When does the beta become the normal client?

No date, but I'm starting to really like the Beta

drafting with it is really awesome

one more week till we start posting amazing cube decks!

gogogo turn 1 wins!

Did worse than X-1 in 4 out of the last 5 live drafts (X-1 or better gets prize). Maybe I need to take a break until Born of the Gods releases.

Whining aside, I read this article that Ben Stark wrote about switching colors in a draft: http://www.channelfireball.com/artic...tching-colors/

The TL;DR of his example: Suppose you're at Pack 1 Pick 5 of an M14 draft. So far you have drafted: Serra Angel, Pacifism, Doom Blade, Quag Sickness. Assume we have not passed anything remarkable so far. Now in this 5th pack, you see Deathgaze Cockatrice, Charging Griffin, Rumbling Baloth as the only cards of note. Most people here pick Cockatrice/Griffin and don't consider it close. Ben Stark says he takes Rumbling Baloth and it's not close to him.

I have read the article multiple times, and I still don't understand how he's making the decision to take Rumbling Baloth over the other two cards. I spoke with two VERY good players at LGS's I play at (they both go X-0 or X-0-1 at least 80% of the time), and both of them said his decision there is 100% wrong. What do you guys think? I can't wrap my head around it, but the #1 ranked Magic player has to know a thing or two about drafting, right?

Baloth pick 5 is a huge signal Green is open, in almost any format playing open colors > playing best color with 3/4 guys drafting it.

Now in Stark's exemple you have 2 super strong white cards, you have doom blade and Quag sickness who's overall not great except in WB auramancer. But baloth pick 5 is telling you that you will have sick green cards later in that pack and all the 3rd pack.

Also WB is the worst color association in almost every limited format because casting costs are full of WW and BB requirements. In M14 it's good when you have 3 quag 3 auramancer

Overall you need to respect signals in the first pack, you're getting 2 pack from your right and only 1 from your left so you better play the color you're getting from your right.

So maybe I'm just not understanding what constitutes a signal and what doesn't. In my time playing M14, I thought Rumbling Baloth was a pretty good card, but I never found it amazing. I don't think I ever saw one around picks 4-6 and thought to myself "oh wow, I have to take that over the cards that complement the great cards I already have". Are you saying that a strong common in Pack 1 Pick 5 is not just a strong indication that the color could be open, but that you should just take it over the cards in the colors you already have and risk not having supplementary cards? My friends were saying Deathgaze Cockatrice is a pretty legit creature, and I agree.


Maybe I should give an example that came up where I tried to do something like the article said and got owned for it. It's Pack 1 Pick 5, and so far I have 2 very good black cards and 2 good green cards, but nothing noticeable yet with signals. I see a Pharika's Cure and a Magma Jet. I like Jet a lot more, and I'm not a fan of how Cure is BB instead of 1B. But normally in this situation, I pick the Cure to go with my cards so far and reluctantly pass the Jet. But I tried the idea out and took the Jet. Then I saw NOTHING in red. I made a deck that needed that Pharika's Cure (I had a slower deck), and I could not use the Jet because I was black-green with no fixing. I was pretty upset about that since looking back, it felt like I picked incorrectly. Are there any discrepancies between my situation and the hypothetical situation Ben Stark made earlier?

The discrepancy is that Magma Jet is a crap card and not an indication that Red is open.

Right, and red is generally seen as worse than the other colours by enough that fighting over black or green is still likely to give you a better deck.

Also, Cure and Jet are functionally similar, so you haven't given yourself a strong incentive to move into red if it starts flowing. In M14, a Baloth is going to be better than most of their creatures and what you've drafted already.

Interesting. I have noticed many 3-toughness creatures in this set. Maybe I overrated it.

So let's replace that Magma Jet in the situation I had with, say, a Nimbus Naiad. Would you take Naiad over Cure in this situation?

Nimbus Naiad is probably the best common in the set. I'd take Naiad there and be shocked it made it that late.

M14 is all about power. Every color has removal so every deck will end up with removal. Not every deck will end up with 4 power 4 toughness guys that end the game in a hurry.

Cross posted from mtg salvation. I am playing GR Tron. This is Modern constructed.

I am playing against Kiki Pod post board. It is my turn. My opponent has three lands, pod, Noble Hierarch, Bird, Spellskite, and Fauna Shaman in play. Qasali Pridemage is in his graveyard. I have Tower, Mine, Power Plant, Forest, Ghost Quarter, and Torpor Orb in play. I have Karn, 2x Oblivion Stone, Scrying, and Expedition Map in hand. I have 15 life. My opponent has two cards in hand and plenty of life. I know he boarded in two Negates, hasn't had a chance to play one yet if he does have one in hand, and will counter either Karn or Oblivion Stone if he does have one. He has Negate mana up. What is the correct play?

Sorry no screen shot. This was live.

Probably best is just Scrying for Eye, use it at their EOT. It is not like the cards in your hand are needed right now.

Wow. I'll be honest, that play didn't even cross my mind. I did board out two Wurmcoils but I do still have one in the deck so I could go get him. Or get Emrakul and hope to draw a land in two turns. Interesting.

Also when Dailys coming back?

Last week.

O lol shows how much I have been playing lately

I don't even care if I waste a billion tickets this week, drafting Boros with Library of Alexandria and Mox Pearl is too damn fun.

Are there any money cards in Masques except Port and Tangle Wire? Also what's good in limited?

Good link for money cards per set: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/prices/online/legacy_two

Thanks. Forgot about Misdirection, and some other good ones too I guess.

Has the gleaming not begun? Where are the screenshots?!

I drafted a bunch of garbage decks to begin with (I mean, they were great on paper, with Ancestrals and Mana Drains and Libraries and Tinkers and bla bla), then I just said **** it and decided to force Boros so I first picked Arid Mesa:



First win of the night, time to open Port or Misdirection!

I won one with UG that wouldn't even be good in normal cube. Somehow other people's decks were just even worse.

Please stop talking about strategy to this game at 1/2 at Venetian. It scares the fish and is super boring and lame. Regards, people trying to make sure rec players have fun

wat