... so enjoy your wait! Watch some replays or something!) *More on replays later in this very post!*

Anyways, that's 40 * 3 = 2hrs. + Deck construction and draft and the obligatory 2 minutes between rounds, let's be super generous and call a tournament 2 1/2 hours. Now multiply that by 15 to get all 15 QP's you need... THAT'S 37 1/2 HRS!!! You've just dedicated over a day and a half to the game in the BEST of circumstances!

I doubt even Brian Kibbler or LSV can claim that they've gone 15 straight, but this is a best case scenario afterall. Even an amazing player probably isn't better than 50%. I consider myself pretty good and I only win MAYBE 1 in 3. So for me to qualify I can expect to devote 37.5 * 3 = 112.5 hrs... approx 4 and 2/3 days of straight playing just to qualify. When a "MOCS season" is just under a month, I can basically forget about eating, sleeping, working, or doing anything else if I want to qualify. That means I have to devote my life to playing, and those that make it are truly the hardcore.

Money:

To draft you need 3 packs @ approx $4 each and 2 tix (worth a dollar each). That's 4 * 3 + 2 = $14 each draft. In our "invincible god scenario", sure, you put down your initial $14 and just roll around in the piles of money you make. But let's use myself as an example, a competent player who can run through 4-3-2-2's with a good deal of success.

My averages look something like this
2/6 = win = 4 packs
3/6 = make it to 2nd round = 2 Packs
1/6 = Fail = 0 Packs

So in 6 rounds I win back about 14 of the 18 packs and make 2 QP's. That's a loss of 4 packs per 6 games... respectable! I'm almost "infinite"! Lets assume that the cards I open cover the 2 tix. Often you get $0 tix, others you open a Thragtusk and can pay for a few in a row.

So I need to play 6 * 7.5 = 45 matches to make my QP's, and it costs me 7.5 * 4 = 30 packs worth of loss to qualify. 30 packs * $4 each = $120 to earn my 15 QP's.

Sum it up:

So for your average "good" player like myself I need to spend $120 & 112.5hrs just to qualify.

If that isn't somehow worth the meager 6 packs (or you can call it 6 * 4 = $24 if you'd like) they used to give out in digital object that basically cost nothing to make... I don't know what is. That's a heck of a lot of time and money I invested into wizards to at least get that small token of appreciation.

2) No More Ratings!

One of the things I used to love about magic was when there were ELO ratings. It was amazing to know that if I had an 1850 rating that comparatively speaking I was doing well. Even 1750 was nice. 1600 was still ok, at least I wasn't losing anything! And when you go under 1600, well, that means maybe I have to start asking others for a little bit of help to brush up on my game... it MOTIVATED me!

Society these days seems to have an aversion to allowing people to "not win". I'm not going to say fail, but "not win"... because that's how we protect and coddle our little egos these days. For example here in London, Ontario there is a Kiwanis Music festival. There used to be a First, Second and Third place... now there are only "participation" ribbons. We wouldn't want to hurt anyones feelings, right? Oh, sorry, this one group put in hours and hours of practice every week and this other team met up twice after school in a month and rightfully sucked, but let's hold their precious little hands and tell them that they're equally as good even though they didn't try and the the "real winners" did.

THIS IS A SOCIETAL PROBLEM PEOPLE!! By taking away any kind of measurable variable we're not giving anyone anything to look up to / strive for.

The new beta client is eliminating ELO altogether. It's already abolished in paper MTG and replaced by "Planeswalker Points" so that we can all feel good about ourselves when we look at our rating instead of actually having a measurable metric with which to compare ourselves to.

So let's all wear our purple participation ribbons and dress in khakis and shop at American Eagle together, m'okay? :S

3) Modern Masters 4 pack Sealed - The Jack.

Wizards has been trying to push legacy on magic online recently. They've got the holiday cube coming up, which will definetly generate interest in the old format staples. The problem seems to be that there are not enough legacy cards out there to be able to build affordable decks.

Ted Knutson (@nextlevelspec on Twitter... follow him!) recently wrote a very nice article on how he believes the cost of Force of Will is pricing people out of legacy and that we need to get more cards into the market. You can read his whole article here: http://mixedknuts.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/562/.

