Magic the Gathering Arena

[Jason Liang]

Should I just craft 4 Uros for historic?

uro is everywhere in historic. New set is giving interesting answers to it so watch out. Cost more than 3 mana but still... Also many people maindeck cage. One is also never sure when if they will ban him

But when he gets banned I'll get the wildcard refund?

I've been flipping through the deck maker and seriously nothing in Standard worth burning mythic wild cards on.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

I'm interested in dipping my toes into MTG. I'm not interested in collecting physical cards and playing IRL, so playing Arena or elsewhere online are my only options at the moment. What am I in for?

A reasonably good time. Hard to say what exactly you're in for without knowing your previous card game experience and how much of a degenerate card-fondler you are. MTG's still arguably the best competitive card game out there, and there are pros and cons for basically every different way of playing MTG (Both actual game formats and programs/methods to play) but by and large if you want to play some cards it's way up there. I'd also say Arena's the best method for dipping your toes in since you'll get smashed with the newbie starter decks but it's tolerably free to play (Provided you play it regularly to keep daily quests and the one win a day 250 gold prize completed) so it's the lowest impact way of trying out Magic without having a friend that plays paper that can loan you decks and teach you. Everything Spectre said is accurate too, but I'd also say hoard all wildcards you earn/open from packs until you've played enough with the starter decks and what you open to have a vague idea of either what competitive deck you've seen you'd like to play, or just generally the style of deck you like. The "Decent free to play" hinges a lot on your ability to sit on wildcards until you see something that looks really juicy to you and spending wisely.

Play the high priced queue until your rank is higher than your skill, then go and play (and lose) in the 5000 queue until you are silver again. Immense profit there.

Now that's a galaxy brained move I never considered, god damn. Good catch there Thac0. Especially since I'm normally so anti-draft I basically always end up in the bronze dumpster except for when a new set comes out and I go ham on the initial 5000 queue. Gonna keep that in mind since I normally just avoid the high roller drafts since I'm there to raredraft like a mofo rather than strictly try to win.

But when he gets banned I'll get the wildcard refund?

I've been flipping through the deck maker and seriously nothing in Standard worth burning mythic wild cards on.

Correct, if they end up banning Uro in historic you'll get a refund. I'm not sure they WILL ban him in there even though he's so popular, but you'll be safe if they do. The only time you don't get a refund if they actually ban something (Rather than just "Suspend" it) is if you already got a refund on it from some other banning. So if a card is banned in standard and then later banned in historic, you only get the refund once.

And for mythic crafting there's plenty of good and decent cards for standard. If you're only considering cards in standard that also see play in historic though, you'll want some copies of Heliod if you want to play mono-white lifegain, some of the Zendikar mythic lands wouldn't be bad, Liliana's good if you want to play a rack deck, Kothys has a little aggro use, Ugin's obscene and basically warrants a playset for standard and historic, forsaken monument's good if you like memeing around with colorless decks, and that's all that really leaps out at me. Uro's probably the strongest of the bunch though, possibly excepting Ugin but Ugin and Uro go together great anyway. Ugin's not banned in standard though so that would be a mythic you could play in either format reasonably.

Edit: I'm also ignoring Eldraine. But if you don't ignore Eldraine then robber, beast, henge, embercleave, borrower all excellent.

 

[Ranselknulf]

Kaldheim so far seems way fucking cooler and exciting in characters, story, setting, art, and mechanics then I expected. It's going to be very hard to beat by the rest of the sets this year, but damn is the power level going to be crazy, if the Strixhaven, FR, and Innistrad sets are as powerful as the Kaldheim sets shit is going to get crazy.

I've never actually read the storylines for any of the card sets.

Is there a place where MTG posts the lore?

