I mean, after two solid months of no updates after the appeal to save Standard Pauper fell on deaf ears over at Wizards of the Coast - and after a year of rather infrequent posts - it should be pretty clear that this blog is dead. The Standard Pauper format is still alive thanks to dedicated players and community leaders, but the filter has been taken away at the same time a lot of changes have happened rapidly in my personal life.
So it looks like I'll be composing a eulogy for the Cabel the Pauper blog instead of an obituary for the format.
So why have I not been playing Standard Pauper since about mid-season or blogging about it? And why does it look like I won't again, at least not in 2016? I feel I owe whatever readers I have some answers.
The first reason is romance. This is something that I did not see coming, but after catching up online with an old acquaintance this spring and summer, things moved rather quickly into the fall and I'm now involved with a woman who has fast become the love of my life. She knows how to play Magic but isn't really too into it and was also in the European time zone finishing her doctoral degree. So my time was better spent chatting with her on Sundays and Mondays when the PDC events were going on. That is a pattern that will definitely continue once she goes back to Britain after coming home for the holidays.
I know, I know: it's the classic "found-a-girlfriend excuse" but I've always been of the mind that there's no such thing as excuses. There are just good explanations and bad explanations. I think falling in love and maintaining a long distance relationship is as good an explanation as any for just not having the time to log in to play Standard Pauper any more. And I can only hope that every Magic player out there - every human being, really - can find someone special against all odds to truly fall in love with.
Now that the sappy stuff is out of the way, the second and third reasons fit in with the Letter-M theme I've developed on the blog. These are music and Marxism.
On the music point, I've recently switched instruments from bass to acoustic guitar and will be going back to school for music. Specifically, I'll be training to become an audio recording engineer and I'm focusing on guitar because I already know how to play bass, keyboard, and can carry a tune singing. In about a year or so my final project for graduation will be to produce a 20-minute recording myself.
This means I can finally write and record all the songs I've been working on for years that all the bands I've been in before weren't interested in. It also means I'll have a marketable skill set as both a songwriter and studio engineer so this long spell of joblessness can finally be put to rest. So since I'll be practicing an instrument as often as recommended by my instructor and studying for classes, Magic simply has to take a backseat and I've already gotten halfway decent at guitar by spending my time learning chords and rhythms instead of playing Magic.
Finally we come to Marxism. I'm proud to report that after several years of starting and stopping with the bitch of text that is Marx's Das Kapital Volume I, I've finally finished reading the book and the lectures posted for free by Dr. David Harvey. Now I feel I truly understand several of the contradictions that are inherent in the capitalist system and know for a fact that Marxist philosophy and economic theory is more relevant than ever. My new girlfriend even got me Volume II for Christmas (she is also a socialist!) and I'll be spending my spare time this semester reading that one and following along with Dr. Harvey's newly posted lectures on this essential Marxist text.
Anybody interested in this intellectual undertaking can find Dr. Harvey's lectures here. I highly recommend not trying to tackle this masterpiece of philosophy, political economy, and world literature on your own. God knows I didn't make it very far by myself, so it's a blessing to have somebody who has been teaching the book for over forty years share his course materials for free over the Internet.
So those are the reason that I haven't been keeping this blog up to date and why I have no plans to do so after the publication of this post. My time will be spent maintaining a healthy long-distance relationship until summer arrives and my love finally comes home for good, practicing my guitar and learning the ins and outs of audio recording and engineering, and continuing my autodidactic studies of Marxist philosophy. This leaves no time for playing Magic, much less blogging about it.
The fact that the Standard Pauper filter was taken away from us and that a nasty bug in my MTGO client made deck-building a bigger chore than it was before are small potatoes compared to these positive life changes and thus warrants no more than a passing mention here.
The main thing I want to say is that it's been a hell of a lot of fun being a member of this small but close-knit community of online Magic players and doing a little bit of self-indulgent blogging about it from time to time was fun, too. I want to thank everybody who read this blog or my old forum posts and PureMTGO articles, everyone in the Standard Pauper Players Clan for keeping the format alive, and, of course, I wish you all good luck & have fun!
Peace Out!
- C
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
My Personal Appeal to Save Standard Pauper
Fellow Standard Pauper players, by now you've probably heard the news that Wizards of the Coast plans to remove the Standard Pauper filter from Magic Online on November 11th of this year.
Our MPDC and Standard Pauper Double League host Gwyned broke the news on his blog, Writer Adept, and you should visit that blog post right now and take the time to contact the appropriate persons linked to therein in order to make your own personal appeal to them to please, please not do this.
The sub-host of the SPDC series, rrmedio1, has also posted some very good reasons as to why this decision is just awful over at the Standard Pauper Players Clan blog, saying it better than I could. It leaves me no reason to compose a blog of my own on this topic, but I figured I'd make public the e-mail I sent to the people in charge of this decision in one last attempt to save the format. Quoted below is the full text of the e-mail I sent to all the people Gwyned suggested we all contact.
Dear Wizards:
I am writing you to urge you to reverse a decision that a Magic Online Player Run Event host, George Leonard, has made me aware of. He hosts a weekly Standard Pauper event and is about to play host to a Standard Pauper Double League which Wizards of the Coast is generously donating prize support for in the form of sealed product. He tells me that WotC has decided to retire the Standard Pauper filter on Magic Online.
I urge you to please not remove the Standard Pauper filter from Magic Online. The hosts of two weekly PRE's have put in so much good work fostering a community of players to play good games of Magic Online when we simply cannot afford any other format. Standard Pauper is an excellent, challenging format to play Magic and is extremely accessible for new players.
I have been playing Standard Pauper of and on since Zendikar. Often my breaks between gaming are due to depression, which has kept me unemployed for years now. Playing Standard Pauper is one of the few things in my life that works when everything else has gone wrong. The friends I have on MTGO are some of the few friends I have left because of how my bipolar mood swings have adversely affect my offline life. It would hit me rather hard if Standard Pauper were to leave me and I'm sure many other players feel the same.
I'm sure this is just a mistake that went unnoticed in your organization. It does not make sense to me that Wizards of the Coast would first choose to offer prize support to the Standard Pauper format only to turn around and make the format almost impossible to play.
In the past, we used the Pauper filter. However, there is a huge problem at present because Treasure Cruise is banned in Pauper but not in Standard Pauper. We would have to use the Freeform filter or something and that leads to a lot of confusion regarding deck legality.
I was very happy when we finally received a Standard Pauper filter on Magic Online to facilitate finding other players to ply Magic with. I was also very happy when Standard Pauper was added to the official formats web page on the Magic The Gathering website. And I was beyond overjoyed when I saw WotC finally offering prize support for one of our Player Run Events. I still hold out someday that WotC will host Standard Pauper Dailies.
But first I have to hope that the decision to retire the Standard Pauper filter on Magic Online will be reversed. Please do not take this from me or my fellow Standard Pauper Players clan mates. We really do love playing the game this way and so long as there is a Standard Pauper filter on Magic Online you can count on us picking up tickets in order to complete our modest collections each time a new expansion set is released.
Personally, I think Magic R&D is doing a better job than they ever have in the past at designing sets that make this format even more enjoyable. I understand we are not a large or particularly profitable group of player, but we do love the game that you produce and we would all appreciate it very much if you kept the Standard Pauper filter.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my appeal to keep the the Standard Pauper filter on Magic Online. GL & HF!
Sincerely,
Colin Abele (Cabel on MTGO)
Now your own appeal does not have to be as long or personally revealing as mine. I just wanted to put out there how much this format means to me (and all of us) in light of my unique individual situation.
To make a long story short, Standard Pauper has been one of the few things that keeps me going. I'd hate to have the last blog I compose here be an obituary for the format.
Thanks for taking the time to read my own personal appeal and for clicking the links provided above to add your voice to this movement to save Standard Pauper. The next update to this blog will, I hope, be about the success we all will be sharing in when Wizards of the Coast reversed this decision....or about how I give up on Magic Online for the last time.
Peace,
- C
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Back to Standard Pauper with Izzet Tokens
It's been a while since I last posted here after rage-quitting Magic Online because Standard Pauper wasn't listed on the Formats page. And out of frustration with how poorly that program was performing...
But after a few months of cooling down, I found that Wizards of the Coast remedied the problem faster than I expected. And when I took the plunge to invest a few bucks into cards for some Standard Pauper decks just to see if Magic Online was working, I was pleasantly surprised with how well both the client and the deck I constructed were performing.
To make a long story short, the client has never once crashed, disconnected, or otherwise crapped out on me in three weeks of playing, during which I've had some of the most fun and successful Standard Pauper experiences of my "career" in the format. In other words, it's a fanastic time to stop hating on WotC and play some Standard Pauper!
So I guess I take back all those means things I said about R&D and Maro. Sorry guys! I suppose I just love the game too much and it makes me a jerk sometimes But enough of that, on to the deck!
As of this writing, on the eve of the MPDC Season 29 Worlds Championship, I've had greater Top 8 success with my Token Izzet Control build than any other stack of 75 digital cards I ever entered in a PDC tournament. I've twice made it the finals for a second-place finish and twice made it to the semi-finals out of five total entries. I consider this successful because, hey, winning isn't everything!
Just tonight I nearly won the SPDC Season 29 championship against a Mono Black Control build that I had bested in the Swiss. Unfortunately, my luck ran out against Izzet Control's toughest matchup.
But I still wouldn't change a thing about this list. All I'm going to do is update the Khans-block Dragon Fodders with the cool new Magic Origins printing that features the original Shards of Alara artwork. This brings me to a question I really have to ask:
Dragon Fodder has always been a nuts card and fits perfectly into the strategy of using only token-producing spells to summon two dudes at once while leaving the rest of the list open for control, card draw, more control, and even more card draw.
