Is your friend trying to let the cards do the work for him, or is he being too passive during games? It may be a bit of both.
This is the key comment from your post, "I was going to offer to let him use my deck for FNM since a few times he has conveyed it's so easy anyone can play it and win(then why don't they?) but if he lost, I think it would just be crushing." It sounds like he's letting the deck do most of the work. Good cards make good decks, certainly, but good cards also need complex thinking to make them actually work within a game. Your friend thinks that it's the deck that's good, not the player.
Try this: make him a budget deck. Make him actually have to think his way through a series of plays more complex than tap Mountain, cast spell, and tap dude sideways. Since the cards aren't as good, it may force him into more strategic plays to win. I needed that lesson when I got back after 10 years. Believe me, there's nothing quite like taking down a $300 deck with a $20 budget deck.
He could also be running into the problem that the cards are just too complex for his level of skill. I was showing my deck to a friend last night. He doesn't play Magic, but he's interested. He saw the wall of text on Aristocrat and Reckoner, and his eyes glazed over. I quickly explained that those are advanced cards with multiple lines of play. If I want to get him into Magic, I'll need to create some beginner decks for us to play. Otherwise, he'd be overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the cards.
Lastly, take out your collection of cards, and let him look through them. Have him set aside which ones look interesting to him. If he picks one up and says "That is so freaking cool" then you know what style he wants to play. Make him a deck based around those cards.
I think you brought up a very good point. Like any game-plan, its only as good as the player executing it.
I think he started off biting off more than he could chew. He started off with a G/W Aggro deck but he loves big creatures like Angel of Serenity and Grislebrand so he quickly put together Reanimator and played that for a few months until very recently. It has so many lines of play and different lands and spells at the end of turns and all that.
We tested it online the entire week and he ended up going 2-3 at FNM, but he did feel better about the deck. He did however, start to shift the blame towards the deck, saying he thought he made all the right plays etc. This deck is way simpler, Mono color and only 4 spells.
Anyone notice how basically no one was playing Blind Obedience at the PT? Yeah...it's exactly as good as I said it was when spoiled.
Going to mess around with some Dega-aggro; I don't like the Reckoners in that deck though due to the impact and strain on the mana (especially post-board). Fiend Hunter seems really interesting in the deck, as does a slightly different removal mix (though I do really like the Orzhov Charm in this deck). Great deck really.
The Gruul deck is indeed fun...and relentless. Even with a deck full of removal and burn at my disposal that deck keeps me back-footed more often than not.
The Dega list seems fun, but at the same time seems exposed to ultra-aggro lists like the one you have here, Z at least until post-board. Reckoner seems to come down okay and it and tokens present the stopping power the list needs to get the sac engines up and running. The use of Charm as primary removal really sticks out as worthy of consideration because it lacks the glaring holes that the current terrors have. In that respect, it aligns well with dealing with the mirror...taking a single hit for 4 is much better than sitting helpless while a Noble wearing VS parades past blockers turn after turn.
I'm not in love with 12 Shocks, but the nature of this list's plan of attack compared to a "normal" Rx list makes it reasonable for some of them to come in tapped. It will be interesting to see how the list behaves across from Rancor-driven aggro.
Which I forgot was one of the bright points of FNM this week...my son pulled a foil Rancor from his winning pool. Shiny!
And with that reference, a conversational left turn to non-MtG greatness--Firefly marathon on Sci Fi today!
I'm working on an article on the PT. what an amazing event; so many awesome decks! What was everyone's favourite? I loved the WBR deck; although I would have built it a bit differently.
That deck is wonderfully synergistic, what differences would you have Z?
I don't think Silverblade Paladin is good enough; Boros Reckoner seems to stressful on the mana base (at least from the footage I have seen). The deck looks 1-2 removal spells short in the maindeck; I think you can resolve all of those issues with 1-2 Dreadbore and 2-3 Fiend Hunter. I am very interested in what you can do with Unburial Rites post-board; just as a value card.
