or rather, there needs to be an actual cost to entering a draft, or else the drafts won't be playable, as demonstrated in an actual event that happened
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:22 (ten years ago) link
I think you could create some point system or make mtgo ratings public again
― iatee, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:22 (ten years ago) link
like let's say you get paired w/ people of similar ranking so if you just lose and drop all the time you don't even get to play in serious drafts
― iatee, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:23 (ten years ago) link
i dont think ratings are enough to disincentivize people from joining a million drafts and only playing the good ones - would at the very least have to be some points system where you can only join X drafts per day by default and can win more entries, plus a ladder/ranking system
even if there's a way to make it work i suspect the subscription model violates all their business strategies and is completely off the table
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:27 (ten years ago) link
yeah that last part is true for sure, but I think a ladder/ranking system is totally viable in theory. you can disincentivize losing in lots of different ways (you can't play as often, you can't play good players)
― iatee, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:28 (ten years ago) link
I also think such a system would make a lot of casual players into really, really strong limited players
― iatee, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:30 (ten years ago) link
yeah i will agree with that
i think they've said a new ranking/player stats system is on the table for the future but this server stability crap is presumably pushing everything back several months
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:32 (ten years ago) link
They never did anything like a tournament that you have to be at a high enough rating to enter, right? That's one way to make rating more of an incentive. But also agree there's almost no way they're switching to a subscription model at this point
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:53 (ten years ago) link
Oh I don't think they should be free, I just think it would be cool if you could play 'em for $1.50 or whatever the phantom points average out to after prizes. That said if you could win packs and actually have a way to use them (say the next time the set comes around on phantom Wednesday) then that would be nice as well.
the result was that a good chunk of people would join, draft a deck, and then immediately go join another rather than play their matches unless their deck was perfect, meaning the drafts ended up being just a series of byes with few actual matches of magic being played
yep this describes why playing on MTGO >>> playing on Netdraft (which may not exist anymore)
― frogbs, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:58 (ten years ago) link
xp not that i know of, pretty much all invite-only tournaments use QPs as the basis. i think they don't really want to use the Elo ratings anymore, they're just in there as a leftover from a previous time when they were used in paper magic too. QPs are more analogous to planeswalker points so I suspect they'll continue to be what they use going forward unless they develop a more nuanced OP system for MTGO.
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 18:59 (ten years ago) link
Oh right, QPs. Yeah that's basically the equivalent of inviting based on rating. So I guess rating/QPs is still not enough of an incentive for many to finish the draft if drafting is free. Maybe MTGO should have a draft w/o playing option, like what ccgdecks does. That's always been the most fun part for me anyway. Everyone can just vote on whose deck is best!
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 21:09 (ten years ago) link
haha yeah I would play drafting: the gathering
― iatee, Wednesday, 20 November 2013 21:10 (ten years ago) link
so flashback drafts are 3tix + packs, or 15tix if you don't have them, with no uptick in prizes. that's kinda shitty.
― frogbs, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:35 (ten years ago) link
the old flashback drafts pre-cube-era were 15 tix too, this isn't some new thing, though it does seem to have offended a lot of people this time around
― ciderpress, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:38 (ten years ago) link
still, their inability to come up with events appealing enough to appease angry modo players rather than generate more invective is pretty uncanny
― ciderpress, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:41 (ten years ago) link
I thought the old flashbacks were nix tix??
― frogbs, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:46 (ten years ago) link
old ones were either nix tix or nix pax - the nix tix ones you needed to have the packs which were often hard to find during the week they were up and would end up costing you at least 2 extra tickets anyway to buy. nix pax ones were 15 tix to enter.
― ciderpress, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:49 (ten years ago) link
either way kind of a raw deal considering that there's only a small handful of cards worth anything in sets that aren't in Standard. like I can see doing it just for kicks but IMO the Cube is a lot more fun and is cheaper, too. these really should be just the cost of the packs, or at least the same as normal drafts, adding that 3rd ticket in a time where everyone's pissed at MTGO is really off putting
― frogbs, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:54 (ten years ago) link
those awesome sealed queues are still up though. I really don't know how they determine the structure of anything anymore.
― frogbs, Friday, 22 November 2013 17:55 (ten years ago) link
well there goes my infinite, 1-14 in my last 15 matches. I can't think of any more ways I can lose.
― frogbs, Tuesday, 26 November 2013 06:13 (ten years ago) link
DE/PEs coming back up in a couple weeks barring any unexpected server crashes before then
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 26 November 2013 06:19 (ten years ago) link
powered cube is back again too for the holidaze
― ok (Lamp), Tuesday, 26 November 2013 06:38 (ten years ago) link
Had an absolutely ridiculous sealed pool today that included Nighthowler, Disciple of Phenax, Gray Merchant, Insatiable Harpy, Keepsake Gorgon, Hythonia, Abhorrent Overlord, and Ashen Rider. It was very unfair.
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Saturday, 30 November 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/nvlHG5W.jpg
just won back-to-back standard 8-man queues with this, it's pretty decent if you're looking for something playable that isn't mono-blue or mono-black.
hoping that the next set will shake up standard significantly because i am super bummed that really strong multicolor cards like fleecemane lion and ghor-clan rampager are essentially unplayable. this is probably my least favorite standard season since i started playing competitively.