Most importantly, by running Dragon Fodder in Izzet Control instead of relying only the five-mana big token spells, the deck suddenly has the opportunity to apply pressure in the early game. I've won games off the back of a single Dragon Fodder dropped on the second turn while taking care of every potential blocker and threat my opponent could muster. It almost feels like I'm playing a Red Deck Wins....with Treasure Cruise and Nullify!
That and those Goblin tokens are fantastic when you need a couple of chumps to fend off a Boros Aggro or Formidable Green assault. I cannot recommend using Dragon Fodder in Izzet Control lists any higher. This inclusion was the only main difference between my build and the established Izzet decks, some of which forgo tokens entirely and focus on on Whirlwind Adept (which makes for a nice sideboard option here) hence the name "Token Izzet Control" to distinguish it from the rest. I believe it's well positioned in the format and primed for a win...
I've got one last chance this season to take the top spot as MPDC Season 29 Worlds happens tomorrow! But after results like this, I'm happy just to play. Indeed, I'm happier now that I'm actually able to play without Magic Online blowing up and it's a bit easier to find opponents. That, and this Standard Pauper metagame is incredibly deep and diverse.
So it's good to be back and it's even better to have people reading the blog. For the few who do, don't expect me to go overboard again and post all the time. I've already decided that blogging about Magic doesn't make one a better Magic player, so my updates here will be infrequent and completely random.
But thanks for reading anyway and good luck & have fun for everybody who participates in the last event of the season. It's good to be back :-) Peace,
- C
But after a few months of cooling down, I found that Wizards of the Coast remedied the problem faster than I expected. And when I took the plunge to invest a few bucks into cards for some Standard Pauper decks just to see if Magic Online was working, I was pleasantly surprised with how well both the client and the deck I constructed were performing.
To make a long story short, the client has never once crashed, disconnected, or otherwise crapped out on me in three weeks of playing, during which I've had some of the most fun and successful Standard Pauper experiences of my "career" in the format. In other words, it's a fanastic time to stop hating on WotC and play some Standard Pauper!
So I guess I take back all those means things I said about R&D and Maro. Sorry guys! I suppose I just love the game too much and it makes me a jerk sometimes But enough of that, on to the deck!
Token Izzet Control
Not Your Mom's Blue-Red Deck by Cabel
| Creatures 0 cards Other Spells 4 Dragon Fodder 4 Lightning Strike 4 Magma Spray 4 Nullify 4 Treasure Cruise 3 Anticipate 3 Divination 3 Flurry of Horns 3 Ojutai's Summons 2 Cancel 2 Voyage's End 36 cards |
Lands 11 Island 5 Mountain 4 Evolving Wilds 4 Swiftwater Cliffs 24 cards
Sideboard
3 Scouring Sands 3 Disdainful Stroke 3 Negate 2 Whirlwind Adept 2 Pin to the Earth 2 Voyage's End 15 cards |
|
As of this writing, on the eve of the MPDC Season 29 Worlds Championship, I've had greater Top 8 success with my Token Izzet Control build than any other stack of 75 digital cards I ever entered in a PDC tournament. I've twice made it the finals for a second-place finish and twice made it to the semi-finals out of five total entries. I consider this successful because, hey, winning isn't everything!
Just tonight I nearly won the SPDC Season 29 championship against a Mono Black Control build that I had bested in the Swiss. Unfortunately, my luck ran out against Izzet Control's toughest matchup.
But I still wouldn't change a thing about this list. All I'm going to do is update the Khans-block Dragon Fodders with the cool new Magic Origins printing that features the original Shards of Alara artwork. This brings me to a question I really have to ask:
Why have Izzet Control players not been using Dragon Fodder all season???
Dragon Fodder has always been a nuts card and fits perfectly into the strategy of using only token-producing spells to summon two dudes at once while leaving the rest of the list open for control, card draw, more control, and even more card draw.
Most importantly, by running Dragon Fodder in Izzet Control instead of relying only the five-mana big token spells, the deck suddenly has the opportunity to apply pressure in the early game. I've won games off the back of a single Dragon Fodder dropped on the second turn while taking care of every potential blocker and threat my opponent could muster. It almost feels like I'm playing a Red Deck Wins....with Treasure Cruise and Nullify!
That and those Goblin tokens are fantastic when you need a couple of chumps to fend off a Boros Aggro or Formidable Green assault. I cannot recommend using Dragon Fodder in Izzet Control lists any higher. This inclusion was the only main difference between my build and the established Izzet decks, some of which forgo tokens entirely and focus on on Whirlwind Adept (which makes for a nice sideboard option here) hence the name "Token Izzet Control" to distinguish it from the rest. I believe it's well positioned in the format and primed for a win...
I've got one last chance this season to take the top spot as MPDC Season 29 Worlds happens tomorrow! But after results like this, I'm happy just to play. Indeed, I'm happier now that I'm actually able to play without Magic Online blowing up and it's a bit easier to find opponents. That, and this Standard Pauper metagame is incredibly deep and diverse.
So it's good to be back and it's even better to have people reading the blog. For the few who do, don't expect me to go overboard again and post all the time. I've already decided that blogging about Magic doesn't make one a better Magic player, so my updates here will be infrequent and completely random.
But thanks for reading anyway and good luck & have fun for everybody who participates in the last event of the season. It's good to be back :-) Peace,
- C
Monday, April 6, 2015
Red Deck Wins SPDC 28 World Championship, IRL Standard Pauper Events Begin Tonight!
The 28th season of the Standard Pauper Deck Challenge on MTGO is over and nothing could make a Red Mage like myself happier than a Red Deck living up to its name and Winning the World Championship. Yesterday a straight-up Red Aggro build took the top spot at the SPDC Worlds 28 season finale:
That should put to rest any idea that Treasure Cruise is hammering the format into ban-worthy pieces. This hyper-aggressive, Sligh-curved masterpiece runs no additional card draw beyond that attached to Dragon Mantle, and no top-deck fixing except the useful Scry on Titan's Strength.
For the starkest of contrasts, it was piloted to the finals against the event host's own Izzet Blitz deck, which plays very similarly but splashes blue for Cruise, some bounce, and - in an interesting innovation - a blue Runemark. In the end, it looks like mono-colored consistency won the day against diluting the power of pure Red!
By sticking with the one true color, our hero was able to run fewer lands and more fuel to add to the fire. I personally like the inclusion of Inferno Fist to act as a heroic trigger while doubling as burn. The Barrage of Boulders tech in the maindeck and sideboard are great ways to push through damage. However, this is all speculation: I was not able to view the game in action or replay, so if anybody involved in the tournament has any comments, I encourage you to leave them below.
In other news, tonight will be the first night of a new season of In Real Life Standard Pauper events at my Local Games Store. I previously reported these were to start last week and run on Tuesdays, however, there was an oversight: Tuesday is already Warhammer 40,000 night....
ASIDE: Warhammer players take up a lot of space. And are rather noisy. This makes finding a place to play Standard Pauper a bit tougher. And makes things like communicating with your opponent and silently calculating combat damage a little difficult....
Therefore, we moved the event to Mondays while keeping everything the same. Stay tuned to see how my own Red Deck ends up performing after failing last week.
On that note, having tested Impact Tremors at that event, I have to change my mind about the card; I'll be cutting it and filling the slot with something that impacts the board instead of just my expectations. For your continued reading pleasure, now that this blog entry is coming to a close, Gwyned has some thoughts on this card and other Token Deck possibilities up on Writer Adept for once Dragons of Tarkir is legal Online.
Until then, all real life Magic players are encouraged to give this awesome format a try. And I hope all Online Standard Paupers enjoy the break between now and the 28th Monday Pauper Deck Challenge World Championships, set to take place on the 20th of April.
Good luck & have fun! Peace,
- C
Red Aggro
1st Place at SPDC 28 WORLDS by goomy1 on 5th April 2015
| Creatures 4 Akroan Crusader 4 Nyxborn Rollicker 3 Borderland Marauder 3 Satyr Hoplite 3 Goblin Heelcutter 3 Mardu Scout 2 Minotaur Skullcleaver 21 cards Other Spells 4 Dragon Mantle 4 Lightning Strike 4 Titan's Strength 3 Magma Spray 2 Inferno Fist 1 Barrage of Boulders 1 Hammerhand 19 cards |
Lands 19 Mountain 19 cards
Sideboard
4 Forge Devil 2 Act of Treason 2 Collateral Damage 2 Scouring Sands 2 Krenko's Enforcer 1 Barrage of Boulders 15 cards |
 |
That should put to rest any idea that Treasure Cruise is hammering the format into ban-worthy pieces. This hyper-aggressive, Sligh-curved masterpiece runs no additional card draw beyond that attached to Dragon Mantle, and no top-deck fixing except the useful Scry on Titan's Strength.
For the starkest of contrasts, it was piloted to the finals against the event host's own Izzet Blitz deck, which plays very similarly but splashes blue for Cruise, some bounce, and - in an interesting innovation - a blue Runemark. In the end, it looks like mono-colored consistency won the day against diluting the power of pure Red!
By sticking with the one true color, our hero was able to run fewer lands and more fuel to add to the fire. I personally like the inclusion of Inferno Fist to act as a heroic trigger while doubling as burn. The Barrage of Boulders tech in the maindeck and sideboard are great ways to push through damage. However, this is all speculation: I was not able to view the game in action or replay, so if anybody involved in the tournament has any comments, I encourage you to leave them below.
In other news, tonight will be the first night of a new season of In Real Life Standard Pauper events at my Local Games Store. I previously reported these were to start last week and run on Tuesdays, however, there was an oversight: Tuesday is already Warhammer 40,000 night....
ASIDE: Warhammer players take up a lot of space. And are rather noisy. This makes finding a place to play Standard Pauper a bit tougher. And makes things like communicating with your opponent and silently calculating combat damage a little difficult....
