Magic the Gathering Arena

[Multi-headed Cow]

Been playing mono red for the pauper event myself. Gives you some good flexibility with interaction with your opponent (Which you want since a lot of people are playing proliferate stuff which can go bonkers if you can't interact it into a trash can) and some extra reach for smacking face for closing out. Spellgorger weird can be a win condition in itself since if left unmolested it'll grow hilariously big and then you just wait to draw a trample cantrip and win. Burning prophet helps improve consistency with her scrying and has a nice fat ass for blocking, and everything else is pretty self explanatory. The first strike cantrip isn't as important but still works great with weird and prophet (Especially prophet since her scry triggers first, THEN the draw) but the trample one as mentioned is fairly important. I waffled back and forth on Heartfire or Sarkhan's Catharsis. Catharsis gives you more face burn, but Heartfire's more versatile and you usually have weenies to burn up with Goblin Gathering anyway. 22 land also might be too much for the deck because I swear to fucking god I always end up massively land flooded compared to my opponents even with scrying to try to smooth over some. Pretty fun for a pauper deck though, gives you trickery and a lot of digging around in your deck.

4 Spellgorger Weird (WAR) 145
22 Mountain (RIX) 195
4 Crash Through (M19) 133
4 Shock (M19) 156
4 Burning Prophet (WAR) 117
4 Warlord's Fury (DAR) 151
4 Jaya's Greeting (WAR) 136
4 Chandra's Pyrohelix (WAR) 120
4 Goblin Gathering (RNA) 104
4 Heartfire (WAR) 131
2 Shivan Fire (DAR) 142

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Was even thinking about Izzet when I started but I forgot about Thunder Drake so I just went mono!

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Scruffy]

Higher risk-reward version of the blink deck:

3 Justiciar's Portal (RNA) 13
3 Drowned Catacomb (XLN) 253
3 Teferi's Time Twist (WAR) 72
1 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 Mirror Image (M19) 61
4 Dusk Legion Zealot (RIX) 70
2 Tyrant's Scorn (WAR) 225
2 Militia Bugler (M19) 29
4 Deputy of Detention (RNA) 165
1 Ritual of Soot (GRN) 84
4 Elite Guardmage (WAR) 195
3 Basilica Bell-Haunt (RNA) 156
1 God-Eternal Oketra (WAR) 16
1 Memorial to Folly (DAR) 242
4 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
3 Glacial Fortress (XLN) 255
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
3 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
1 Plains (RIX) 192
4 Watery Grave (GRN) 259
3 Hostage Taker (XLN) 223
1 The Elderspell (WAR) 89
2 Burglar Rat (GRN) 64
1 Finale of Eternity (WAR) 91


mirror image does a hell of a job, it comes down as a zealot and draws you a card, or as a burglar rat, then later on you blink it and it becomes whatever you need.

i would go 2x finale of eternity instead of 1 finale 1 ritual of soot if i had the wildcards, finale of eternity might not be as "definitive" as the ritual of soot, but boy does it perform MUCH better 99% of the times. It doesn't kill your creatures, and if you're against control and manage to cast the "ultimate" version of it, well, good luck coming back from that.

anything a chupacabra does, hostage taker does "better". Sure, it costs more to then cast the creature, but taking artifacts as well is good. I upped to 4 deputies because this deck has problems with permanents, removed desparks and added an elder spell. You don't need to play elder spell, but fuck superfriends decks.

Still lots of fun, but a bit more competitive

 

[Plaguecrafter]

New mulligan rule coming two days from now.

 

[Scruffy]

So, after tweaking and shit, version 3.0 is out

I feel this is the most solid version so far:

3 Justiciar's Portal (RNA) 13
3 Drowned Catacomb (XLN) 253
2 Teferi's Time Twist (WAR) 72
1 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 Mirror Image (M19) 61
4 Dusk Legion Zealot (RIX) 70
2 Tyrant's Scorn (WAR) 225
2 Militia Bugler (M19) 29
4 Deputy of Detention (RNA) 165
3 Elite Guardmage (WAR) 195
3 Basilica Bell-Haunt (RNA) 156
1 God-Eternal Oketra (WAR) 16
1 Memorial to Folly (DAR) 242
4 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
3 Glacial Fortress (XLN) 255
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
3 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
1 Plains (RIX) 192
4 Watery Grave (GRN) 259
3 Hostage Taker (XLN) 223
1 The Elderspell (WAR) 89
2 Burglar Rat (GRN) 64
2 Finale of Eternity (WAR) 91
2 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord (WAR) 217

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

This has been the most successful of my singleton decks thus far. Seems to roll people fairly hard since it's relatively controlling and puts out good threats. Only change I'd make that I keep fucking forgetting to is replace Patient Rebuilding with something else, maybe another counterspell. It's pretty important to stop your opponent from turning the tide on you, and the two Rals and Chandra usually work well to keep you topped up on gas. Same with all the card draw. Hiding this under a spoiler 'cause fuck singleton decks.