I can agree with most of what he's saying. If they want the format to grow, they need to introduce more cards into the system to lower some prices. Sure you can argue that legacy cards are expensive in paper magic as well, and that you pay a lot more for cards like FoW in MTGO but less for duals etc, but the fact remains that having more cards would be better for the environment.

I was very pleased when Wizards decided to run a few of the old school ME1-4 sealed tournaments a few weeks ago! I happily paid my 20 tix to get a pack of each Masters Edition (ME) 1 through 4, opened nothing good at all (0 tix worth) but still managed to go 2-1 on the back of a Rubinia Soulsinger / Skull Catapult combo. I was estatic to learn that 2-1 was enough to earn 4 packs... One of each ME! YAY I could play in another sealed for only a few tix, right? WRONG!

There was no option to join the sealed event using packs + tix... the only option was to shell out another 20 tix! I would have had to go 2-1 three times before I'd even be able to use the packs in one of the scheduled events which require 3 of the SAME booster, and were never firing to begin with.

Perturbed, I decided to write WotC to see if it was an oversight on their part. Here is a copy of the message I sent to their customer support to address my concerns:

"Hello! I am wondering why there is no option to join these events using packs that you may have won? I have a pack of each of ME1-4 and would like to play in sealed again, but it does not give the option to use my winnings, and that doesn't seem right / fair and I have heard the same from other people on the boards. Even if it ended up being something like: "OPTION 2 - A pack of Me1-4 + 4 tix" or something, at least that would let us use our winnings from the sealed tournaments. What are we supposed to do with these if we cant use them in the sealed again? We cant use them in the 64 player drafts as they are all one ME set, so they just seem kinda useless unless we sell them for tix to other players, which just affects YOUR income as a business since you dont make anything from player to player sales / trades. Any hope of this changing before you take this format away again? I'd love to keep playing sealed, but being forced to pay 20 tix a time when you HAVE THE PACKS seems kinda counterintuitive and makes me want to play less instead of more :(. Could you pls explain why you did it this way? Was it an oversight? Thank you for your time! Carl"

Their answer did not surprise me:

"Hello Carl,

Thank you for contacting Wizards of the Coast Game Support, we appreciate you for providing feedback. This email is to inform you that we have received your comments, and while we cannot guarantee an additional response, we do appreciate that you took the time to share your ideas. We unfortunately do not have any information as to whether this process for Master's Edition sealed events will be changed in the future.

Thanks again, and if you have any additional questions or comments for us, please contact us again. Have fun, and good gaming!"

So basically their answer was "we do it because we can because we know people will shell out the 20 tix".

C'mon Wizards. That was a bitch move.

4) Innistrad / Rotating sets only available as 4-3-2-2

Not a huge deal, but one that I find frustrating regardless.

We all know the math that 4-3-2-2 = 11 packs, 8-4 = 12, and Swiss pays per round win. To only have 4-3-2-2 available to play for Innistard and older sets means that WotC is saving a pack in prizes per event and are limiting what we are even able to play. Personally, I like to swiss... I don't get that option, and I'm sure WotC is fine with it because they are saving a pack per round. It's easy to claim that they keep it 4-3-2-2 because it's the "most popular", but when you're saving 1/12 profit per round, it adds up.

5) No more Replays!

Starting December 12th you will no longer be able to view replays during an active match. The full report from Wizards can be found here: http://community.wizards.com/magiconline/blog/2012/12/05/disabling_replays_during_events.

I for one love replays for a few reasons:

1) It gives you a slight advantage if you take the time to watch them.
2) It gives you something to do while waiting for a round to end.
3) It's FUN!

I have a problem with WotC's announcement for a few reasons.

They say that thay are doing it because "many players feel required to watch them, if only because they might gain some slight advantage otherwise missed. We feel like this behavior is detrimental to the overall experience and reduces fun, and this change is being made so players can focus on playing and enjoying Magic rather than studying replays of games at a breakneck pace between games or rounds."  I'd like to know where they got this idea? I didn't see a poll asking if players liked replays or not. I never heard anyone complaining about how replays were ruining the game? And like I said, I actually find replays FUN to watch, so clearly we are not all against it. Why did they make this arbitrary decision without consulting us, the players?