Therefore, we moved the event to Mondays while keeping everything the same. Stay tuned to see how my own Red Deck ends up performing after failing last week.
On that note, having tested Impact Tremors at that event, I have to change my mind about the card; I'll be cutting it and filling the slot with something that impacts the board instead of just my expectations. For your continued reading pleasure, now that this blog entry is coming to a close, Gwyned has some thoughts on this card and other Token Deck possibilities up on Writer Adept for once Dragons of Tarkir is legal Online.
Until then, all real life Magic players are encouraged to give this awesome format a try. And I hope all Online Standard Paupers enjoy the break between now and the 28th Monday Pauper Deck Challenge World Championships, set to take place on the 20th of April.
Good luck & have fun! Peace,
- C
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Monthly Metablog & Metagame Report: March 2015, Part III - Metablogging about Me, Cabel the Pauper
The Monthly Metas are almost complete. All that remains is to blog about blogging. For those mainly interested in Magic or the other Five M's here, you may wish to skip this. I would not hold it against you, dear reader.
This Metablog is more for my purposes. But I do love sharing my thoughts with my most dedicated readers. So let's go beyond (thoroughly beyond, to the other shore!) and jump on in and see what the past month was like here on Cabel the Pauper.
BY THE NUMBERS: POSTS AND PAGEVIEWS
In the month of March, I returned to blogging after nearly 12 months of inactivity and posted a total of 14 entries to Cabel the Pauper.
Upon my return I reorganized the layout and purpose to streamline this blogs' topical content and to make sure such a prolonged absence does not occur in the future. This was explained in my first blog of the month, "Back to Blogging and the Five M's of Cabel the Pauper."
The total pageviews for the last month met my unspoken goal of breaking a thousand, hitting 1,035 total views. This brings the total pageviews of all time to 8,892, finally surpassing my previous blogspot page, Soundpolitic (which will not be brought back to life as this one was...and won't even be linked to!).
The two most viewed blog this month were "Standard Pauper vs. Friday Night Magic & Announcing: Standard Pauper In Real Life!" with 62 pageviews, and "Treasure Cruise BANNED in Classic, WOTC Silent on Standard..." garnering 45 hits. These are numbers that make sense given the relatively small size of the Standard Pauper community.
As far as unquantifiable statistics go, I have not kept a log of my hours spent drafting, revising, editing, and posting and re-editing my blogs (ASIDE: Thanks to all comrades in the Pauper community for correcting my many errors!)
However, an unspoken goal has been to get in the habit of writing as soon as possible after waking up in the morning on a daily basis. This is dialectically opposed to my previous approach, which was to blog in a more spontaneous and sporadic fashion usually late at night.
That was probably the reason I had started this up twice and then failed to continue for an extended period of time. I am pleased with these results regardless of how many articles went live and how many hits they have received. I believe that Cabel the Pauper is well on track to meet another monthly goal.
MAN OF LETTERS: M's OF THE MONTH
The primary M's blogged this month, aside from Magic and Metablogging, were Marxism and Media. Magic: the Gathering Rarity-Restricted Casual Competitive formats, especially Standard Pauper, remain the primary focus of Cabel the Pauper. The Marxist philosophical and political slant is always pervasive and I try to be humorously serious about this for purposes of both entertainment and agitation.
I enjoy this about my blogging probably more than any other aspect. I believe it makes mine the single most unique website about both topics, Magic and Marxism - which, by the way, is merely a catch-all phrase for philosophy and politics in general, just like the former might refer to all fantasy gaming in all mediums, as well. In future months, other schools of philosophy and political tendencies will be featured here, as will other fantasy hobby games...
However, the M of the Month was probably Media. A major reason to return to blogging as a writer was to shift to this medium from one less conductive to producing quality content and encouraging engaging discussion, social media. The reasons for this were outlined in "The Last Facebook Post."
Additionally, I consider writing to be a traditional medium of human expression, even when inputted and published on an electronic machine such as a computer. Last month I began work on an extensive three-part series about writing on social and electronic media posted to the internet. I gave this the title "To Draft Or Not To Draft" and Pack I - To the Left" appeared in March. The next episode in this trilogy will be arriving in this new month of April.
Finally, I will use the rest of the month of April to provide additional links to the Five M's on the sidebar as well as finally get around to posting about the two which remain least-mentioned, Mixology and Meditation. Stay tuned!
IN CONCLUSION: I'M OUT...LIKE A LION
Thanks for reading, though I wouldn't hold it against anyone to not go through all this. The Monthly Meta is, as explained, more for my purposes than yours. But your purpose as a read is my purpose is a writer: making this blog a positive force in our lives. I hope it's entertained some positive thoughts about your favorite games and perhaps has perked your interest in one of the topics that I find interesting.
With that, the Monthly Meta for March is over and out...like a lion! And now it's on to the month of April and the rest of Easter weekend. Here's wishing everybody a blessed holiday...a perfect time for getting in some games and sharing ideas with friends and family. Good luck & have fun! Peace,
- C
Friday, April 3, 2015
Monthly Metablog & Metagame Report: March 2015, Part II - Standard Pauper Metagame
The month of March saw nine Player Run Events on Magic Online via PDCMagic.com. The Standard Pauper Deck Challenge (SPDC) and Monday Pauper Deck Challenge (MPDC) are nearing the end of their 28th seasons for the ninth and eighth years running, respectively. The metagame data for these events are compiled on the Gatherling tool on PDCMagic.
The Top Deck of the format this month was an Aggro build, Azorius Heroic Cruise. This build adds the power of Treasure Cruise to a combination of efficient White and Blue Heroic and Prowess creatures with effective combat tricks to trigger these mechanics, protect threats, and frequently cantrip into more of the same. With four wins, Heroic Cruise has won twice as many events as any other competing archetype. It's performance in the Top Four is also better than any other list, making the cut nine times out of nine, an amazing 100% events-to-playoffs ratio.
That means it's not just the breakout builds of the season. It will go down in history as one of the greatest Standard Pauper decks of all time!
The Metagame is almost evenly split between Aggro and Control strategies, with 19 of the former and 16 of the latter being piloted to Top Four status. The most top-performing Control deck is Izzet Tokens Control, a "creatureless" strategy with the win conditions Flurry of Horns and/or Rise of Eagles, generating two large tokens at once, and backed up with counters, bounce, and burn. Behind Azorius Heroic Cruise is the other best Aggro deck, Boros Heroic Aggro, which forgoes the card-drawing prowess in blue for more aggressive red creatures and direct damage.
Other decks of note are the Black-splash-Blue Devotion builds running Gray Merchant of Asphodel, at once a win condition and an engine for staying in the game. These also play Treasure Cruise along with blue and black removal and card advantage spells for controlling board until Gary drops down on the battlefield. Some players have splashed an additional color, the most popular being White for even more drain-life effects useful in the long-game. On the Aggro end of the spectrum, an Orzhov Tokens strategy has become popular this month, featuring powerful white token-makers for card advantage and enough black removal to clear a path before a well-time white mass pump spell.
Only one Top 8 deck, Mono Blue Control, has completely dropped off the radar after appearing earlier in the month. Most recently, entirely new builds have surprised contestants and won events in their first entry! The last two events were won by an Izzet Blitz list, looking very much like "Red Deck Splashes Blue for the Win," piloted by the event host himself. The next day, a Grixis Control build by rrmedio1 with no Gary or Izzet token makers (but plenty of Treasure Cruise and a scary Hexproof finisher) took the top spot at the last MPDC tournament of the month.
The most powerful card in the format is hands down Treasure Cruise. No hard numbers are needed to back this up: the card was banned in Classic Pauper last month. Having already been banned in other Eternal formats, this makes Standard Pauper one of the last places to play Magic where the card is legal and not overpowered.
Still, the conversation about possible ban-hammer-worthy cards is contentious - even when they are commons - and we Standard Pauper players must remain vigilant to make sure no single card destroys our format. Until then, it's safe to say that Cruise has replaced Gary as the boogie man of Standard Pauper, for better or for worse. It is this Pauper's opinion that the ship should remain on the waters and not be banned, and the rest of the community seems to have come to the same consensus. It's a sure bet that Treasure Cruise will remain legal in the 29th seasons of MPDC and SPDC starting soon.
Campaign to Get Standard Pauper Listed on the Magic Formats Web Page
The banning of Treasure Cruise in Pauper raised questions of whether or not the card would still work with the Magic Online Standard Pauper filter. In researching this, I came to discover that finding information on Standard Pauper on the official Magic: the Gathering Formats page on Wizards of the Coast web site is impossible: Standard Pauper is not listed as a format.
This month, other top players and I began discussing (perhaps a little too strongly at first...my bad!) on how to change this lack of information this long-running format, which has existed and thrived on Magic Online for going on ten years and is now being explored In Real Life at Local Game Shops as a result of the MTGO v4 debacle. Stay tuned to the PDCMagic.com and other forums (and, of course, this blog!) for updates on the ongoing campaign to get Standard Pauper listed on the Magic: the Gathering Formats information page.
The month of March 2015 in the World of Standard Pauper is now in the history books. Looking ahead, the month of April 2015 starts off with a bang: The SPDC Worlds Season Championship takes place this Sunday and the MPDC finale will take place about a week later. It is very rare that new winning decks take players by surprise the week before these season finales. Based on the metagame this month, one can expect the above-discussed archetypes to have a good change at the top trophies of the season(s).
Best of luck to and congratulations the Paupers who earned invitations and byes to the championships. And to all participants, may your topdecks be relevant, your maths be accurate. Good luck & have fun...and hey...Good Friday, too :-) Peace,
- C
TOP DECKS OF MARCH 2015
The Top Deck of the format this month was an Aggro build, Azorius Heroic Cruise. This build adds the power of Treasure Cruise to a combination of efficient White and Blue Heroic and Prowess creatures with effective combat tricks to trigger these mechanics, protect threats, and frequently cantrip into more of the same. With four wins, Heroic Cruise has won twice as many events as any other competing archetype. It's performance in the Top Four is also better than any other list, making the cut nine times out of nine, an amazing 100% events-to-playoffs ratio.