 

[Ranselknulf]

And for mythic crafting there's plenty of good and decent cards for standard. If you're only considering cards in standard that also see play in historic though, you'll want some copies of Heliod if you want to play mono-white lifegain, some of the Zendikar mythic lands wouldn't be bad, Liliana's good if you want to play a rack deck, Kothys has a little aggro use, Ugin's obscene and basically warrants a playset for standard and historic, forsaken monument's good if you like memeing around with colorless decks, and that's all that really leaps out at me. Uro's probably the strongest of the bunch though, possibly excepting Ugin but Ugin and Uro go together great anyway. Ugin's not banned in standard though so that would be a mythic you could play in either format reasonably.

Do triomes work in historic or are they too "slow"

I imagine historic play requires a turn 3 "steam roller" or you're pretty much dead.

 

[lukaszek]

Do triomes work in historic or are they too "slow"

supposedly triome > temple. Not sure if I agree to it but I get where tis coming from. Myself I prefer to fix early game over long one

If you like triomes then historic offers dual basic lands with 2 mana cycle

I imagine historic play requires a turn 3 "steam roller" or you're pretty much dead.

or disruption. WIth many decks in historic single discard is enough to get concede

 

[Thac0]

I've never actually read the storylines for any of the card sets.

Is there a place where MTG posts the lore?

https://magic.wizards.com/en/story
There was some drama with those articles dissapearing for a few years or so, but now they are back with varying quality. I heard Ixalan era had the best articles, but I do not read them myself.

Old MTG story had books written about it, like this https://books.google.de/books/about...p_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false one.
From the wiki entries those had by far the coolest lore, but I never read them myself so idk how writing and prose is in it.

New MTG has books aswell, but they are incredibly trendemously shit.
https://www.amazon.com/Ravnica-Magic-Gathering-War-Spark/dp/1984817450

I have read some excempts out of them, and while that is generally a bad way to judge a book the prose is painfull.

Do triomes work in historic or are they too "slow"

I imagine historic play requires a turn 3 "steam roller" or you're pretty much dead.

The Triomes have land types so they can be searched up by stuff which references a forest without saying basic for example. They also turn on the old checklands which enter untapped when you already have a basic land card on the board. They are deceptively good.

 

[Ranselknulf]

I've never actually read the storylines for any of the card sets.

Is there a place where MTG posts the lore?

https://magic.wizards.com/en/story
There was some drama with those articles dissapearing for a few years or so, but now they are back with varying quality. I heard Ixalan era had the best articles, but I do not read them myself.

Old MTG story had books written about it, like this https://books.google.de/books/about...p_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false one.
From the wiki entries those had by far the coolest lore, but I never read them myself so idk how writing and prose is in it.

New MTG has books aswell, but they are incredibly trendemously shit.
https://www.amazon.com/Ravnica-Magic-Gathering-War-Spark/dp/1984817450

I have read some excempts out of them, and while that is generally a bad way to judge a book the prose is painfull.

Do triomes work in historic or are they too "slow"

I imagine historic play requires a turn 3 "steam roller" or you're pretty much dead.

The Triomes have land types so they can be searched up by stuff which references a forest without saying basic for example. They also turn on the old checklands which enter untapped when you already have a basic land card on the board. They are deceptively good.

I like to mix triomes with the eldraine special ability lands so they come in untapped, I got a full set of those and the temples.

 

[spectre]

Is there a place where MTG posts the lore?

By Jove, why would you do it to yourself man?
Myself, I just stick to the basics, which means whatever I can piece together from the flavor texts. In the beginning there were two brothers, Sasha and Misha, and they had some sort of beef.
Then came Urza who had this school of magic together with a problem student Tereferi. It all wraps up with Gerhard hauling ass on a skyship. He banged many womyn, and there was some furry shit going on,
but alas what happens on the Weatherlight stays on the Weatherlight.

There. No more lore afterwards. There really isn't. Just read this if you need further convincing:
https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2016/08...he-gatherings-first-black-woman-planeswalker/

like to mix triomes with the eldraine special ability lands so they come in untapped, I got a full set of those and the temples.