Edit: Suppose I should say what it is. Izzet deck.
Edit 2: Oh yeah, don't do what Donny Don't Cow does. I know reading the card explains the card but I'm too used to shit like Chart a Course and Tormenting Voice. When you play Hypothesizzle, keep in mind that you don't HAVE to discard a card, and if you do because you're brain-dead and you're using a downtick on Ral to double it for more card draw, you HAVE to damage a creature if there's one out there. Even if the only creature is your Spellgorger Weird you played just before casting hypothesizzle. Pro tips.

Spoiler

1 Enigma Drake (M19) 216
1 Steam Vents (GRN) 257
10 Mountain (RIX) 195
1 Beacon Bolt (GRN) 154
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (WAR) 234
1 Ionize (GRN) 179
1 Invade the City (WAR) 201
1 Crackling Drake (GRN) 163
1 Ral, Storm Conduit (WAR) 211
1 Hypothesizzle (GRN) 178
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy (GRN) GR5
1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun (GRN) 192
1 Expansion // Explosion (GRN) 224
1 Opt (XLN) 65
1 Pteramander (RNA) 47
1 Chart a Course (XLN) 48
1 Negate (RIX) 44
1 Search for Azcanta (XLN) 74
1 Radical Idea (GRN) 52
1 Quench (RNA) 48
1 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
1 God-Eternal Kefnet (WAR) 53
1 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
1 Patient Rebuilding (M19) 67
1 Sarkhan the Masterless (WAR) 143
1 Finale of Revelation (WAR) 51
1 Shock (M19) 156
1 Shivan Fire (DAR) 142
1 Warlord's Fury (DAR) 151
1 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
1 Crash Through (M19) 133
1 Lightning Strike (M19) 152
1 Discovery // Dispersal (GRN) 223
1 Fiery Cannonade (XLN) 143
1 Legion Warboss (GRN) 109
1 Spellgorger Weird (WAR) 145
1 Chandra, Fire Artisan (WAR) 119
1 Rekindling Phoenix (RIX) 111
10 Island (RIX) 193
1 Izzet Guildgate (GRN) 252
1 Sulfur Falls (DAR) 247
1 Highland Lake (M19) 252

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Finished the singleton event already, Izzet deck was an absolute fucking beast. The WAR version of Ral is possibly the MVP, the fact that his uptick gives him +2 means he's really annoyingly durable, and his downtick is completely obscene. Fair few matches where I'd on relatively even footing with my opponent and then a downticked Ral either draws me a billion cards or wipes their board (Or in the case of a downtick with Hypothesizzle, both). I did end up winning a game entirely on the back of Saheeli though. Opponent played a W/B legendary enchantment (Forget the name of it) that let him exile creatures which meant my normal big threats weren't as effective, but he got nibbled to death by servos.

Momir was definitely the least enjoyable of the bunch. Pauper and singleton aren't something I'd want to play a fuckton of but they've been fun since it's not all netdecks which means you can have fun building stuff, but if they stuck around it'd lose that. I'm still REALLY fucking leery on the proliferate format coming up though. Still convinced that's going to be nothing but Golgari explore package/dreadhorde, ultra-control to try to overpower that, and potentially some splashes of white for the honor guard 1/3 that prevents enter the battlefield effects from triggering. Which is sadly a rare and I don't feel like crafting it so I'm probably going to be stuck with Golgari or control. When it gets closer to time for the event I'll start looking through cards to see if I can think of anything else but my initial feeling is it's going to be a pain in the ass.

 

[spectre]

In case you missed a bunch of codes recently (not sure if they're supposed to come in e-mails, I'm not getting anything):
OneBillion for a free WAR pack,
innerdemon for stained glass Ob Nixilis
shieldsup for a stained glass Teyo

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[anvi]

Do you guys play Xmage? MTG for free and without restrictions.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

ive noticed its WAR draft again. Was it planned or dominaria one wasnt selling at all?

It was planned on their scheduled thing. Next in line is Allegiance, too lazy to look it up but around the 26th or something.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

M20 spoilers starting: https://scryfall.com/sets/m20

They're doing rare and uncommon walkers again which is kind of a pain in the ass. That mythic Chandra is interesting though. Can't be countered and that uptick really gets the ol' puzzler wuzzling.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Still haven't come up with any nice ideas for the proliferate format tomorrow. Admittedly I didn't dig around in the cards as much as I thought I would just because I picked up Exanima and I've been fucking with that instead, but still. My gut feeling is still probably esper adjusted for the format, which is to say maindecking even more sweepers (Kaya's wrath, ritual of soot since that nails the entire explore package, maybe even time wipe since that's brutal combined with deputy of detention), maindecking things like fungal infection (Kill exploring merfolk before explore triggers and they grow out of it, good for buying yourself time and the 1/1 token's relevant to protect your face or walkers), and with the ultimate gameplan of slapping big Teferi down and proliferating him into an ult. I could be overestimating how many explore package dreadhorde decks people are gonna play in that format but I assume it's going to be the most popular so this seems like the strongest counter. Tocatli honor guard would be great too obviously. Might need to run some desparks or contempt in case people run Nissa, which is another likely card to show up. Sentinel totem would be good for slapping down dreadhorde and limiting the effectiveness of Tamiyo but Nissa's bullshit could be really rough.