4 think twice and Divination. Because you must draw two cards. This is the most wafo deck possible. Zack Hill.
Takeways from the PT.
R/x isn't bad or anything, it's just not a deck pro's play and naturally we saw them prepared to beat aggressive red decks.
Experiment Jund is tier one material. My favorite version of the deck is the one running Burning tree emissary and MOGG FLUNKIES instead of strangleroot geist. BTE is a really good card.
The aristocrats is a hell of a deck and something that you should practice against. The combat math gets...hard.
Boros Reckoner is the best card in the format.
18 land Saito Gruul is a good deck. Shahar shenhar made a massive run towards top 8 during day two but lost his last round unfortunately running the deck. There's a deck tech on the mother ship.
Overall, this was my favorite Pro Tour to watch in a long time(Ok, Hawaii wasn't bad last year). Red mages have homework to do. We have an actual format to work with now and decks to metagame against besides ourselves. I can't wait to see what modo spits out in the next week.
LP, I'm checking your article out as well. Behind all of your swag is the brain of one of the most intelligent Magic players I've ever known. I guess that's one more thing for you to add to the wall of ego that is your Sally sig.
I can go with that. LK, you are the Mace Windu of red mages...cool, tempered logic in deliberation, but capable of just flat kicking tail when the situation warrants it.
One take away is that decks won't be able to dedicate 10+ hate cards to Rx now; so we will be increasingly well positioned over the next few weeks. Best PT I have seen in a long time.
Now, where is that thread where a certain someone said that this format doesn't reward skill?
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I have some sad news to report. My girlfriend of 4 years and I have split up, perhaps for good. Some poor communication on both our parts have soured our relationship for her, and so I suspect that's the end of us. She's moving out in the next few weeks, and I'll be on the hunt for a new place for myself as well.
I'll be sad about it for a while, but I have found a new drive to reconnect with old hobbies and friends, which I've slacked on in the past year. Silver linings I've gone back to the rock climbing gym that I used to visit 3x a week and found out that they have a CrossFit class there (free for members). I could definitely put on a few more lbs. of muscle, and nothing clears stress out like a really hard workout.
I'll be playing a bit more Magic on and off stream, so there will be some tangible benefit for you dudes who enjoy helping me brew and crush DEs.
Aww...poor ham. Did this have anything to do with possible parenthood? Either way, that sucks. It will be awesome seeing more Ham content though and working out definitely relieves stress and is just generally good for you.
LP, I'm checking your article out as well. Behind all of your swag is the brain of one of the most intelligent Magic players I've ever known. I guess that's one more thing for you to add to the wall of ego that is your Sally sig.
I can go with that. LK, you are the Mace Windu of red mages...cool, tempered logic in deliberation, but capable of just flat kicking tail when the situation warrants it.
One of my favorite books by Dr. Robert Glover "No More Mr. Nice Guy" has a very interesting chapter on asking yourself "what if it was a gift?" whenever something really nasty happens and you need motivation to turn it positive. I'm making frequent use of that question, and seeing all sorts of good things that can come out of this.
Hope it works out for the best, Ham, whatever that may be. Sometimes we need a bit of perspective. Your relationship may not be over, or it may be. Time will tell.
As for the PT, it was diverse, interesting, and generally good to watch. Gave me a few ideas, too. I'm thinking of a RB Control deck that goes long-game with Crypt Ghast and some other fatties. And tons of removal, obviously.
I have some sad news to report. My girlfriend of 4 years and I have split up, perhaps for good. Some poor communication on both our parts have soured our relationship for her, and so I suspect that's the end of us. She's moving out in the next few weeks, and I'll be on the hunt for a new place for myself as well.
I'll be sad about it for a while, but I have found a new drive to reconnect with old hobbies and friends, which I've slacked on in the past year. Silver linings I've gone back to the rock climbing gym that I used to visit 3x a week and found out that they have a CrossFit class there (free for members). I could definitely put on a few more lbs. of muscle, and nothing clears stress out like a really hard workout.