― ciderpress, Sunday, 1 December 2013 01:05 (ten years ago) link
BRAGGIN': went 8-1 during day one of gp toronto, p psyched for tomorrow, have a legit shot at top 8 maybe possibly if i play well &c &c
― Ю Ю Ю (Lamp), Sunday, 1 December 2013 06:21 (ten years ago) link
cool, good luck
― ciderpress, Sunday, 1 December 2013 06:53 (ten years ago) link
nice one lamp, let us know how you get on
― Roberto Spiralli, Sunday, 1 December 2013 13:45 (ten years ago) link
Awesome, good luck!
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Sunday, 1 December 2013 14:02 (ten years ago) link
Way to go Lamp!
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Sunday, 1 December 2013 15:52 (ten years ago) link
i went 11-4, 3-3 on day two. i 0-3'd my first draft pod going 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 with a really, really good deck in big part thanks to variance. got a game loss for dropping a card in-between matches and presenting a 39 card deck which was sort of a dagger. but i still probably couldve played tighter and pulled at least one of those matches out. i then proceeded to savagely money draft (got passed two planeswalkers!) and somehow went 3-0, 6-0. really disappointed in my result because i think i drafted exceptionally well and put myself in a position to top 8 and kinda just threw the chance away. anyway it certainly more fun/exciting than top 8ing a mtgo ptq which was my previous best result at a magic event.
― Ю Ю Ю (Lamp), Monday, 2 December 2013 02:03 (ten years ago) link
That's still quite a good result - did you finish in the money?
― Vinnie, Monday, 2 December 2013 14:19 (ten years ago) link
no my breakers were pretty bad - my only loss day one was to someone that didnt even make day two. i actually scooped to my opponent round 15 after i beat him because he had a decent chance at top 64 whereas i had none. finished 90th. tbh everyone was kinda sour since this was the last gp under the old payout structure - the same result at a similar sized gp this coming wknd would've netted me $250 :(
also sorry for blogging :(
― Ю Ю Ю (Lamp), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 02:51 (ten years ago) link
No need for sorries, I love reading tournament reports! The same thing happened to me at GP Charlotte, where I started out awesome day 1, but lost my first four rounds day 2. I dropped because I couldn't finish in the money anymore, but under the new payout, I think I would have had a shot at money still.
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 03:53 (ten years ago) link
mogis has been kind to me lately, won back-to-back drafts with these eerily similar decks
http://i.imgur.com/xUCLd2a.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ruUFY19.jpg
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:25 (ten years ago) link
those both look insane, though I'd cut a land and the Stoneshock for the Akroan Crusader and the Baleful Eidolon on that first one
― frogbs, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:34 (ten years ago) link
i hate crusader without a bunch more ordeals etc than i have there
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:48 (ten years ago) link
i think it's fine with 2 dragons mantle
― frogbs, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:49 (ten years ago) link
those decks are p nuts but can i say i like the idea of calling color pairs by their respective deities quite a bit
― Lamp, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:53 (ten years ago) link
yeah for some reason using the rav guilds and alara shards as names for decks that aren't built with/around cards from those sets has always bothered me
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 04:58 (ten years ago) link
Haha, I thought you meant Fanatic of Mogis. Didn't realize that people referred to decks using deity names at all
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 13:43 (ten years ago) link
Not even sure I know what all the deity names are!
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 13:44 (ten years ago) link
they've all been mentioned on cards already
WU = EpharaWG = KarametraWB = AthreosWR = IroasUB = PhenaxUR = KeranosUG = KruphixBR = MogisBG = PharikaGR = spoilers
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:43 (ten years ago) link
Did not know that. I suppose just analyzing cards in Theros you could figure it out
when you said Mogis I thought you meant a deck with 2-3 Fanatics as main kill mechanism
― frogbs, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:45 (ten years ago) link
that said I find B/R in Theros very intriguing. it seems like one of the few decks that can stay ahead of a good U/W heroic build
― frogbs, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:49 (ten years ago) link
you can even figure out most of their subtitles from flavor text & context & the temple names, like karametra = harvest, keranos = mischief, iroas = war, ephara = wisdom, etc.
current rumor based on anonymous sources who have supposedly seen cards from the next set is that U/W, G/W, and B/R temples are in it and then the B/G and U/R are being slowrolled until the 3rd set which i'm not a fan of but at least i'll get my GW temple.
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:51 (ten years ago) link
Yeah I guess I knew the names except Keranos but had no idea what colors went with who. I'm sure the names will get used more when we get the actual god cards for them.
― Vinnie, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:52 (ten years ago) link
I'm bummed that the B/G temple isn't coming in the next set, that was the one I was really anticipating.
― Ornate Coleman (Moodles), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 14:59 (ten years ago) link
is it a good idea to horde temples right now?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
if you want to make a few bucks, they seem like a good candidate, but it's hard to imagine them hitting 10
― iatee, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 15:21 (ten years ago) link
http://magiccards.info/mr/en/269.html
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 15:22 (ten years ago) link