Azorius Heroic Cruise
1st Place at MPDC 28.03, March 9th, 2015, by Forli
| Creatures 4 Akroan Skyguard 4 Hopeful Eidolon 4 Wingsteed Rider 2 Jeskai Student 2 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer 16 cards Other Spells 3 Jeskai Sage 4 Defiant Strike 4 Feat of Resistance 4 Gods Willing 4 Treasure Cruise 3 Refocus 2 Chosen By Heliod 18 cards |
Lands 10 Plains 4 Evolving Wilds 4 Tranquil Cove 2 Island 20 cards
Sideboard
3 Negate 3 Retraction Helix 2 Ajani's Presence 2 Disdainful Stroke 2 Last Breath 2 Pillar of Light 1 Erase 15 cards |
|
That means it's not just the breakout builds of the season. It will go down in history as one of the greatest Standard Pauper decks of all time!
The Metagame is almost evenly split between Aggro and Control strategies, with 19 of the former and 16 of the latter being piloted to Top Four status. The most top-performing Control deck is Izzet Tokens Control, a "creatureless" strategy with the win conditions Flurry of Horns and/or Rise of Eagles, generating two large tokens at once, and backed up with counters, bounce, and burn. Behind Azorius Heroic Cruise is the other best Aggro deck, Boros Heroic Aggro, which forgoes the card-drawing prowess in blue for more aggressive red creatures and direct damage.
Other decks of note are the Black-splash-Blue Devotion builds running Gray Merchant of Asphodel, at once a win condition and an engine for staying in the game. These also play Treasure Cruise along with blue and black removal and card advantage spells for controlling board until Gary drops down on the battlefield. Some players have splashed an additional color, the most popular being White for even more drain-life effects useful in the long-game. On the Aggro end of the spectrum, an Orzhov Tokens strategy has become popular this month, featuring powerful white token-makers for card advantage and enough black removal to clear a path before a well-time white mass pump spell.
Only one Top 8 deck, Mono Blue Control, has completely dropped off the radar after appearing earlier in the month. Most recently, entirely new builds have surprised contestants and won events in their first entry! The last two events were won by an Izzet Blitz list, looking very much like "Red Deck Splashes Blue for the Win," piloted by the event host himself. The next day, a Grixis Control build by rrmedio1 with no Gary or Izzet token makers (but plenty of Treasure Cruise and a scary Hexproof finisher) took the top spot at the last MPDC tournament of the month.
TOP STORIES OF THE MONTH
Treasure Cruise Banned in Pauper, Remains Legal in Standard Pauper
The most powerful card in the format is hands down Treasure Cruise. No hard numbers are needed to back this up: the card was banned in Classic Pauper last month. Having already been banned in other Eternal formats, this makes Standard Pauper one of the last places to play Magic where the card is legal and not overpowered.
Still, the conversation about possible ban-hammer-worthy cards is contentious - even when they are commons - and we Standard Pauper players must remain vigilant to make sure no single card destroys our format. Until then, it's safe to say that Cruise has replaced Gary as the boogie man of Standard Pauper, for better or for worse. It is this Pauper's opinion that the ship should remain on the waters and not be banned, and the rest of the community seems to have come to the same consensus. It's a sure bet that Treasure Cruise will remain legal in the 29th seasons of MPDC and SPDC starting soon.
Campaign to Get Standard Pauper Listed on the Magic Formats Web Page
The banning of Treasure Cruise in Pauper raised questions of whether or not the card would still work with the Magic Online Standard Pauper filter. In researching this, I came to discover that finding information on Standard Pauper on the official Magic: the Gathering Formats page on Wizards of the Coast web site is impossible: Standard Pauper is not listed as a format.
This month, other top players and I began discussing (perhaps a little too strongly at first...my bad!) on how to change this lack of information this long-running format, which has existed and thrived on Magic Online for going on ten years and is now being explored In Real Life at Local Game Shops as a result of the MTGO v4 debacle. Stay tuned to the PDCMagic.com and other forums (and, of course, this blog!) for updates on the ongoing campaign to get Standard Pauper listed on the Magic: the Gathering Formats information page.
IN CONCLUSION
The month of March 2015 in the World of Standard Pauper is now in the history books. Looking ahead, the month of April 2015 starts off with a bang: The SPDC Worlds Season Championship takes place this Sunday and the MPDC finale will take place about a week later. It is very rare that new winning decks take players by surprise the week before these season finales. Based on the metagame this month, one can expect the above-discussed archetypes to have a good change at the top trophies of the season(s).
Best of luck to and congratulations the Paupers who earned invitations and byes to the championships. And to all participants, may your topdecks be relevant, your maths be accurate. Good luck & have fun...and hey...Good Friday, too :-) Peace,
- C
Thursday, April 2, 2015
The Monthly Metablog & Metagame Report: March 2015, Part I - General Introduction
μετά
Of all the blogs I post, few are more fun than those in which I blog about blogging itself. Every month here on Cabel the Pauper, I will go meta. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do drafting, editing, and publishing these Monthly Metablogs.This may be more for my own purposes than for my readers. See, as long as I've been writing on the Internet, I've often found that when I'm writing about writing on the Internet while I'm...well, we have this prefix in order to not repeat ourselves so often, don't we? The dictionary can define this better...in fewer characters than I seem to be able to keep to:
In the case of a metablog, we're after the second entry in the above-linked definition of this useful prefix. Just as metaphilosophy is a branch of philosophy, primarily concerned with the question of what philosophy is (basically, philosophy is just thinking about thinking) a metablog is a blog about blogging. These have been happening ever since The Blog as a genre of Internet literature first appeared. The Wiktionary has a nice clear entry on this:
A Metablog can become self-referential. In fact, it has to be. By definition! This can get humorous, become confusing, and possibly annoying. Indeed, many see it as a waste of time or a load of nonsense. I recall when I was working on a the wiki page during the Great Designer Search 2. I often had more fun writing about how to do the tasks than actually doing them! It didn't take long for somebody to post a lamentful quip: "The Wiki has gone meta." This poster was using the word accurately as defined above, but was also very likely hinting at the term's more vernacular use. The Urban Dictionary is always fun to consult:
You got it: Metagame! We use this word very often, fellow Paupers, Peasants, and other proletarians Magic-players. Yet in drafting the metablog on metagaming for this month, I could not find a single, definitive definition expressed in dictionary times like those linked to above.
Now the Urban Dictionary did have an entry linked to on the "Meta" page, but I found unsatisfactory for Planesalkers. We need something more specific for our Magic metagaming purposes. There's much more to any Magic: the Gathering format's existence, and quite a bit more thought that Magic players put into the action of metagaming than a single dictionary-style entry just can't define. One really should read (or re-read) an entire article on the topic from a verified professional:
This piece may be several years old (about as old as Standard Pauper as a Format Magic Online) but it's by no means out of date. It remains one of the best places to familiarize yourself with the a metagame is and how to do metagaming. Just in case any of you reading this were not yet familiar. And to lead in to the second reason a blog titled something like "Monthly Meta" will appear early each month: to report on a Rarity-Restricted Casual/Competitive Magic: the Gathering Format's metgame!
With all that out of the way, I'm done blogging about why I'm blogging right now. Let us proceed with the Monthly Meta and take a thoughtful look at March 2015's Format of the Month, Standard Pauper...
...tomorrow :-)
Yes, dear reader, the one metablogging point I'll make in this entry is that my others are often very long. Perhaps too damn long! So the goal for this new month of April will be to "go beyond" my usual writing habits and shorten things up. A bit.
That makes this entry merely an introduction to the Monthly Metas here on Cabel the Pauper. And it means it's over. Expect the March Metagame report for Standard Pauper tomorrow and the Metagablog for March on Cabel the Pauper, featuring the M's of the Month, later this week.
Until then, thanks for reading and good luck & have fun! Peace,
-C
Saturday, March 28, 2015
ERRATA: Another STD Pauper Video Review of DTK Exists!
I reported yesterday during my round-up of other DTK set reviews for Standard Pauper that MagicGatheringStrat are the producers of the "only" video review of the set.
DrChrisBakerDC over at The Draft Brewery has also produced another Standard Pauper themed assessment of every single card in YouTube video form. He brought the error in my reporting to my attention in the comments section of the blog post, providing a link to his excellent video review. You can watch the entire video right here, right now.
His narration has some great laugh-out-loud moments and his card evaluation skills are excellent, It is a must-watch for all Standard Pauper players. In fact, how about you just watch out below! I'll save you some browser navigation time to help atone for my mix-up:
In any case: Apologies for this oversight go out to my readers and Dr. Chris himself. I honestly cannot believe I missed this and I'm very glad he brought this great piece of Standard Pauper media to my attention. I hereby correct myself like any good objective e-journalist should. The offending text has been struck out to indicate where the mistake took place and a link to this message has been added to the text of the offending post.
- C
That is incorrect! This cannot stand!
DrChrisBakerDC over at The Draft Brewery has also produced another Standard Pauper themed assessment of every single card in YouTube video form. He brought the error in my reporting to my attention in the comments section of the blog post, providing a link to his excellent video review. You can watch the entire video right here, right now.
His narration has some great laugh-out-loud moments and his card evaluation skills are excellent, It is a must-watch for all Standard Pauper players. In fact, how about you just watch out below! I'll save you some browser navigation time to help atone for my mix-up:
Please note that Dr. Chris doesn't start off with the new set: don't be fooled by his focus on the previously-evaluated Fate Reforged cards. The good doctor checks his last top ten predictions for that set based on how the Standard Pauper metagame has actually played out since. Just keep viewing - he'll get to Dragons of Tarkir soon enough after he's done reviewing...his own reviews! Now that's impressive intellectual integrity!