I'll be playing a bit more Magic on and off stream, so there will be some tangible benefit for you dudes who enjoy helping me brew and crush DEs.
Two words ham, gym bunnies! I love being single but unfortunately my girlfriend at the time is really attractive and will be making $40 an hour straight from school. ups and downs to everything man keep your head up.
Side note i went 3-1 and couldnt get my hands on skullcrack pe tournament but picked up 4th boros reckoner for 3 pyreheart wolves 1 ogre slumlord foil also landed a player set of skullcrack for $4 and deathrite shaman and conscripts for a liliana pretty good day. nothing stood in my way but a bad run on a revelations/thragtusk deck both game he was on the ropes and miracled exactly when he needed to.
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"Imagine a thunderstorm that's also a tactical genius. That's him."
-Dars Gostok, Firefist Captain
Ham, well that sucks. Sorry to hear about that. It does sound like you're taking it in stride and looking for the more positive aspects of it. Devoting more time to yourself and your needs will definitely help keep you occupied.
As an aside, turning 30 really freaked me out. I don't know why. I'm guessing because it's that realization that 30 means we can't ignore the fact that we're adults anymore. By contrast, turning 40 didn't phase me at all. I'm not looking forward to 50, though.
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The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
I like getting older, and I don't think I'll feel very different at 30. When I was a boy I always wanted to do what the big kids were doing, I couldn't wait to drive, and I wanted to skip the 4 years of high school and go straight to college. I like being an adult!
The fun thing about being a man is that our value increases as we age, so my best years are still ahead of me.
Also, hit the 1000 post mark and got my custom user title!
Since this is mostly a thread about our dicks, I suggest the following experiment. I used to refer to this as the "Ham Challenge" and I'd do it with my single friends.
We would commit to a 30 day period where we wouldn't masturbate or watch porn and weren't allowed to have any sort of sexual release without a woman. Some couldn't do it, but others could and found very interesting results. By the end of week 2, you usually go beast-mode with any woman you see (they like this) and that usually took care of that problem for you.
For me, in addition to the sexual mastery attained by not jerking off, I noticed that it inspired me to get in the gym more, talk to more women spontaneously and finish projects that I'd left unfinished.
Exactly, Christen. If you're committed enough to taking on the challenge, the wild urges you start feeling after a week will make you get out there and TAKE a woman for yourself. You'll be a Sexual Honey Badger.
I'm on day 7, so if my posts start getting more aggressive, you'll know why.
I think you brought up a very good point. Like any game-plan, its only as good as the player executing it.
I think he started off biting off more than he could chew. He started off with a G/W Aggro deck but he loves big creatures like Angel of Serenity and Grislebrand so he quickly put together Reanimator and played that for a few months until very recently. It has so many lines of play and different lands and spells at the end of turns and all that.
My most recent plan involved finding him a simple deck. http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1095481 This one to be exact.
We tested it online the entire week and he ended up going 2-3 at FNM, but he did feel better about the deck. He did however, start to shift the blame towards the deck, saying he thought he made all the right plays etc. This deck is way simpler, Mono color and only 4 spells.
The Gruul deck is indeed fun...and relentless. Even with a deck full of removal and burn at my disposal that deck keeps me back-footed more often than not.
The Dega list seems fun, but at the same time seems exposed to ultra-aggro lists like the one you have here, Z at least until post-board. Reckoner seems to come down okay and it and tokens present the stopping power the list needs to get the sac engines up and running. The use of Charm as primary removal really sticks out as worthy of consideration because it lacks the glaring holes that the current terrors have. In that respect, it aligns well with dealing with the mirror...taking a single hit for 4 is much better than sitting helpless while a Noble wearing VS parades past blockers turn after turn.
I'm not in love with 12 Shocks, but the nature of this list's plan of attack compared to a "normal" Rx list makes it reasonable for some of them to come in tapped. It will be interesting to see how the list behaves across from Rancor-driven aggro.