I have a theory: Something to do with in game replays is messing up the beta client, so instead of fixing it properly they're phasing it out. Conspiracy theory!?

I just dont understand why they'd do this. MTGO is already less interactive than paper magic, and watching replays was as close to spectating as you can get online. If we're not allowed to watch replays (aka: spectate) on MTGO, how long will it be before at a tournament we're each exiled to a cubicle with high walls so that no one can watch us IRL either? That's the next step, isn't it?

Polling the community would have been nice guys. This is a major change and asking for feedback / input isn't too much to ask of your loyal customers.

That's All Folks!

Despite the fact that this is a post targeting what I believe to be the negative aspects of MTGO, I still think it's a great client and amazing game. Only by sharing our thoughts / opinions can we try and improve the system and my making ourselves heard, we're taking that first step.

... Now I just need to decide if I should crack those ME1-4 packs or hold them :).

Depression, Illness, Anxiety and Change.

It's been a while since last I wrote anything, anywhere. I can honestly say that this has been the worst year of my life, even though so many positive things have happened to me. My health continues to deteriorate for unknown reasons, and for a while, I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it. Getting back to some semblance of my old life was suggested by friends and doctors alike, and this blog was one of the things that I really enjoyed doing so it's a nice place to start.

NOT ALONE

This is going to be a personal post to share what I've been dealing with and how my illness has affected me, my social life, my work, and those around me. So bear with me while I get this off my chest before I continue babbling about Magic the Gathering and Comic books as is my "normal" routine for this site...

I guess what motivated me the most to draw up a chair and sit down at the keyboard again was a friend / acquaintance (who's name I can't remember for the life of me, but he's a super nice guy... sorry if you read this, and THANK YOU!) approached me and asked why I haven't written in so long.

Me: "Well, a really good friend of mine was recently murdered..."
Him: "Yea, I saw you wrote about that, but why aren't you still writing?"
Me: "Well, I've been feeling really sick for a long time..."
Him: "But you're still here and alive, so why not write? I really enjoyed your work."

At the time, him asking me these questions actually got me kind of angry and defensive, though I didn't really understand why it'd make me feel that way. Why was he pressing me on this subject? Didn't he just hear me say that I friend of mine died and that I was sick? What part of that was so hard to understand?

It wasn't actually until a week or two later when I really thought about it. Why wasn't I writing anymore? I used to love it so much. Why wasn't I out walking my dog more, or playing more magic with my friends, or painting Warhammer figurines, or picking up a phone more often just to talk with people?

I didn't have an answer.

Depression does funny things to you, and I find it hard to explain how it literally sucks all the motivation and will to live right out of you. Things like walking, writing, leaving your house; things that people take for granted everyday seem impossible. Having a positive attitude about the entire situation even less likely. I've been asked: "Well, why don't you just decide to be happy?", as though there were a magical switch I could flick in my brain that would just make everything better and solve all my problems. As much as I wish that switch existed, it doesn't, and everyday is a fight to regain some of my "normal" life and routine back again, even though the road is fraught with pain and confusion for everyone involved, especially myself.

UPDATES

For the past year I've been feeling sick, dizzy and nauseous every single day. My blood pressure has been anywhere from normal (120/80) to extremely high (160+/100+) and my anxiety levels have been through the roof. I'm on / have been on so many medications it's hard to remember them all, but the underlying cause of my problem(s) seem to be currently diagnosed as anxiety and depression, thought I've still got tests booked right through February 2013.

Anxiety. I can understand the anxiety. Things are so messed up in my body / mind right now that I doubt ANYONE wouldn't be afflicted with some degree of severe anxiety disorder with what I'm going through. So I take my 9x pills a day as instructed and go to my doctors appointments and listen to what they have to say.

Depression however... depression I have a problem understanding.

