Mtg arena open beta

[me_in_japan]

oooh, migawd.

I haven't laughed so hard in ages. So, for the first time in a while I made up this deck completely from scratch, and tried it out in the Play queue (as you would, with a new, probably janky build). It actually did pretty well, so much so that I took it along to the Ranked queue. Where my first match was against cat pie.

oooooh, my. I really, really hate cat pie. And this deck is (quite accidentally) the solution I never knew I needed. So, sooooo satisfying to drop a Kaya on turn 3, and from then on in it's pretty much just "nope" to everything they try. So nice when the scales finally tip in your favour

Deck
4 Ashiok, Dream Render (WAR) 228
4 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse (THB) 208
4 Watery Grave (GRN) 259
4 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper (RNA) 186
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
4 Kaya's Wrath (RNA) 187
4 Oath of Kaya (WAR) 209
4 Thought Erasure (GRN) 206
2 Nadir Kraken (THB) 55
4 Teferi, Time Raveler (WAR) 221
2 Elspeth Conquers Death (THB) 13
4 Agonizing Remorse (THB) 83
2 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
2 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244
4 Interplanar Beacon (WAR) 247
2 Swamp (ANA) 58
1 Island (ANA) 57
1 Plains (ANA) 56
1 Temple of Deceit (THB) 245
1 Temple of Silence (M20) 256


This is, of course, a very rough deck, as it's literally the first version of it I've tried to build. I anticipate a good deal of jiggering and pokering to continue for the next wee while, but so far, I'm liking it, and in my opinion it's already justified its existence purely for the laughs it gave me tonight.

[Primarch]

Hmm GRN #206 - Must be an M_i_J deck.

As I was looking at cards online on the train, I got a tap on the shoulder from an American fellow who plays MtG near my house. It looks like there is a casual, english-speaking community that meets up on my route home once a week.

Guess my evenings just got filled up.

[me_in_japan]

hooray! Not only is it cat pie nemesis, it's also the deck that brings gamers together. Whadda deck!

[Primarch]

Well, I attended the local game store, borrowed a commander deck (Atraxa, Praetor's Voice) and beat the other 3 players handily with a swarm of 20/20 creatures. The guy who loaned me the deck said that he had never seen it play so smoothly before, so I guess I lucked out. I'd never even seen half of the cards I was playing before.

[me_in_japan]

well, hooray for Theros drafting being here finally. Played my first draft of it tonight. Pack 1, pick 1: Kiora Bests The Sea God.

Yeaaaah. After that it was pretty much a case of "sooooo, blue and something something, durdle around and hope you pull the game winner." Which I did, for 6 games, but I didnt quite manage the 7 due to, yknow, sometimes not drawing KBTSG. (Actually, to be completely honest, I probably won about half those games with that card. The rest were due to an actually pretty decent blue black aggro deck. That Temple Thief (2/2 for 1B, cant be blocked by enchantment creatures or enchanted creatures) did very solid work for me. Defo worth a consideration next time you're drafting.)

[Primarch]

Yeah, I had some luck with the Temple Thief myself last night. In an enchantment heavy set, he can usually get in a few good hits. I also like Underworld Dreams, BBB, Whenever an opponent draws a card, it deals 1 damage to them. It helps grind down durdlers waiting for their Kiora.

[me_in_japan]

How's the drafting been going? Mine has been...largely sucky. Really sucky, many times, in fact. I've gone 0-3 four or five times so far. Just getting terrible, terrible rares, and no top end to my decks. Opponents are all like "Uro, Utropia, hydra thing, etc etc". I've lost count of the number of games I've just thrown my hands up at and thought "how the hell am I expected to win against that?"

Also, Thassa's oracle. I have twice now been beaten by an opponent who held on to it until they were almost decked, then won the game by playing it. Stupid, stupid card, and even more stupid that my draft games are going on so long that my opponent can naturally deck themselves (look ma! No mill!) and win the game. My decks suck that hard.

bah, humbug

[Primarch]

Yeah, my own efforts have been less than stellar. 4-3 is my best so far, with 3, 2 and 1 being the results of my other 3 rounds. The 1-3 round I drafted 3 rare lands, which, while useful for regular play, don't make for good bombs in draft. I did pick up the new Ashiok and managed to keep him on the board long enough to exile a large proportion of my opponent's deck one time.

I attended the local Magic group in Nagoya last night where I bumped into Jesse. He and his opponent seemed to be playing decks that could potentially cover my mortgage. I joined in a 4 player Commander game with one of my pre-cons and came second. (Or I was the 3rd player to lose depending on how you look at it). The winner had a red enchantment that let him cast any creature for 1 red mana and then sac them at the end of the turn. However, his creatures could create extra attack phases and had Helm of the Host and Embercleave equipped. Fun!

[me_in_japan]

ah, so jealous of your actually having a local magic group. My local group consists of...Jesse*.

Away from Arena, I've recently been working on a Hapatra commander deck for my son. In the way of 7 (soon to be 8) year olds, he's suddenly interested in poisonous creatures, and has been regaling the family with Interesting Facts regarding how deadly amazonian frogs are, and suchlike. Anyway, it's his birthday in a week or so, so I've done a bit of research and found that Hapatra (Vizier of Poisons, dontcherknow) is actually a reasonably valid, albeit casual, commander. Even better, a lot of her useful card synergies come from -1-/-1 counter effects, and seeing as how I already own all of Shadowmoor and Eventide (of many Wither inflicting creatures fame) I already have the bones of the deck. I ordered a bunch of other relevant cards offa t'internetto, and am painting up the Hapatra card to be borderless for added schnazz. Hopefully he'll be happy with his new deck (and hey, may even one day be part of my local magic group. Who knows? )



*Fair play to Jesse, he's a nice bloke and all, but one chap a gaming group does not make, no matter how decent he is.

[me_in_japan]

Jeeeeezus fething hellinahandbasket...


Just played against a DRAFT deck that had Ashiok, Dream Trawler, and Nadir Kraken in it


I don't usually scoop in draft, but ta hell with sitting around getting beaten down by that lot.


pfft