Honestly, having watched it after posting my own Critiques, it makes me wonder just how much I got horribly wrong in my own evaluations. I suppose we all make mistakes when it comes to judging new cards upon their initial release, but we can quickly fix our deckbuilding and spellcasting strategies to compensate.
But a blatant error in reporting and compiling information? That, dear reader, is a different animal entirely! The only humane thing to do is acknowledge it cannot be saved, put it to sleep and out of its misery, and properly dispose of the remains. It's like a cat that's grown so old and sickly it's practically a zombie. To not correct and update one's informative posts online is as filthy and mangy as a...
 |
| Am I correctly exploiting this scary simile? |
In any case: Apologies for this oversight go out to my readers and Dr. Chris himself. I honestly cannot believe I missed this and I'm very glad he brought this great piece of Standard Pauper media to my attention. I hereby correct myself like any good objective e-journalist should. The offending text has been struck out to indicate where the mistake took place and a link to this message has been added to the text of the offending post.
I will also opine - once and only once since this is my first official correction here - that it's only we red-blooded Leftists and our pinko-brained progressive-leaning pals who ever seem to submit such errata and make such displays of intellectual honesty. A word on how one's politics and philosophy affects their informative and editorial output on the Internet:
Part of being right all the time like a true radical commie bastard like myself (or right at least some of the time like any progressive) is...being able to admit that you get things wrong sometimes!
Our consistently incorrect counterparts? Your conservative-leaning liberal wimps and outright Right-winged reactionary wankers of the word? Those fools never, ever seem to do this sort of thing. They just plain do not possess the intellectual integrity required for such behavior thanks to their idiotic ideology. They are incapable of this.
If they did have the ability, acuity, humility, and/or sagacity to make editorial corrections to mistakes in their odious output...well, then they wouldn't lean to the right and be wrong all the time in the first place now, would they ;-) They would cease to bear any resemblance to the Magic card that perfectly describes them...
Our consistently incorrect counterparts? Your conservative-leaning liberal wimps and outright Right-winged reactionary wankers of the word? Those fools never, ever seem to do this sort of thing. They just plain do not possess the intellectual integrity required for such behavior thanks to their idiotic ideology. They are incapable of this.
If they did have the ability, acuity, humility, and/or sagacity to make editorial corrections to mistakes in their odious output...well, then they wouldn't lean to the right and be wrong all the time in the first place now, would they ;-) They would cease to bear any resemblance to the Magic card that perfectly describes them...
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| Libertarian Anarcho-Capitalist Self Portrait, conservative oil on canvass, 2015, collaboration by Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ron and Rand Paul and the artist who actually performed all the work and didn't share in any of the profits. So there. |
Thanks for reading this piece from Cabel the Red's Bureau of Correctional and Re-Education Facilities. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog-jamming. Thanks for reading and good luck & have fun with those new Dragons of Tarkir cards for all people who play Pauper on paper. Peace,
- C
Friday, March 27, 2015
DTK Midnight Release Musings & Reviewing...the Reviews!
Part 1: Dragons of Tarkir Midnight Release Musings
I am tired this morning and afternoon! And not just because I finally finished my five-part Critique of Dragons of Tarkir the day before: the new set was released at midnight last night. And I was there to get my new cards as soon as my favorite card shop could legally sell them.
Partly because this was the first full set I reviewed in full, partly because I am to begin hosting Standard Pauper events at my local games shop this coming Tuesday, and partly to disprove all those fallaciously claiming "Pauper does not drive sales" - a part of the debate about Standard Pauper not even being listed as an official format on the Wizards.com Formats page! - I decided that it was worth it to head to my favorite hobby gaming and scifantasy fiction store at midnight to pick up my traditional Fat Pack and Intro Packs.
See? Standard Pauper actually does drive sales!
I do this almost every set. Although I could build a Standard Pauper collection by only making purchases on the secondary market, cracking open Boosters of a brand new set as soon as possible is just part of what makes Magic so, well, magical! One of the great things about buying boosters and playing mainly Pauper is you can build your collection very quickly for less cash on opening day, when many stores offer first-time discounts to generate additional revenue for the most important thing any business can do...make payroll!
The next step for me? Taking whatever rares, mythics, or in-demand pieces of silver back to the game shop to get some of your money back, then using that to complete your playsets of the commons you were not lucky enough to unwrap. It actually works rather well, and if you go this route, you still get to have the irreplaceable experience of getting fresh new cards as soon as they are unleashed. Hey, even Paupers have dreams of opening big money mythic rare foils :-)
And that's not all: this isn't just a Standard Pauper blog. It's about all Rarity-Restricted Casual & Competitive formats. Peasant is also an existing format. So is SilverBlack, which is basically just "Rareless." I may yet desire to return to an FNM to challenge myself to see how well I can do when utilizing uncommons. And though I just purged my collection of all rares in order to get back into IRL Magic playing, I am (deep foreshadowing, here folks, stay tuned...) working on a Rarity-Restricted format of my own invention that will, I expect, allow cards with golden expansion symbols.
So after I got the promotional e-mail from the struggling little shop where I'll be running Standard Pauper Tuesdays starting in just a few days, I shuffled up my paper Standard Pauper decks and dropped in about 11:30 PM. To my dismay (and owner on the phone with the cashier!) there was only one other customer there, and she was too tired to play. But another dude walked in early to pick up his box, his hopes high that his chase for new Legendary rare perfect for his favorite Commander deck would be successful. I sure hope it was!
He dropped dudes nearly ever turn, but I had answers. He was clearly still having fun plenty of fun, and was even able to Cruise for Treasure twice to summon more than a couple threatening Heroes. But my bounce, permission, and burn was able to clear the way for Minotaur tokens for the win: I drew all four copies of Flurry of Horns. Despite his defeat, he seemed more interested in Standard Pauper than ever, and the time flew. He grabbed his box and quickly left as I wished him luck in finding that new Legend he'd been building his Pauper EDH deck around for months.As for me, I grabbed the Fat Pack I always get because I think they are good buy. For forty bucks, I get plenty of basic lands with new artwork and the correct expansion symbol for building block decks and keeping my decks aesthetically pleasing to me. I get the booklet with the collectors checklist to help me keep track of how unlucky I am when trying to collect common playset. I get that very cool d20 with the set symbol that could someday end up being a collector's item. And in my experience, you do get a better shot at pulling money cards from Fat Packs.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story of my midnight Magic experience. I thoroughly enjoyed playing a Standard Pauper match with another dude face-to-face, chatting with my co-organizer at the shop, and busting open those packs after reading the story. I ripped open the packaging while re-watching the Dragons of Tarkir Standard Pauper set review from my comrades at MagicGatheringStrat...
Part Two: Reviewing the Reviews of DTK for Standard Pauper
...which brings me to part two of my blog post today, which is much happier than my previous critical reviews and my desperate ravings about Wizards refusing to acknowledge that this format exists. I may be the most long-winded and foul-mouthed of Standard Pauper online personalities, but I'm by no means the only one. There are others. And I compile them here today for your convenience and reading pleasure.
There is NO reason to be an individualist if you have NOBODY to share your individualism with! In this sense, our old Existential Marxist friend, Jean-Paul Sartre, was wrong.Hell is not, as he insisted, "other people." Other people are, in fact, our Heaven here on Earth!
The only reason a collective ever exists is to ensure the expression of it's members' individuality with other individuals, isn't it? The only reason individuals exist is to become part of an empowering collective, and the only reason a collective exists is to empower all the individuals that comprise the collective. See? ¡SÃ!
Give that line of socialist thinking a second thought if you're so inclined. But definitely check out these, the best of the rest of the Standard Pauper set reviews for Dragons of Tarkir!
Gwyned is THE authority on Standard Pauper! He hosts the long-running MPDC PRE series on MTGO through PDCMagic. He blogs about Magic and many other topics on his succinct, well-composed blog Writer Adept. And he also is the author of Standard Pauper articles on PureMTGO.com. It's almost a moot point to instruct you to read his work. If you get into Standard Pauper either in real life or online, coming into contact with his consistently excellent work is inevitable. He's been giving us set reviews from the perspective of a Standard Pauper player for a long time. The first part of his full set review is already published on PureMTGO and I highly anticipate parts two and three. Instead of just going by color as most do, his approach is to review cards by various relationships such as new mechanics, horizontal and vertical cycles, and card types. And instead of over-used letter grades or ratings on a scale of one to infinity, he uses a concise system based on Channel Fireball's "hit or myth" system. Read his stuff if you only have time for one Standard Pauper set review. That's an order, comrade!
You can find a lot of good information on Limited play on his blog as well (something I need as much as I can get with!) and he's a formidable Magic player in his own right. Seriously, one of the best who you can expect to lose against if you start hunching over your computer screen. Since he's such a busy doctor and such a freaking good Magic player, he hasn't invested as much time as Gwyned or myself in reviewing the entire set or establishing a consistent, creative rating system. But that's refreshing and it still works. When you're as good as Dr. Chris, you can simply rate things on an A through F scale, rank the colors, and present a top ten list of the cards in the set. He's got the authority to do so. Respect his authorit-ah!ERRATA: DrChrisBakerDC has also produced a 90 minute YouTube video reviewing every single card in the set, contrary to what I am about to report in the segment that follows. Sincerest apologies submitted and appropriate action taken in compensation. This message has been brought to you by Cabel the Red's Bureau of Correctional and Re-Education Facilities.
Thirdly, there is the gang at MagicGatheringStrat. This cast of colorful characters are into both writing articles and Skyping together to produce YouTube videos and Podcasts about a variety of Magic formats. Among the formats they cover, they produce probably more Standard Pauper content excepting perhaps myself or the Gwyned the Great! They are the creators of The Standard Pauper Show, the only place on the web to get news on this format on a regular basis in a way that won't leave your eyes blurry from reading voluminous blog posts...