Which I forgot was one of the bright points of FNM this week...my son pulled a foil Rancor from his winning pool. Shiny!
And with that reference, a conversational left turn to non-MtG greatness--Firefly marathon on Sci Fi today!
That deck is wonderfully synergistic, what differences would you have Z?
EDIT. Wafo-Tapa's Esper deck is a work of art.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Takeways from the PT.
R/x isn't bad or anything, it's just not a deck pro's play and naturally we saw them prepared to beat aggressive red decks.
Experiment Jund is tier one material. My favorite version of the deck is the one running Burning tree emissary and MOGG FLUNKIES instead of strangleroot geist. BTE is a really good card.
The aristocrats is a hell of a deck and something that you should practice against. The combat math gets...hard.
Boros Reckoner is the best card in the format.
18 land Saito Gruul is a good deck. Shahar shenhar made a massive run towards top 8 during day two but lost his last round unfortunately running the deck. There's a deck tech on the mother ship.
Overall, this was my favorite Pro Tour to watch in a long time(Ok, Hawaii wasn't bad last year). Red mages have homework to do. We have an actual format to work with now and decks to metagame against besides ourselves. I can't wait to see what modo spits out in the next week.
Now, where is that thread where a certain someone said that this format doesn't reward skill?
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
I'll be sad about it for a while, but I have found a new drive to reconnect with old hobbies and friends, which I've slacked on in the past year. Silver linings I've gone back to the rock climbing gym that I used to visit 3x a week and found out that they have a CrossFit class there (free for members). I could definitely put on a few more lbs. of muscle, and nothing clears stress out like a really hard workout.
I'll be playing a bit more Magic on and off stream, so there will be some tangible benefit for you dudes who enjoy helping me brew and crush DEs.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
As for the PT, it was diverse, interesting, and generally good to watch. Gave me a few ideas, too. I'm thinking of a RB Control deck that goes long-game with Crypt Ghast and some other fatties. And tons of removal, obviously.
Currently Working On: Jund Ramp (RTR Block)
GR My Blog RG (Std)
Two words ham, gym bunnies! I love being single but unfortunately my girlfriend at the time is really attractive and will be making $40 an hour straight from school. ups and downs to everything man keep your head up.
Side note i went 3-1 and couldnt get my hands on skullcrack pe tournament but picked up 4th boros reckoner for 3 pyreheart wolves 1 ogre slumlord foil also landed a player set of skullcrack for $4 and deathrite shaman and conscripts for a liliana pretty good day. nothing stood in my way but a bad run on a revelations/thragtusk deck both game he was on the ropes and miracled exactly when he needed to.
-Dars Gostok, Firefist Captain
Fires Rf Salvation
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
As an aside, turning 30 really freaked me out. I don't know why. I'm guessing because it's that realization that 30 means we can't ignore the fact that we're adults anymore. By contrast, turning 40 didn't phase me at all. I'm not looking forward to 50, though.
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
The fun thing about being a man is that our value increases as we age, so my best years are still ahead of me.
Also, hit the 1000 post mark and got my custom user title!
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
Also, more ham for us is always good.
My posts have the power of invisiblity and only a few people can read it!
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
We would commit to a 30 day period where we wouldn't masturbate or watch porn and weren't allowed to have any sort of sexual release without a woman. Some couldn't do it, but others could and found very interesting results. By the end of week 2, you usually go beast-mode with any woman you see (they like this) and that usually took care of that problem for you.
For me, in addition to the sexual mastery attained by not jerking off, I noticed that it inspired me to get in the gym more, talk to more women spontaneously and finish projects that I'd left unfinished.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
Also, the Ham Challenge seems incredibly... frustrating. Then again, if it works, maybe it is worth attempting. Interesting.
Currently Working On: Jund Ramp (RTR Block)
GR My Blog RG (Std)
Challenge accepted.
My posts have the power of invisiblity and only a few people can read it!
I'm on day 7, so if my posts start getting more aggressive, you'll know why.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.