When someone looks at me from the outside, they see a healthy looking blonde haired, blue eyed 6'3" male in great shape. They see that I have a good job (even though I've been on disability in some manner or another since February 2012), an amazing and sexy girlfriend, my own house, lots of creature comforts and an abundance of friends. They can't see what's happening inside of me, which often leads them to the same confused thoughts that I have: "How can this guy who has EVERYTHING be depressed?". 

And that's why I'm still fighting for answers. That's why I refuse to just sit here and accept the diagnosis when so many other pains and problems are occurring inside of me. Things I can't explain, nor can the plethora of doctors I've seen and tests I've had done. I think the worst part of this whole ordeal is just not knowing what's going on. If they said to me: "Carl, you have kidney cancer, we need to operate." or "Your thyroid isn't functioning properly so these pills will help balance your hormones." I'd be MUCH happier than with the current: "We don't know what's going on, but we THINK it's anxiety / depression, we'll continue to monitor you and run tests...". The uncertainty itself is LITERALLY KILLING ME.

THE KILLING JOKE

I'm a little ashamed to admit that there have been times when I've hurt so bad, both physically and mentally, that I've thought it would never end. With all the pain and suffering I was going through, I thought that life wasn't worth it, and that I'd be better off dead. What kind of life is it to stay home 24/7 lying in bed feeling sick and dizzy, throwing up at random intervals for days on end and losing weight when you're already underweight to begin with? Food tastes terrible and makes you feel sick, so you resort to mechanically eating the most bland slop you can find in the hopes to just keep it down. Standing / movement is a faint disembodied feeling like you could pass out at any second, and even when you're feeling better and are thinking to yourself: "Today is going to be a good day!" the thought is snatched from you in a wave of dizziness that comes from nowhere and sticks around juuussttt long enough for you to lose hope again.

Now don't get me wrong, I have way too much to live for and would NEVER hurt myself, so that's another reason why those thoughts are so scary to me. So please don't think this post is a desperate plea for help or a cry for attention, because it isn't. It's a way for me to help understand what I'm going through right now and share with others who may also be experiencing the same feelings of despair that I am. Because I'm sure I'm not alone out there...

MOVING FORWARD

Although everyday is a struggle, I am still positive and hopeful that things will get better. I've taken quite a few steps to better myself and I think (hope) that in time I can get to the bottom of whatever it is that's happening and go on with my life like a productive and happy member of society. Some of the beneficial things that becoming so sick have helped me realize is that life is finite and precious, and it's easy to take health for granted. You can be as rich and powerful as you'd like, but if you don't have your health, you've got nothing. NOTHING. So it has helped me take a few steps that I know I should have done a long time ago.

I've quit smoking pot, and turn down the occasional Friday night cigarette I used to enjoy between matches at FNM. I quit drinking, though I still enjoy the occasional glass of beer or wine with my boys / girlfriend. I've learned to meditate to help control some of the fear and anxiety I experience (Breath in for 4... hold it for 4... breath out for 4... hold it for 4...), and I make an effort to go out into the world despite my fears and pain.

I'm also talking about it more openly instead of holding everything inside and expecting people to telepathically understand what it's like / what I'm going through... hence this post.

MAYBE WISHES DO COME TRUE

I honestly want to get better. Being home and not working may seem like a lot of fun, but I wouldn't hesitate for a SECOND to go back to the grind if it meant I could feel well again. I wouldn't wish this on anybody, and believe me when I say my heart goes out to all of you who may be going through the same things that I am. It's no way to live.

But on that note, what options are there for us? There are really only two: Live... or die. No matter how bad things get, I choose to live. And I choose this for myself, not for friends or family. I choose it for myself. I feel this is an important distinction because staying alive for other people is just another setback to the state of mind I'd need to truly recover.

There are still a lot of obstacles I need to overcome and testing that needs to be done before I'll truly know what is (or isn't?) wrong with me. But by believing in myself and having such amazing support all around me I honestly feel like I can beat this.

I will never lose hope again.

I will make a conscious choice to live and love life.

I will succeed and I will get better.

Stay strong friends. Whatever may ail you, you can overcome.it.

Love,

Carl Szalich