They even have a Standard Pauper subsection on their forums,
This is the second (or third?) time Brennon, VaultBoyHunter, and FanOfHistory have collaborated to produce what is
It's as if my prayers were answered. These guys are the Standard Pauper equivalent of Evan Erwin & Brad Nelson's ten-hour Magic Show set reviews. When you pick up your Fat Pack of Dragons of Tarkir, put this on and enjoy their hard work while you start brewing your deck!
CARDBOARD COMMONS REVIEWS PARA PAUPER...EN ESPAÑOL
Finally, this one is rather challenging but I TRY to read it because my other hobby these days is...learning how to hablar español! Produced by a group of Spaniards (or at least Spanish-speakers) on a Wordpress blog called Cardboard Commons, this is one of my favorite new discoveries that combines two of my hobbies: reading and writing about Pauper and learning foreign tongues!
But enough about me. And thank God for Google's translate feature! That allows me to check my own translation (or see how bad Google has translated things...it's quite amusing to see Chrome get confused when encountering Magic player vernacular!) and so far I've found that these are the only other guys on the planet giving each card in all five colors a page of their own with reviews and critiques geared exclusively towards Pauper. That makes for a marvelous discovery, indeed. I encourage everybody to check them out now that they have been added to my Rarity-Restricted Casual/Competitive Magic: the Gathering blogosphere links.
El Fin
Before closing and wishing you all good luck & have fun, let me add this: my local games shop has decided to INCREASE THE PRIZE PAYOUT for the STANDARD PAUPER EVENTS played IN REAL LIFE beginning this coming TUESDAY, MARCH 31st!! That's right! You'll still be able to pick 40, 20, or 10 commons out of their huge dump-box inventory, but NOW you can also WIN PACKS! That's right! Win PACKS for playing STANDARD PAUPER! Damn, this is exciting!
Okay. Now you have fun and hopefully experience good luck ripping open those brand new Dragons of Tarkir booster packs! Until next time, thanks for reading ALL this text :-) Peace,
- C
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Cabel's Critique of a New Release: Dragons of Tarkir - White Commons for Standard Pauper
My apologies for taking so long in finishing this Critique of a New Release. News of Treasure Cruise being banned in Classic Pauper and my discovery that Wizards of the Coast does not even mention Standard Pauper on the list of Magic: the Gathering Formats on its website had me livid and determined to bring attention to this atrocity....
But I'm a completionist and I'm not so distressed as to be defeated. Today, I finally present the final part of the Dragons of Tarkir Commons in White for Standard Pauper! We shall see that we've got some nice-smelling dudes as well as some real stinkers here, a nice balance for the color that does everything. Let's get this done!
Artful Manuever
We lead off our final critiques with nary a nasty criticism of this card. Rebound as a mechanic is nearly guaranteed to grant value. Here, the simple +2/+2 boost that Paupers have known how to utilize as either pushing through damage or as removal in creature combat is applied to the mechanic. And it works on every level that a Magic card should. It's simple and elegant in design, is efficiently costed, and the artwork is, well, artful. I'm sure Heroic decks in Standard Pauper are going to want to run this card and I'll bet it will continue to see play even after that mechanic leaves us when Theros block gets replaced by the return to Zendikar.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Aven Tactician
By now it should be clear that Bolster is going to be one of those forgotten mechanics. It's not as irritating horrible or uncreative as Megamorph, but it does end up making us pay more mana than usual for creatures like 2/3 white flyers. I cannot see this making an impact in Standard Pauper if none of the other Bolster dudes haven't been enlisted in winning decks yet. Aven Tactician is no exception. It's too pricey for too little value in this format.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
From a purely flavor perspective, this card is win thanks to the monk-like nature of the name and artwork applied to this effect. With that taken into consideration and everything I said about rebound above, how can this card not win instantly? It may take Standard Pauper players some time to make lots of use of Center Soul as white Heroic decks have plenty of options similar to this. But as a (somewhat) experienced Zen meditation practitioner myself, I can attest to the fact that it does take time and hard work to center oneself. Maybe we find out that this is better than, dare I say it, God's Willing, since you can protect a creature twice - let's say once to save it from removal and once to break through the enemy ranks - and get two +1/+1 counters out of a single card instead of the usual single boost. I expect great things in this specific format for this perfectly designed Magic card.
Champion of Arashin
A word on lifelink: it's deceptively powerful in Standard Pauper. Up until now, we've seen no creature bearing this ability with a power higher than two (the best example was Seraph of Dawn, one of the best commons ever printed!). Even then, a 1/x Lifelinker is still a 2-point swing to your opponents face, and that is always good. This naughty dog is the first time a power greater than two has been applied to a creature with Lifelink. Sure, there's no evasion and his butt's not that big, but still: every time this fellow connects with another creature (likely killing it in battle) you're gaining three life. And every time it gets through to damage your opponent, the game is swung six-points in your favor. That's a six point life swing for two mana less than your investment. Will this be enough to make it? I'm thinking so. But I'm sure many are on the fence. It's not close to a loser at all, but I'm not solid on it being an all-out winner. A passing grade that alludes to what can be done to make this guy get there is more appropriate...
Cabel's Critique: PUMP
Dragon's Eye Sentry
Curse my inner child that just won't die! I still love walls that look good on paper. Now that I'm much older and much (much!) more critical, it takes a lot to get me interested in a critter with Defender. Considering this, Sentry is the best I've ever seen. It actually represents a perfect example of why removing the mechanic from the Wall creature type was correct: lots of Monks in real life are very well trained in the martial arts. But if we've ever seen classic karate films like The Karate Kid or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the '90s version, guys, not the new schlock!) then we should know well that martial arts teachers like Mr. Miyagi and Master Splinter were very clear on how to use the deadly knowledge of Eastern combat:
Self-defense. Never, ever in anger or aggression. And that is precisely how you defeat the enemy who is consumed with rage to the point of initiating an unjust attack on you and your family and brothers in arms. Self-defense.
Comes now the Dragon's Eye Sentry, who will likely not be a staple card in any competitive environment. But for a Zen Buddhist with some pals who have studied various Eastern fighting styles for years, this is just a beautiful example of how Magic: the Gathering cards can be a vehicle for the expression of fantasy, culture, and philosophy all in one. It makes perfect sense that a Monk would stay home and refuse to attack...and be able to strike first with his mastery of the arts of self-defense backing him up. 1/3 for one mana with Defender and First strike is as perfect as it can get. I almost want to buy extra copies of this and send it to my friends who don't play Magic but are martial arts enthusiasts. They'd understand. I hope you do, too, when I declare this the most perfect design in White...and the entire set.
Cabel's Critique: WIN!
Dromoka Dunecaster
Yawn. Yes, tap-down creatures in white are nice. But they're nicer when they can at least attack and deal damage. A power of zero means zero offensive capabilities. And cards like Goldmeadow Harrier were good because they could tap a creature down for a single mana. This one demands an investment of two mana per turn. One would think that this extra cost would let the lady half enemies in the air. But no. They just had to put the words "without flying" in that clause. Which makes even less sense when the design team packed Dragons of Tarkir full of, well, dragons. That fly. That makes this piece a waste of cardboard, especially when I consider the artwork and flavor text: it's a stock piece of a wizard not even wearing robes and the quote amounts to an obvious attempt at making a poor excuse as to why Dunecaster can only tap down nonflyers. Gimme a break. Can't fool me. This is another one of those bad cards printed because "bad cards need to..." I can't even bring myself to finish the quote.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Dromoka Warrior
Here we have the obligatory 3/1 for two mana. This time it's a Warrior. And it's not a kitty cat, either. I don't see the current 3/1's for two being played much in Standard Pauper. This is the fourth time these stats have been printed in the bottom right corner with a converted mana cost of two in the upper right. In fact, this returns us to a time when it's possible to run two 3/1's for 1W in White Weenie Aggro decks (since Oreskos Swiftclaw debuted in M15 while Gatecrash's Daring Skyjek was still legal) but even then, it was rare to see both being run alongside each other. That one-toughness means Red and Black sweepers can knock you out. And without some kind of extra bonus like Skyjek had, it's probably worth it to run dudes with a bit more toughness tha can survive long enough to connect than to act like a red mage and throw a bunch of 3/1's on the board only to get blown out by Scouring Sands. Still, it's good on paper, and it brings the beats, so it can't be as bad as fail...
Cabel's Critique: BEATS
Enduring Victory
Man these critiques are getting long! I can make short work of this obviously bad card, though. Five mana is too much to be reliable in Standard Pauper. You'd have to be playing Sealed or Singleton to consider something so pricey. Again, Bolster is fail as a mechanic. So this card is fail as a card. 'Nuff said!
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Fate Forgotten
Another brief comment: this is nothing but Revoke Existence moved from sorcery to instant speed for one extra colorless mana. That's fine. But it's also not good. I suppose we'll get our 1W instant speed version of this a few years down the road so that R&D can maintain the "creep" half of "power creep." And that's fine, too. But it's still fail!
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Glaring Aegis
Oh, my eyes! This is a good card! For a single white mana, we get to do three things. First, we target a creature, triggering whatever Heroic and/or Prowess triggers lined up on the battlefield. Then, we tap down a blocker for the target to get through. As if that wasn't enough, the dude now gets another extra power boost and the creature is made much more difficult to kill. Nice shining artwork and perfectly centered text make it even more aesthetically pleasing. Asking for flash as a prerequisite for a total win would probably be asking too much. This piece is just enough to win in Standard Pauper and it looks just as fantastic as it plays.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Herald of Dromoka
It's not often we see a Lord style creature at common. Even without the static ability giving your Warriors the ability to swing without turning sideways so you can mount a solid defense, a 2/2 vigilance for Grizzly Bear cost is usually quite nice in Standard Pauper. I'm not sure whether or not a Warriors deck is possible with the printing of Herald of Dromoka. That's dependent on the quality of the other Warriors in the card pool. But it's still a win on it's face alone. There's a pleasing reference to how music is essential to combat, too!