Yep, just like with checklands, it's good to have enough lands with a "basic" type to make the drawback less of a hindrance.
You can probably do some math here, but my rule of thumb is to have at least 16 lands with a "basic" type. 18 if you want to be extra sure.
This should keep you on the safe side and barring some really unlucky draws, the lands should come into play untapped when you need them.

There are pretty much three considerations for using the triomes in historic.
1. Do you need three colors of mana? If not, don't use Triomes, cause you should be able to get better results with pathways, fastlands, shocklands and checklands.
In standard, I would use triomes in two-color decks to compensate for missing pathways, but there are many other options in historic.
Now, if you want a 4-5 color deck (viability aside), Triomes will probably be your bread and butter if you want to get a full set of colors out consistently.

2. Are you playing aggro? You don't want tapped lands in aggro. And you probably won't be playing three colors in aggro. Three colors will probably push you towards midrange.

3. How relevant is the cycling ability for your deck? If your curve stops at three lands, you won't be cycling too much. And if you're flooded, using a land that cycles for 1 or 2 mana is probably a better idea.

If I were to craft Triomes exclusively for Historic, I would start with one of each and probably not go above two copies.

 

[Ranselknulf]

Is there a place where MTG posts the lore?

By Jove, why would you do it to yourself man?
Myself, I just stick to the basics, which means whatever I can piece together from the flavor texts. In the beginning there were two brothers, Sasha and Misha, and they had some sort of beef.
Then came Urza who had this school of magic together with a problem student Tereferi. It all wraps up with Gerhard hauling ass on a skyship. He banged many womyn, and there was some furry shit going on,
but alas what happens on the Weatherlight stays on the Weatherlight.

There. No more lore afterwards. There really isn't. Just read this if you need further convincing:
https://thenerdsofcolor.org/2016/08...he-gatherings-first-black-woman-planeswalker/

like to mix triomes with the eldraine special ability lands so they come in untapped, I got a full set of those and the temples.

Yep, just like with checklands, it's good to have enough lands with a "basic" type to make the drawback less of a hindrance.
You can probably do some math here, but my rule of thumb is to have at least 16 lands with a "basic" type. 18 if you want to be extra sure.
This should keep you on the safe side and barring some really unlucky draws, the lands should come into play untapped when you need them.

There are pretty much three considerations for using the triomes in historic.
1. Do you need three colors of mana? If not, don't use Triomes, cause you should be able to get better results with pathways, fastlands, shocklands and checklands.
In standard, I would use triomes in two-color decks to compensate for missing pathways, but there are many other options in historic.
Now, if you want a 4-5 color deck (viability aside), Triomes will probably be your bread and butter if you want to get a full set of colors out consistently.

2. Are you playing aggro? You don't want tapped lands in aggro. And you probably won't be playing three colors in aggro. Three colors will probably push you towards midrange.

3. How relevant is the cycling ability for your deck? If your curve stops at three lands, you won't be cycling too much. And if you're flooded, using a land that cycles for 1 or 2 mana is probably a better idea.

If I were to craft Triomes exclusively for Historic, I would start with one of each and probably not go above two copies.

I don't know the exact number of basic land cards I have, but its in the 16 - 18 range for sure (but my deck is also 250 cards). I have a lot of the dual / tri color lands (full set of every one I could use) so I can cast a spell of any color, or activate an ability of any color as needed. I also mix in the zendikar mythic lands for those powerful one off abilities, or just use as land if I really need too.

I'm a fan of these, but I don't like evolving wilds.

 

[spectre]

I don't know the exact number of basic land cards I have, but its in the 16 - 18 range for sure (but my deck is also 250 cards). I have a lot of the dual / tri color lands (full set of every one I could use) so I can cast a spell of any color, or activate an ability of any color as needed. I also mix in the zendikar mythic lands for those powerful one off abilities, or just use as land if I really need too.

I'm a fan of these, but I don't like evolving wilds.