The "Something brutality" card might be fun just to lean into amass, but I think it'll have a hard time keeping up with thick wildgrowth walkers and proliferating merfolk, plus that would be the only clear you could run that doesn't also blow up your own army. I'm glad they reduced the requirements to get all the card styles down to 10 wins just because I've been bitching about this format coming up for ages. Fingers crossed it's unwarranted bitching and it's actually fun.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Looks like the explore package isn't quite as common as I thought it'd be, which means I've been playing it myself and... It's fine.

4 Merfolk Branchwalker (XLN) 197
2 Cast Down (DAR) 81
4 Wildgrowth Walker (XLN) 216
4 Jadelight Ranger (RIX) 136
4 Seekers' Squire (XLN) 121
12 Forest (RIX) 196
4 Command the Dreadhorde (WAR) 82
4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World (WAR) 169
2 Fungal Infection (DAR) 94
11 Swamp (RIX) 194
3 Assassin's Trophy (GRN) 152
1 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248
2 Vraska's Contempt (XLN) 129
3 Colossal Majesty (M19) 173

There's the shitty deck I tossed together for it. Manabase is fucky because I haven't got any golgari shocks. Colossal majesty is also PROBABLY a bad card for this because you generally want to be really aggressive, to the point where even dreadhorde might be too slow, but eh. If you've got lots of rare land you might want to splash white because unbreakable formation and Ajani (The 4cmc mono white and the one from WAR both) are solid, unbreakable formation in particular. Definitely not a format I'm gonna play after getting the prizes though.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

This is relatively good clean dishonest fun, too. Not as effective but my eyes were glazing over so I wanted to fuck around a little bit before finishing the event.

2 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales (WAR) 220
10 Forest (RIX) 196
12 Island (RIX) 193
4 Growth Spiral (RNA) 178
2 Wilderness Reclamation (RNA) 149
4 Root Snare (RNA) 137
4 Pause for Reflection (GRN) 140
3 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries (WAR) 54
4 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
3 Drowned Secrets (GRN) 39
1 Narcomoeba (GRN) 47
4 Blink of an Eye (DAR) 46
4 Opt (XLN) 65
1 Wall of Lost Thoughts (RNA) 59
1 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
1 Hinterland Harbor (DAR) 240

More than 2 Tamiyo would generally be a good idea, and either 0 or 4 narcomoeba would be decent. General plan is, of course, running 8 fogs and potentially even more with Tamiyo and then mill yourself with Jace and drowned secrets. Arguably makes sense to run radical idea instead of blink of an eye, but blink can potentially save your ass/your Jace if you're light on fog. Not super pleased with the deck but I have won with it and it's a little bit funny.

Edit: That was kind of a hoot too. Final opponent was someone playing esper control. Didn't (And couldn't most of the time because of 3feri) cast a single fog but still ended up winning by milling myself just before he could finish beating me up. He was mostly geared for anti-creature shit too so other than flinging one contempt at my walkers I was mostly unmolested.

 

[Scruffy]

if those decks are for the event, you need stuff like ugin etc

 

[Scruffy]

yeah no i was wrong
for the event just play esper control
again

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Scruffy]

nah
just play mass removal

 

[spectre]

I couldn't be bothered to craft a dedicated deck for this event, just went with the fairly standard Dreadhorde/Explore thing.

4 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248
2 Drowned Catacomb (XLN) 253
3 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
4 Interplanar Beacon (WAR) 247
1 Forest (M19) 279
3 Temple Garden (GRN) 258
4 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253
1 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
3 Hinterland Harbor (DAR) 240
1 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
4 Jadelight Ranger (RIX) 136
3 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales (WAR) 220
1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord (WAR) 217
2 Golden Demise (RIX) 73
1 Cast Down (DAR) 81
1 Ugin, the Ineffable (WAR) 2
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (DAR) GR6
2 Teferi, Time Raveler (WAR) 221
4 Merfolk Branchwalker (XLN) 197
4 Wildgrowth Walker (XLN) 216
3 Command the Dreadhorde (WAR) 82
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen (GRN) 213
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen (GRN) GR8
4 Paradise Druid (WAR) 171
1 Trostani Discordant (GRN) 208
1 Massacre Girl (WAR) 99

Went pretty straightforward, although plenty of times I got no counters by exploring.

If I were to craft something for the occassion,the most explosive opener I saw was something along these lines:
Pelt Collector, Chamber Sentry, Huatli's Raptor. If you can fit in a Conjurant, even better.

Chember sentry is pretty nuts as a 2 turn drop (because you want to get that army token on turn 1 and keep growing it) does an excellent job at controlling the field.

Also, another stained glass code from email - writteninstone

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG