Hello one and all! Thanks for taking the precious time from your web surfing activities to read my little blog. To help put these writings in some context, let me provide the background. I'm a high school senior living in the great state of Delaware. I love the game of Magic and have been playing off and on for the past five years. My friend playgroup is pretty competitive in a casual way. I play MTGO whenever I get the chance and my favorite format is booster draft. Unfortunately, the area is lacking in good game stores with FNM so this limits my Standard interest but I still keep up with the Joneses (or the goyfs, seems more fitting).
Format Info
To keep these Magic blogs interesting, I will try to add in some reflective thoughts on just about anything that comes to mind. These aren't meant to anger or raise a dispute but please comment if you have your own opinions. I'll treat the comments as a form of blog metagaming.
Standard
I am a control player at heart. This comes from a sort of subconscience need to be able to just say, "NO," whenever I feel like it. I also like playing with useful creatures that will win the game in short order. So needless to say, I LOVE ME SOME FAE! Overall, I believe faeries are the most versatile and powerful deck in the current format. The only truly bad matchups are mono-red burn and kithkin.
Mono-Red Burn is a tough matchup because their removal is flat out better than yours. Pyroclasm and Sulfurous blast coupled with their cheap burn is unfortunately extremely effective against the little faeries. Flashfreeze out of the board helps but it requires really tight play (and a fair amount of luck) to win. The only advice I can give (being an even 50-50 in playtesting) is to take your time with the victory. The last turns are without a doubt the most crucial. Do not be in a rush and play around instant speed burn. The best overall play for faeries in my opinion is Pestermiting to tap their Keldon Marauders. It is amazingly effective and is often the difference.
As for kithkin, the matchup just looks bleak. Their early game is usually just too much to overcome as most fae builds aren't running damnation (and in all honesty, they shouldn't). You will almost certainly need to have a bitterblossom, sower, and deathmark (out of the side) to win. Game one is pretty terrible and the next two really require a good amount of luck to win.
On the bright side, the fae have a major advantage over the rest of the field. The only real fear is an evoked cloudthresher (due to flash), but if played carefully you should be able to counter it. Overall, I would have to say that in Games 2 and 3, deathmark and flashfreeze are the nuts if they warrant sideboarding against the opponent's deck.
Movies
I am a regular movie buff. Not so much as to buy hundreds of DVD's and watch them everyday, but more on the level of trying to get down to the theater about once a week to check out the newest releases. I will probably comment on a movie or two in each blog.
Best movie for me over the past few months had to be Cloverfield. As a major gamer, having the first person view with a a guy named Hudson (called HUD during the film), is the perfect experience. I loved the whole action packed adventure, and was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The recent release of Never Back Down to me is plain sad. I refuse to see a movie that depicts some hyped-up bunch of teenagers fighting to "prove themselves and earn respect." This is a pathetic attempt to attract a bunch of young viewers who already have enough problems with bullying and peer pressure in their lives. While it may be an entertaining movie, I hate what it stands for and the actions it promotes to other people my age.
Draft
I love the current draft environment. There are so many options and it is always a fun experience. I believe I am a slightly above average player. Online I have a pretty poor record, usually winning the first round and never making it to the finals. The few times I have attended a FNM, I have done much better (3-1 or better). I attribute this to my horrible luck online (I have never opened a bomb rare that I could justify picking over a piece of removal), and the increased focus I gain from actually holding the cards in my hand.
My experience with LLM has taught me that while red is often underdrafted, it is for a good reason. I have drafted two red elemental decks with at least 2 smokebraiders and around seven evoking beaters but have never won more than one match. This comes even with getting passed a second pick, holo (not that it matters but still..), Incandescent Soulstroke. The problem is you have to settle for otherwise mediocre cards that while fairly good in your deck, usually can't stand up to the opponent's quality cards. Don't get me wrong, when you win, you win big (usually around turn 5), but when you lose it is extremely frustrating when you are one mana away from casting your game-saving fat.
Morningtide is a great addition mainly because of the new surprise factors. While the loss of another pack of Lorwyn hurts many pre-established archetypes, some of the lorwyn commons really can be the difference in a multiple of decks (tribal or not). All of the removal is welcome to many decks, but overall I feel Stonybrook Schoolmaster is practically a bomb common. In a merfolk deck with some other means of tapping (Drowner, Mothdust, Springleaf), he can flat out win games. I also like the interaction with Protective Bubble. While an otherwise extremely underwhelming card, I would be greatly appreciative if I could pick up one in picks 10-15; assuming I was running merfolk. It can be a decent filler and the interactions with Schoolmaster are amazing.
Politics
I love following the campaigns and haved stayed up to watch elections since I was 10. I currently support McCain as I am a Republican who cannot stand the thought of universal health care (while the idea sounds great, so did communism, and I feel it will have similar results). However, I feel that Obama has the potential to be one of the defining political figures of our time and would make an all-around decent president. His amazing speaking ability makes me believe he could actually unite our country (and by this I mean Congress), and get some good, effective legislation passed.
The recent race issue the media has jumped on makes me sick. While it may affect many votes, I believe the media should hold itself above such petty (and flat out wrong) discrimination. I like Fox as much as the next Republican, but watching the interviews of Obama's Reverend was appalling. I remember the Fox interviewer throwing in a last word before the commercial that went along these lines, "Reverend you keep refering to the "African community," I wonder if you could refrain from this language and use "American community." It would be more appropriate for the families watching at home." The Reverend was flabergasted and attempted a rebuttal and was cut off by some Viagra commercial.
Even as a Republican I have to say "Come On," this kind of blatant media prejudice only serves to distort viewer opinion and further the cause of certain political elites and their own special interests. I know it might be too much to ask for, but a little media integrity would be nice once in a while.
THE END
Well this was a long first blog, but I hope I sparked some thought and you enjoyed the read. Please leave comments and suggestions. Let me know if I should continue this blog series and what you feel would make for a good issue. I will go more in-depth with analysis and vary the other issues I discuss in the future. Thanks!
Tags: Magic
Related to:
Magic: the Gathering