Well, the 16-18 range I talked about obviously applies to 60 card decks. This gives you optimal odds of seeing a basic land type in your starting hand.
I'm not really familiar with 250 card mana bases, I remember Battle of Wits decks packed 84 lands / 240 which roughly corresponds to a 22-23 / 60.
So, if you want to see a similar ratio, if you're finding it relevant at all, ~60 of your lands should have a basic land type (or be able to fetch a basic land type, like Fabled Passage or Evolving Wilds.
Not sure to what extent it is doable, from my limited experience, 250 card decks are mostly about throwing together what you can and stall the game just enough for everything to come together.
It's less about the lands (because you can't optimize the mana base as you would with 60 cards) but also various mana rocks and disposable artifacts (like eggs) which all come together to give you what you want.

Obviously, Fabled Passages are a superior choice to Evolving Wilds, so you will be maxing out on Passages before moving on to Wilds, but if you're running more than three colors,
I could totally see myself using Wilds on top of the Passages for consistency.

 

[Jason Liang]

So I crafted a set of Thoughtseizes and got my dailies done without much trouble. Sigh. I miss GRN+RNA meta.

 

[Thac0]

Best art of the set on a mediocre card. Similarities to Sun Titan aside 6 Mana in either casting mode is too much for this to see play outside of combo.
Also it is probably useless for standard angels, since those have no 2 cmc targets. In Historic it can fetch Bishop of Wings and the Scroll, but you are not paying that much mana for such an effect in Historic.
Interesting for Yorion Flicker decks maybe, it can fetch Charming Prince which bounces this, which can then fetch another charming prince or anything else from your yard.

Also there has been a really funny incident with the white representative of the council of colours melting down and deleting his twitter. Ari "Swords to Plowshares is a bad card for White" Nieh melted down after being called out on this:

Warning, picture has like 15 pixels since he apparently managed to scrape sensible archives even off imgur.

Makes this card very funny in hindsight.

Swords to Emrakul

Also they let Vorinclex job to Kaya.

Vorinclex is not dead yet, but with this card it is pretty clear that now Kaya is stronger than a Praetor lol. For the five people that still care about magic lore this is apparently a pretty big deal. Related to that link spectre posted of Kaya being designed by a woke council to give stronk female black representation with fluffy hair.

 

[lukaszek]

btw, what happened to black critters saccing for mana?

 

[Jason Liang]

btw, what happened to black critters saccing for mana?

My favorites from back in the day~

 

[Thac0]

btw, what happened to black critters saccing for mana?

Last was

I believe.

I think it is still in blacks colourpie since Jumpstart is meant to advertise the game to newbies, and black has

there.

 

[lukaszek]

this being legendary hurts the theme.

nearly every black deck i own utilizes both of those. I love sacc theme

 

[lukaszek]

always like critters that got potential of unlocking 2nd form. Adapt is gone but now we got critter with 4 forms, ramping with 1 mana increments at instant speed!

will it be enough to see mono blue in standard?

 

[Thac0]

always like critters that got potential of unlocking 2nd form. Adapt is gone but now we got critter with 4 forms, ramping with 1 mana increments at instant speed!

will it be enough to see mono blue in standard?

I think Blue White control more. Trawler, Elspeth and Shatter are still around, and we get the Blue/White Pathways this set.
Still very neat card. I like those evolving designs, first time I get to play with one but they look super fun.

 

[Catacombs]

So I've been playing a bit, collecting some packs, gold, and experience, and I'm wondering if sticking with a "color" is the wise thing to do in the long run? Is it common to mix and match at higher tiers?

 

[Ranselknulf]

So I've been playing a bit, collecting some packs, gold, and experience, and I'm wondering if sticking with a "color" is the wise thing to do in the long run? Is it common to mix and match at higher tiers?

I'd say stick to one or two colors at first, then branch out to other colors as you collect cards.

