Hey everyone,
The sealed deck ptq season has almost passed, with only a few left...and i dont know if there is any chance of many people attending the remaining ptq's, although im looking into London, and whispers of a potentially messy Dundee trip were seen wandering round TJ's on various occasions.
The good news is, however, that if any further proof was needed that in the last 12 months Leeds has become a stomping ground of players itching to get on the tour, Andy Edwards managed to do just that this season, which is great news for both Andy and Team Leeds, im sure Andy will do really well in San Diego.
Extended season follows shortly after christmas, this time with blue envelopes bound all the way to San Juan. I have for some time considered extended to be the best constructed format (with lejacy a close second), so im pretty excited to get a delicious brew ready for January. The one thing i have decided about my deck already, however, is that it isn't going to be a netdeck, or probably even an established archetype.
I have constructed magic really tedious for a couple of reasons lately, especially in standard. Firstly, the type of decks around at the moment deliver horrible mirror matches. Mirror matches will always be horrible to some extent, but so many decks put me off simply by the fact that i may have to play against it as well (thanks, cascade!).
Going rogue is something that i have been pretty keen on for a while now, i think as long as the deck is still up there in terms of power level, then i am happy to sacrifice a little bit of efficiency for the extra percentage that going rogue gets you. Conley woods has, in the last year or so, made a name for himself based on solid performances with original decks. I think his performance shows that there shouldn't be too much pressure on picking rock, paper or scissors....because somewhere out there might be a slightly less powerful deck that noone really knows how to play against.
Why is the rogue factor important? I think having an original deck is a major advantage. In most high level constructed events, you will probably know around 70 of an opponants 75 after their first land drop. If you have a rogue deck however, the opponant will, for example, not know how to play their deck based on what you have. This problem only gets trickiet with sideboarding, when, without knowing whats in your deck, an opponant has little chance of knowing what to put in against you, and even if they do, not anticipating a rogue deck may mean they simply dont have anything in theirc sideboard to deal with your deck.
I know going rogue isn't for everyone, and i know that my deckbuilding skills wont allow me to break formats with rogue decks everytime, or at all. However, iv pretty much decided that from now on, all my constructed decks will be out of the ordinary. Im, personally, more than happy to play a slightly less powerful deck on the basis that the rogue factor will get me there, and if it doesn't, im pretty happy to be playing something different and more fun to play; because it's always more satisfying to be playing a deck you've made or inovated.
So the point of this article is to get Team Leeds to put their deckbuilding hats on again. We do get some crazy decks at WNM, but with a lot of the team looking to push PTQ's and higher level tournaments, most guys are choosing to stick with decks hot from Pro Tour or 5K top 8's.
Thats about all for this today sadly, im on my girlfriends laptop and the battery is running out. Tomorrow i will go through some of the best rogue standard decks from worlds, and hopefully that will get the creative juices flowing and we will see some crazy decks turn up next wednesday at standard WNM
.....or ill spend a long night taking 3 damage and discarding two cards.
Untill then,
Jim.
As always, feel free to comment on the article below. If you would like to contribute to the blog via and article, pictures, or absolutely anything, please contact me at ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk
The sealed deck ptq season has almost passed, with only a few left...and i dont know if there is any chance of many people attending the remaining ptq's, although im looking into London, and whispers of a potentially messy Dundee trip were seen wandering round TJ's on various occasions.
The good news is, however, that if any further proof was needed that in the last 12 months Leeds has become a stomping ground of players itching to get on the tour, Andy Edwards managed to do just that this season, which is great news for both Andy and Team Leeds, im sure Andy will do really well in San Diego.
Extended season follows shortly after christmas, this time with blue envelopes bound all the way to San Juan. I have for some time considered extended to be the best constructed format (with lejacy a close second), so im pretty excited to get a delicious brew ready for January. The one thing i have decided about my deck already, however, is that it isn't going to be a netdeck, or probably even an established archetype.
I have constructed magic really tedious for a couple of reasons lately, especially in standard. Firstly, the type of decks around at the moment deliver horrible mirror matches. Mirror matches will always be horrible to some extent, but so many decks put me off simply by the fact that i may have to play against it as well (thanks, cascade!).
Going rogue is something that i have been pretty keen on for a while now, i think as long as the deck is still up there in terms of power level, then i am happy to sacrifice a little bit of efficiency for the extra percentage that going rogue gets you. Conley woods has, in the last year or so, made a name for himself based on solid performances with original decks. I think his performance shows that there shouldn't be too much pressure on picking rock, paper or scissors....because somewhere out there might be a slightly less powerful deck that noone really knows how to play against.
Why is the rogue factor important? I think having an original deck is a major advantage. In most high level constructed events, you will probably know around 70 of an opponants 75 after their first land drop. If you have a rogue deck however, the opponant will, for example, not know how to play their deck based on what you have. This problem only gets trickiet with sideboarding, when, without knowing whats in your deck, an opponant has little chance of knowing what to put in against you, and even if they do, not anticipating a rogue deck may mean they simply dont have anything in theirc sideboard to deal with your deck.
I know going rogue isn't for everyone, and i know that my deckbuilding skills wont allow me to break formats with rogue decks everytime, or at all. However, iv pretty much decided that from now on, all my constructed decks will be out of the ordinary. Im, personally, more than happy to play a slightly less powerful deck on the basis that the rogue factor will get me there, and if it doesn't, im pretty happy to be playing something different and more fun to play; because it's always more satisfying to be playing a deck you've made or inovated.
So the point of this article is to get Team Leeds to put their deckbuilding hats on again. We do get some crazy decks at WNM, but with a lot of the team looking to push PTQ's and higher level tournaments, most guys are choosing to stick with decks hot from Pro Tour or 5K top 8's.
Thats about all for this today sadly, im on my girlfriends laptop and the battery is running out. Tomorrow i will go through some of the best rogue standard decks from worlds, and hopefully that will get the creative juices flowing and we will see some crazy decks turn up next wednesday at standard WNM
.....or ill spend a long night taking 3 damage and discarding two cards.
Untill then,
Jim.
As always, feel free to comment on the article below. If you would like to contribute to the blog via and article, pictures, or absolutely anything, please contact me at ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk
I can't comment on extended, as its something I'm unfamiliar with - but in regards to standard you have an excellent point. Magic was designed for infinite variation, not the top three decks of the metagame!
ReplyDeleteDan H