Posts made by Twiedel

Wow thanks so much for compiling this info. I'm currently building the top 2 decks from '94 with my oldschool pool, and now I can even go for the whole top 4 - cool stuff

Wow, that Spirit deck brings back memories of Spiketail Hatchling Really cool to see an unpowered player that far up in a field of broken plays.

As long as he is only doing it to your deck when you present it (meaning the deck was nicely shuffled to begin with) I don't see the problem here.

Of course it is not a "shuffle", but if cutting is ok, then this should be as well. If there is a requirement to shuffle, this is obviously not ok.

Cards to restrict:
None right now, the meta is still shifting a lot. I'd love it to settle first.

Cards to unrestrict:
Below are my picks for very likely safe cards, two of those should be unrestricted. Alphabetical order.

• Channel
• Flash
• Imperial Seal
• Memory Jar
• Ponder
• Windfall

Time of the full on only spells and mana decks is pretty much over I think. I don't see a deck with 4 Ponder 4 Preordain and running multiples of Windfall (which was always the card #60 in storm builds recently). Memory Jar's mana cost is also prohibitive, and if it is ever included then as a one-of Tinker target.

This is the kind of Hatebear I like. Even if the opponent removes this immediately, you still get the drain for 2 in. Also, it doesn't flat out say you cannot play certain cards - just makes your decision harder if it is actually worth it.

Exactly the type of hate I wanna see more of, next time just make it cost 2 ^^

@Islandswamp Which brings me back to my argument: It wouldn't affect the price of a real A/B Lotus, as reprints in general look horrible

Was in love with Unglued when they were printed, but since playing 93/94 I really grew fond of Alpha Basics. The colors, borders and artworks have something magical - but I'm not quite sure if they fit applications other than Oldschool and Vintage.
For newer formats, I'd prefer Zendikar Full art or still Unglued

I don't see this in a big blue shell that doesn't care about playing more spells. You'd have to bounce 4+ cards to get on par with Fact or Fiction, which sees no play at all. If this is going to be a card in any kind of strategy, it must be one that cares about you replaying cards (Storm, Mentor) or decks that can pretty much guarantee a 4+ bounce, which is no easy feat. I'll try it out in an Acdemy shell to see where it can got, but I doubt it is any good for ritual storm decks right now.

@Smmenen said:

Enjoyment and fun are inherently subjective concepts. That's why I have objectified fun into a more quantifiable concept: "Meaningful Choice." People want to have meaningful choice in 1) deck selection, 2) color selection, 3) tactics, 4) strategy, and 5) in game decision making. As long as a format is diverse, with lots of card options, I have faith that players enjoy meaningful choices.

This is basically what I've also been trying to say (less eloquent obviously). But it seems people try to read other stuff into my posts, just because I also stated my personal weighting of these 5 and how Hatebears might have a different weighting than decks I personally favour.

This whole "us" and "you" thinking is really annoying, please don't give me a label and treat me as if I talked down on you when I actually argue that every one of us has different ideas what fun in Vintage means, and they're all valid.

I appreciate it when games are decided by in-game decisions, not necessarily stack-based interaction. As soon as there is decent tutoring in Hatebear strategies (and the white Recruiter is potentially promising) you can count me in.
And please don't reduce my example to the functionality of uncounterability, it was just to highlight that the impact of certain cards can be very hit or miss. This has absolutely nothing to do with card types or strategy. I dislike Belcher for the exact same reasons - opponent has Force T1 I loose, opponent doesn't have the Force I win. Some people might enjoy the thrill of taking a 60/40 chance on turn 1, but for me that is not what I consider fun or interesting gameplay.

@ribby I'm not talking about playing against them necessarily, I've played Hatebear decks in the past - but I feel like the lists a few years ago didn't have such a high variance as the power level was lower and you generally played mroe thats that esentially did the same thing. This was before e.g. Cavern arrived.
So let's take Cavern as an example. It is in your opening hand about 40% of the time, and that is something you cannot influence at all - but still it is a huge factor in beating certain openers from blue decks. That's the kind of randomness I don't like.

"If that Savannah was a Cavern you'd have lost on the spot - but you countered my first two creature and proceeded to win the game the next turn" kind of situations I personally find very frustrating, no matter which end I'm on.

Not sure about this. Could be the typical "looking good but really just WIN MORE" card. But dropping this and getting 5/5s out of Gush and Force, bigger stuff out of a delve spell.... could get out of hand pretty fast and as an Enchantment is difficult to remove.

Doesn't require you to run white like Mentor, but I feel in this brave new world, white is not a downside any more

@Thewhitedragon69 Your post actually highlights one of my points: There is no single Hatebeat that can shut down every strategy, thus with the decks usually lacking tutor effects, it becauses a game of chance. A deck full of hate becomes a "hit and win or miss and loose" kind of matchup, and that is somthing that I find extremely frustrating, no matter if I win or loose.

Of course you can argue that in Vintage, especially with decks running loads of one-offs, this community should be used to it, but if you run the typical Vintage decks of the past (dredge, shops, big blue) you find that they operate pretty stable and redundant. So for me, this silver bulleting is something I never really experienced in Vintage all that much.

I think a point that might be overlooked is a problem with "you can't do X" cards that is also what lead to the most complaints about workshops:

The prison strategy makes it exceptionally important who goes first / drops their card first.

I can play land, mox, ancestral and a hatebear deck has no chance to stop me. They can drop Cavern, remove Elvish Spirit Guide and play Spirit of the Labyrinth. It is basically me having a starting hand of land, mox, sol ring and my opponent going Workshop + Trinisphere on the first turn. The impact of the sequencing of cards is very troubling, especially when cards are not just getting worse by your opponents plays, but completely being shut off.

I understand that variance is important and enjoyable, but people value different kinds of variants as good or bad for a game. The hatebear strategies don't really appeal to me, as (mostly) hatebears are very distinct and turn down different things - I wouldn't get much satisfaction out of having the exact right hatebear in my first turn, because I know I could have just sa well had the one that misses my specific opponents deck. Personally, I like to have the most control over what my deck is doing: tutors, library manipulation. But that is something that other people find boring.

With that in mind, I think that Magic is indeed moving in a direction that some of us don't like - be it because we are used to our "old ways" or because we just have a preference for specific types of variance or strategies. But I think we have to acknowledge that many people actually enjoy these new ways to play - Standard and Modern (and MTG in general) are exceptionally popular, so the kind of interactions that R&D showcases seem to resonate with a LOT of people.

@Smmenen said:

Regarding your interesting analogy (posted on social media) comparing the use of only some sets to Vintage cars, ...

Of course you know an analogy only goes that far... but I think a lot of people got the point in not allowing revised or proxies way better than just arguing about cards. If someone came to a Muscle car race with a reproduction, they probably wouldn't feel entitled to compete. Same is true with reprints and oldschool.

That being said, I think I agree with you on the CE/IE cards, though I personally don't enjoy playing with them too much. To get the same "aesthetic" they are perfectly fine, and if you're using dark/black sleeves then it probably won't even be noticed by your opponent at a glance.

I really love Unlimited though, I think near mint Unlimited cards are just beautiful. Don't know where and when I got this, but probably because UNL cards where mostly compared to Revised and not Alpha/Beta. A comparison that they would always win, of course.

No idea what happened / what you did but the bug is gone for me, still using the same firefox version.

The deck looks great - a truly broken strategy with a lot of consistency through adding Expedition Maps as additional Tolarians and Mox Opal as additional Moxen.

I also think the sideboard needs work, especially regarding Shop (because I don#t think they will keep laying low for long), but this is a very very solid start!

Thanks for sharing!

found out they are only available in the US - haven't found something similar in Europe yet

Backstory: I'm a bit pessimistic about wether insurance is paying what they promised, mainly from stories of family and friends. Never had an issue with my own insurance company, but they have a local agent that is well known and has a reputation to loose - so I feel pretty safe there.

@Khahan: You obviously think that collectinsure is trustworthy - what led you to this other than their professional correspondence? Are they a well known player in the field or a newcomer?

Additional question: Do I have to get some extra security for my collection? Is it ok to just have the cards in a normal cabinet or do I need to get a safe?

Thanks in advance guys!

One of the best articles I read this year, great job. A timeless piece - despite discussing Gush specifically.

The quotes were perfect by the way. Can't stand how cool Kai Budde answered that question back in the day. ^^