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Lightwalker
Compare what we get here for 1W with what the previous card gave us. This is much worse by comparison. When you can get a 2/2 with an extra keyword and board effect for the same cost without doing any work, why would you want something that can be killed much easier and requires extra effort to get the full benefit? Maybe as a piece in a Warriors deck, but it will need the help of both Herald and something else that grants plus-one counters to make it worthwhile. It needs too much help to win, and so the final verdict is in:
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Misthoof Kirin
I've not been too kind to Megamorph cards in my vast criticisms. This is not the best of the bunch, then; its merely the not-worst of the worst. One would never toss down a 2/1 flyer with vigilance (and vigilant creatures with a power higher than their toughness don't make sense from a flavor perspective) but to get a 2/2 vanilla dude on turn three and turn it into a 3/2 flyer with mana left over to do something else on turn four seems okay. Not great, but not okay.
A final criticism is...what the hell is a "Kirin" anyway? WotC has enough Magic-specific intellectual property already. If it looks like a goat, with the face of a goat, the horns of a goat, and the hooves a goat, then I have to judge this non-win, non-fail card for what it clearly is:
Cabel's Critique: GOAT
Pacifism
Finally! A reprint that is actually relevant! One that was inexplicably removed from the last core set and is now available again in the metagame. Pacifism belongs in Standard Pauper. This printing keeps alive the tradition of humorous flavor text as well. It even contains a veiled reference to a very interesting intellectual topic: Chaos Theory! Considering how familiar all Magic players should be with this card, there's no reason to take my critique any further.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Resupply
Tut tut! Six mana for six life is just no good. Life gain is not good to begin with! In the past, we've been able to gain eight life on two mana or even less! We've seen gaining life on creatures be relatively good, too. At two mana or less! And in a metagame where Treasure Cruise exists (one of the only formats you can still play this card!) then drawing three cards for a single mana is the benchmark. Drawing one card for six-freaking mana? I'd better quit critiquing this card before I rip into R&D for the fallacious "bad cards need to exist" deal...again...
Cabel's Critique: FAIL!
Sandcrafter Mage
Once again, I'm not impressed with Bolster at all. Neither is anybody else in Standard Pauper competitive play. This could get you an 3/3 for 3 easily. But we need more than that. I still remember how great Ballynock Cohort was, almost always a 3/3 with First Strike for the same cost. That was a good card. This one is not. And what does a wall of sand have to do with making a wizard stronger in combat anyway? This card is fail on all fronts. Somebody in R&D probably had sand in their - well, you know :-)
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
This card is bad. Bad! Megamorph is bad. It's a slap right to my face because it's bad. It's bad. This card is really bad....
Student of Ojutai
Back from a brief interlude to enjoy my favorite Michael Jackson hits of the '80s, I return to this. Here is fixed prowess that does more than just pump creatures up again. This time it gains life on a Gatekeeper style dude. I'll note again for any players inexperienced enough to not understand: dealing damage is better than gaining life. It better be a lot of life in one blow like the green Gatekeeper we all miss soooo much in Standard Pauper, a format where mass lifegain can make matches go ridiculously long (mainly because WotC completely ignores the format when designing commons). So I can't see this card being good to begin with. But I can see it getting really, really annoying if it ends up being good. Nobody wants that. I also don't need students thinking they know enough about enlightenment to be spouting off about it in the flavor text. I'm giving this kid an "F" and redirecting him to Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen page to re-read the bit about the "E" word.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Now it comes down to it. The last card in the last color for my first critique of a new set. I'd like to be nice and finish on a high note, but my voice is already strained from my corny Michael Jackson joke two cards ago. And here I have another one: this card can just Beat It. Just like the Blue bird that started that color's critiques, this White flyer should have been given some kind of Dragon flavor to make Dragons of Tarkir a true Dragons set at every rarity level for every Magic player, including us Paupers.
But they didn't do that. So the fact that NO common Dragons exist here is my biggest set-wide criticism. Wizards has failed us miserably in failing to provide some common dragons in THE Dragons set of all Dragons sets. That is a mistake that I am not prepared to tolerate or forgive.
The Blue guy should have been a Dragon. Dragon Hatchling should have been reprinted in Red. Green should have got some kind of wingless Dragon with reach. Black should have gotten something draconian. And White's 1/3 flyer for 1W should have been some kind of miniature dragon. Otherwise, there are much better options at this mana cost if you want a low-power, high-toughness dude in the air to block groundlings long enough to survive until it can be sent in on offense. Try Sungrace Pegasus and buy yourself some extra time. As it stands, this bird may be territorial, but he's not good enough to occupy any space in Standard Pauper deck lists.
And there you have it! Every single common in the new release, Dragons of Tarkir, from the unique perspective of the awesome Standard Pauper format. I strongly believe that it was well worth the time and effort put forth in giving each and every new card a critical look from this standpoint, even if Wizards of the Coast is so ignorant and insulting as to refuse to acknowledge the existence o this format.
Well, it does exist. It's very frustrating and demoralizing to have to do all this work in support of an incredibly affordable and entertaining way to play Magic and have the company that prints these cards - the good, the bad, and the fail - not even let players know that it is a way to play. But is it. And in less than week, those of us who play this mostly Online-only format, the revolutionaries who insist that we should not be priced out of enjoying this incredible game competitively, will be able to enjoy this cool new set, Dragons of Tarkir.
Pick your colors, select your commons, find them for sale for rock bottom prices after purchasing your first few boosters and/or Fat Packs (See? Pauper drives sales!), and get your decks built: Standard Pauper events In Real Life start in less than a week, hosted by me, Cabel the Pauper! Stay tuned for more information and a report back on how the events went. Until then, please feel free to criticize my overly-critical and too-lengthy critiques in the comments and thanks for reading, good luck, and have fun! Peace,
- C
But I'm a completionist and I'm not so distressed as to be defeated. Today, I finally present the final part of the Dragons of Tarkir Commons in White for Standard Pauper! We shall see that we've got some nice-smelling dudes as well as some real stinkers here, a nice balance for the color that does everything. Let's get this done!
WHITE
We lead off our final critiques with nary a nasty criticism of this card. Rebound as a mechanic is nearly guaranteed to grant value. Here, the simple +2/+2 boost that Paupers have known how to utilize as either pushing through damage or as removal in creature combat is applied to the mechanic. And it works on every level that a Magic card should. It's simple and elegant in design, is efficiently costed, and the artwork is, well, artful. I'm sure Heroic decks in Standard Pauper are going to want to run this card and I'll bet it will continue to see play even after that mechanic leaves us when Theros block gets replaced by the return to Zendikar.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Aven Tactician
By now it should be clear that Bolster is going to be one of those forgotten mechanics. It's not as irritating horrible or uncreative as Megamorph, but it does end up making us pay more mana than usual for creatures like 2/3 white flyers. I cannot see this making an impact in Standard Pauper if none of the other Bolster dudes haven't been enlisted in winning decks yet. Aven Tactician is no exception. It's too pricey for too little value in this format.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Center Soul
From a purely flavor perspective, this card is win thanks to the monk-like nature of the name and artwork applied to this effect. With that taken into consideration and everything I said about rebound above, how can this card not win instantly? It may take Standard Pauper players some time to make lots of use of Center Soul as white Heroic decks have plenty of options similar to this. But as a (somewhat) experienced Zen meditation practitioner myself, I can attest to the fact that it does take time and hard work to center oneself. Maybe we find out that this is better than, dare I say it, God's Willing, since you can protect a creature twice - let's say once to save it from removal and once to break through the enemy ranks - and get two +1/+1 counters out of a single card instead of the usual single boost. I expect great things in this specific format for this perfectly designed Magic card.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Champion of Arashin
A word on lifelink: it's deceptively powerful in Standard Pauper. Up until now, we've seen no creature bearing this ability with a power higher than two (the best example was Seraph of Dawn, one of the best commons ever printed!). Even then, a 1/x Lifelinker is still a 2-point swing to your opponents face, and that is always good. This naughty dog is the first time a power greater than two has been applied to a creature with Lifelink. Sure, there's no evasion and his butt's not that big, but still: every time this fellow connects with another creature (likely killing it in battle) you're gaining three life. And every time it gets through to damage your opponent, the game is swung six-points in your favor. That's a six point life swing for two mana less than your investment. Will this be enough to make it? I'm thinking so. But I'm sure many are on the fence. It's not close to a loser at all, but I'm not solid on it being an all-out winner. A passing grade that alludes to what can be done to make this guy get there is more appropriate...
Cabel's Critique: PUMP
Dragon's Eye Sentry
Curse my inner child that just won't die! I still love walls that look good on paper. Now that I'm much older and much (much!) more critical, it takes a lot to get me interested in a critter with Defender. Considering this, Sentry is the best I've ever seen. It actually represents a perfect example of why removing the mechanic from the Wall creature type was correct: lots of Monks in real life are very well trained in the martial arts. But if we've ever seen classic karate films like The Karate Kid or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the '90s version, guys, not the new schlock!) then we should know well that martial arts teachers like Mr. Miyagi and Master Splinter were very clear on how to use the deadly knowledge of Eastern combat:
Self-defense. Never, ever in anger or aggression. And that is precisely how you defeat the enemy who is consumed with rage to the point of initiating an unjust attack on you and your family and brothers in arms. Self-defense.