You could always pay money to "win" so to speak if you don't want to grind other cards.

It's not really P2W imo because even with the best cards, you can still get spanked by a retard deck filled with commons and uncommons.

 

[Jason Liang]

So I've been playing a bit, collecting some packs, gold, and experience, and I'm wondering if sticking with a "color" is the wise thing to do in the long run? Is it common to mix and match at higher tiers?

This is a good plan, since you can focus on getting dual lands for your color. For example focus on getting playsets of green dual lands. The number of cards you can wild card is enormous. Focusing on one color helps reduce the choice paralysis.

 

[Ranselknulf]

So I've been playing a bit, collecting some packs, gold, and experience, and I'm wondering if sticking with a "color" is the wise thing to do in the long run? Is it common to mix and match at higher tiers?

This is a good plan, since you can focus on getting dual lands for your color. For example focus on getting playsets of green dual lands. The number of cards you can wild card is enormous. Focusing on one color helps reduce the choice paralysis.

Dual color lands should be fairly easy to get a full set of because they are mostly uncommon, and uncommon wild cards are easier to get than common wildcards in my opinion.

Once you hit the max rank every time you "level up" you get an uncommon wild card.

My current rank is 150 or something, but I think the "rewards" cap out at like 100, so its just a flood of uncommon wild cards.

I usually get a couple random rare and mythic cards going for the 15 daily wins.

You get a "random" card for like the 5th, 7th, 9th win etc. So, thats a good way to collect random rare and mythics also.

 

[spectre]

While the ones that gain you 1 life on enter are decent enough for budget deckbuilding and common to boot, not to mention Evolving wilds, if you don't want to commit to a color, coming into play tapped is a real drawback to keep in mind.
The actual "good" two-colored lands will be are all rare, and for a while it will be the most limiting factor for the range of competitive decks you can build. Not the most exciting thing to spend wildcards on.

So I've been playing a bit, collecting some packs, gold, and experience, and I'm wondering if sticking with a "color" is the wise thing to do in the long run? Is it common to mix and match at higher tiers?

Playing only one color gives you consistency - as long as you draw a land, it will be a good one. If a card needs three mana of specific color, you can pay it easily. There are also sets (such as Throne of Eldraine) that reward playing one color.
You will see this once you unlock the two-color decks, and even more when you play limited. There are themes typically associated with certain pairs of colors (for example white/blue flyers),
and abilities are often designed for pairs of colors (for example lifegain appearing in white and black, if you want to make a deck to abuse this ability, these are your go to colors).

If this helps you become familiar with the mechanics, might be all right to stick with a color as a first choice, then explore how it pairs with other colors. Each has a distinct weakness and identity that will become apparent, and adding another serves to plug a certain hole
Running more colors also gives you access to more tools (especially important when you're building a sideboard).

Not all colors are created equal, for example blue monocolor hasn't been viable in standard in a while (but can work in historic), whereas mono red is an evergreen staple (if slightly narrow in its scope), and mono Green is/used to be a top tier thing.
My advice is, it's fine to spend common and uncommon wildcards liberally, leave your rares be unless you have an idea what kind of deck you would like to invest in. Get the feel of what you like playing and what you like/hate losing to.

 

[Catacombs]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

You could always pay money to "win" so to speak if you don't want to grind other cards.

I don't intend to pay money, so I don't mind the cards.

This is a good plan, since you can focus on getting dual lands for your color. For example focus on getting playsets of green dual lands. The number of cards you can wild card is enormous. Focusing on one color helps reduce the choice paralysis.

I played through the initial color "tutorial" matches, and I only beat Green. I got spanked in the others. So, for the time being, I'm playing only green , which eliminates the choice paralysis, as you said.

 

[Thac0]

So, for the time being, I'm playing only green

Welcome to the best colour. We have:
Good creatures:

Good creatures:

Good creatures:

Good creatures:

Really good creatures is all we have... But we are REALLY good at it!