Comes now the Dragon's Eye Sentry, who will likely not be a staple card in any competitive environment. But for a Zen Buddhist with some pals who have studied various Eastern fighting styles for years, this is just a beautiful example of how Magic: the Gathering cards can be a vehicle for the expression of fantasy, culture, and philosophy all in one. It makes perfect sense that a Monk would stay home and refuse to attack...and be able to strike first with his mastery of the arts of self-defense backing him up. 1/3 for one mana with Defender and First strike is as perfect as it can get. I almost want to buy extra copies of this and send it to my friends who don't play Magic but are martial arts enthusiasts. They'd understand. I hope you do, too, when I declare this the most perfect design in White...and the entire set.
Cabel's Critique: WIN!
Yawn. Yes, tap-down creatures in white are nice. But they're nicer when they can at least attack and deal damage. A power of zero means zero offensive capabilities. And cards like Goldmeadow Harrier were good because they could tap a creature down for a single mana. This one demands an investment of two mana per turn. One would think that this extra cost would let the lady half enemies in the air. But no. They just had to put the words "without flying" in that clause. Which makes even less sense when the design team packed Dragons of Tarkir full of, well, dragons. That fly. That makes this piece a waste of cardboard, especially when I consider the artwork and flavor text: it's a stock piece of a wizard not even wearing robes and the quote amounts to an obvious attempt at making a poor excuse as to why Dunecaster can only tap down nonflyers. Gimme a break. Can't fool me. This is another one of those bad cards printed because "bad cards need to..." I can't even bring myself to finish the quote.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Dromoka Warrior
Here we have the obligatory 3/1 for two mana. This time it's a Warrior. And it's not a kitty cat, either. I don't see the current 3/1's for two being played much in Standard Pauper. This is the fourth time these stats have been printed in the bottom right corner with a converted mana cost of two in the upper right. In fact, this returns us to a time when it's possible to run two 3/1's for 1W in White Weenie Aggro decks (since Oreskos Swiftclaw debuted in M15 while Gatecrash's Daring Skyjek was still legal) but even then, it was rare to see both being run alongside each other. That one-toughness means Red and Black sweepers can knock you out. And without some kind of extra bonus like Skyjek had, it's probably worth it to run dudes with a bit more toughness tha can survive long enough to connect than to act like a red mage and throw a bunch of 3/1's on the board only to get blown out by Scouring Sands. Still, it's good on paper, and it brings the beats, so it can't be as bad as fail...
Cabel's Critique: BEATS
Man these critiques are getting long! I can make short work of this obviously bad card, though. Five mana is too much to be reliable in Standard Pauper. You'd have to be playing Sealed or Singleton to consider something so pricey. Again, Bolster is fail as a mechanic. So this card is fail as a card. 'Nuff said!
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Fate Forgotten
Another brief comment: this is nothing but Revoke Existence moved from sorcery to instant speed for one extra colorless mana. That's fine. But it's also not good. I suppose we'll get our 1W instant speed version of this a few years down the road so that R&D can maintain the "creep" half of "power creep." And that's fine, too. But it's still fail!
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Oh, my eyes! This is a good card! For a single white mana, we get to do three things. First, we target a creature, triggering whatever Heroic and/or Prowess triggers lined up on the battlefield. Then, we tap down a blocker for the target to get through. As if that wasn't enough, the dude now gets another extra power boost and the creature is made much more difficult to kill. Nice shining artwork and perfectly centered text make it even more aesthetically pleasing. Asking for flash as a prerequisite for a total win would probably be asking too much. This piece is just enough to win in Standard Pauper and it looks just as fantastic as it plays.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Herald of Dromoka
It's not often we see a Lord style creature at common. Even without the static ability giving your Warriors the ability to swing without turning sideways so you can mount a solid defense, a 2/2 vigilance for Grizzly Bear cost is usually quite nice in Standard Pauper. I'm not sure whether or not a Warriors deck is possible with the printing of Herald of Dromoka. That's dependent on the quality of the other Warriors in the card pool. But it's still a win on it's face alone. There's a pleasing reference to how music is essential to combat, too!
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Compare what we get here for 1W with what the previous card gave us. This is much worse by comparison. When you can get a 2/2 with an extra keyword and board effect for the same cost without doing any work, why would you want something that can be killed much easier and requires extra effort to get the full benefit? Maybe as a piece in a Warriors deck, but it will need the help of both Herald and something else that grants plus-one counters to make it worthwhile. It needs too much help to win, and so the final verdict is in:
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Misthoof Kirin
I've not been too kind to Megamorph cards in my vast criticisms. This is not the best of the bunch, then; its merely the not-worst of the worst. One would never toss down a 2/1 flyer with vigilance (and vigilant creatures with a power higher than their toughness don't make sense from a flavor perspective) but to get a 2/2 vanilla dude on turn three and turn it into a 3/2 flyer with mana left over to do something else on turn four seems okay. Not great, but not okay.
A final criticism is...what the hell is a "Kirin" anyway? WotC has enough Magic-specific intellectual property already. If it looks like a goat, with the face of a goat, the horns of a goat, and the hooves a goat, then I have to judge this non-win, non-fail card for what it clearly is:
Cabel's Critique: GOAT
Finally! A reprint that is actually relevant! One that was inexplicably removed from the last core set and is now available again in the metagame. Pacifism belongs in Standard Pauper. This printing keeps alive the tradition of humorous flavor text as well. It even contains a veiled reference to a very interesting intellectual topic: Chaos Theory! Considering how familiar all Magic players should be with this card, there's no reason to take my critique any further.
Cabel's Critique: WIN
Resupply
Tut tut! Six mana for six life is just no good. Life gain is not good to begin with! In the past, we've been able to gain eight life on two mana or even less! We've seen gaining life on creatures be relatively good, too. At two mana or less! And in a metagame where Treasure Cruise exists (one of the only formats you can still play this card!) then drawing three cards for a single mana is the benchmark. Drawing one card for six-freaking mana? I'd better quit critiquing this card before I rip into R&D for the fallacious "bad cards need to exist" deal...again...
Cabel's Critique: FAIL!
Once again, I'm not impressed with Bolster at all. Neither is anybody else in Standard Pauper competitive play. This could get you an 3/3 for 3 easily. But we need more than that. I still remember how great Ballynock Cohort was, almost always a 3/3 with First Strike for the same cost. That was a good card. This one is not. And what does a wall of sand have to do with making a wizard stronger in combat anyway? This card is fail on all fronts. Somebody in R&D probably had sand in their - well, you know :-)
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Sandstorm Charger
This card is bad. Bad! Megamorph is bad. It's a slap right to my face because it's bad. It's bad. This card is really bad....
Bad bad!
And design team has to answer right now cuz I'll tell you once again (who's bad?)
Y'know it!? Dah! Y'know!? Shcka-how? Sha-moan! Dah! Hee-hee!
Cabel's Critique: OW!
Student of Ojutai
Back from a brief interlude to enjoy my favorite Michael Jackson hits of the '80s, I return to this. Here is fixed prowess that does more than just pump creatures up again. This time it gains life on a Gatekeeper style dude. I'll note again for any players inexperienced enough to not understand: dealing damage is better than gaining life. It better be a lot of life in one blow like the green Gatekeeper we all miss soooo much in Standard Pauper, a format where mass lifegain can make matches go ridiculously long (mainly because WotC completely ignores the format when designing commons). So I can't see this card being good to begin with. But I can see it getting really, really annoying if it ends up being good. Nobody wants that. I also don't need students thinking they know enough about enlightenment to be spouting off about it in the flavor text. I'm giving this kid an "F" and redirecting him to Brad Warner's Hardcore Zen page to re-read the bit about the "E" word.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
Territorial Roc
Now it comes down to it. The last card in the last color for my first critique of a new set. I'd like to be nice and finish on a high note, but my voice is already strained from my corny Michael Jackson joke two cards ago. And here I have another one: this card can just Beat It. Just like the Blue bird that started that color's critiques, this White flyer should have been given some kind of Dragon flavor to make Dragons of Tarkir a true Dragons set at every rarity level for every Magic player, including us Paupers.
But they didn't do that. So the fact that NO common Dragons exist here is my biggest set-wide criticism. Wizards has failed us miserably in failing to provide some common dragons in THE Dragons set of all Dragons sets. That is a mistake that I am not prepared to tolerate or forgive.
The Blue guy should have been a Dragon. Dragon Hatchling should have been reprinted in Red. Green should have got some kind of wingless Dragon with reach. Black should have gotten something draconian. And White's 1/3 flyer for 1W should have been some kind of miniature dragon. Otherwise, there are much better options at this mana cost if you want a low-power, high-toughness dude in the air to block groundlings long enough to survive until it can be sent in on offense. Try Sungrace Pegasus and buy yourself some extra time. As it stands, this bird may be territorial, but he's not good enough to occupy any space in Standard Pauper deck lists.
Cabel's Critique: FAIL
And there you have it! Every single common in the new release, Dragons of Tarkir, from the unique perspective of the awesome Standard Pauper format. I strongly believe that it was well worth the time and effort put forth in giving each and every new card a critical look from this standpoint, even if Wizards of the Coast is so ignorant and insulting as to refuse to acknowledge the existence o this format.
Well, it does exist. It's very frustrating and demoralizing to have to do all this work in support of an incredibly affordable and entertaining way to play Magic and have the company that prints these cards - the good, the bad, and the fail - not even let players know that it is a way to play. But is it. And in less than week, those of us who play this mostly Online-only format, the revolutionaries who insist that we should not be priced out of enjoying this incredible game competitively, will be able to enjoy this cool new set, Dragons of Tarkir.
Pick your colors, select your commons, find them for sale for rock bottom prices after purchasing your first few boosters and/or Fat Packs (See? Pauper drives sales!), and get your decks built: Standard Pauper events In Real Life start in less than a week, hosted by me, Cabel the Pauper! Stay tuned for more information and a report back on how the events went. Until then, please feel free to criticize my overly-critical and too-lengthy critiques in the comments and thanks for reading, good luck, and have fun! Peace,
- C
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