When I was a child, like many of you, I simply couldn’t wait for Christmas. It was always a really special time of year because my parents worked their
asses off for a calendar year to save up and make sure that it was ridiculous and lavish. They never had much growing up so it was their primary desire to
ensure that my brother and I always had an amazing holiday despite us not being very well off financially.
So what did I do to repay their hard work and boundless love?
I peeked, of course.
Who didn’t?
Those couple of days prior to Christmas when school went into winter break I had the house to myself. Mom and Dad worked full-time jobs, and I was in that
perfect age bracket where I was too young to be a babysitter to my little brother but too old to warrant one of my own, so he’d get shipped off to a nearby
house with a friend and their stay-at-home parent while I’d have rule of the roost. Remember how absolutely incredible that felt when you were a kid? How
exhilarating it was?
You were alone. In your house. No parents. No responsibility. You didn’t pay rent. You ate their food. You had no bills. All that existed was you and
whatever fun/trouble you could get in to, and in those days I was a dedicated present hunter.
If my father tried to wrap a present it would look like someone was trying to clown you, so Mom usually handled that the night before Christmas, which
meant everything she had gotten for us rested in a closet that wasn’t guarded except for a stern warning that I refused to heed. When they both left for
work I began the hunt, and it usually ended with me feeling even more excited for that fateful morning.
Feign surprise? Check.
Overact to compensate for inside knowledge? Check.
Feel like a god because I knew the future? Check and check.
As the years tumble by though, we lose sight of those kinds of feelings since what presents you get give way to having enough in your bank account to buy
for other people. Do you have time off? Who do you have to visit? Eventually Christmas becomes more of a headache than a head rush, and that joy slowly
fades away.
Until now.
Midnight on Christmas Eve means logging on to WotC’s homepage and seeing an advanced spoiler of something awesome from the new set. It’s like being a kid
all over again…we get to see what present we’re getting before we get it, and immediately my mind goes to work while visions of a new planeswalker dance
like sugarplums before my eyes.
The Big Gift: Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
I had a feeling we’d be getting some incarnation of Ugin, and I even hypothesized to my friends that it would almost certainly be a colorless planeswalker,
but I didn’t think he’d be this interesting or this good.
Behold! Not socks!
Now there are obvious comparisons that people will make and archetypes that they’ll instantly want to put Ugin in. Let me debunk some of them for you and
add some important truths.
Myth #1: Ugin Will Replace Karn Liberated
When spoiled, many people I follow or am friends with posted about how this card is a strict upgrade to Karn Liberated in Modern Tron decks, but that’s
tremendously ambitious and doesn’t feel like that is something that should or will happen.
Truth #1: Karn and Ugin Instead Will Be Bros
Ugin adds a very exceptional dimension for big mana decks, and that’s a sweeper that exiles less than or equal to the amount of loyalty you subtract. In
Tron decks this means your artifacts stick around, and his ultimate should win the game on the spot.
Myth #2: Ugin Will Have No Home in Standard
So far a common complaint is that Ugin is very expensive, and there aren’t any decks he really could fit in to boot. Elspeth seems to be the prominent
finisher from control decks, and most midrange decks might not be buying what the big dragon is selling.
Truth #2: Ugin Will 100% Find a Home in Standard
A goofy Wrath-like card named Crux of Fate means that U/B Control is about to gain a sweeper effect that isn’t as mana-intensive as Perilous Vault, which
was previously a big reason people were dipping in white for End Hostilities. Since U/B Control can sustain just sticking to two colors, a huge play like
Ugin could provide huge benefits. Without Banishing Light in your deck, the exile ability is fantastic for cleaning up the board, and Ugin’s +2 can clean
up anything played after. On an empty board, Ugin threatens an ultimate that will end most games, refilling the grip and even letting you drop something
like a Pearl Lake Ancient on the battlefield. It won’t see the saturation of Elspeth or Sorin, but be prepared for Ugin.
Myth #3: The Art is Stupid
It isn’t.
Truth #3: The Art is Awesome
It is.
Without a doubt, seeing this spoiler on Christmas Eve brought a huge smile to my face. Maybe it’s the inner Timmy in me, but this planeswalker makes me
want to brew.
When more of the set is spoiled, U/B Control is one of the first decks I’m going to heavily work on, so I’ll keep you posted on that as we edge closer to a
new Standard format.
The Gift Your Grandma Gives You but You’re Too Nice to Return: More Khans Lands
When I saw that they were reprinting the Khans frenemy lands, I can’t say I jumped for joy.
Sure, they serve a purpose. In Draft and in many different strategies, those lands can make or break your deck. At a recent PTQ, my Sealed pool was
absolutely ludicrous and embarrassing in how many Abzan rares it had, but there weren’t any tri-lands or enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands to exploit
these powerful cards. I tried to “get lucky,” but that’s rarely a bankable strategy.
These lands mean you can still find the fixing to play your powerful spells and can prioritize them in the same way that you do in triple Khans
Draft/Sealed since you’re not losing a pack containing them.
The artwork is even changing on them, so that’s neat.
However, my gripe would be that I am simply not a fan of reprints like this and that these lands add a “safety net” to drafting Khans block that I’m not
fond of. Obviously you can’t rely on getting lands to fix your manabase, so if Fate Reforged didn’t have them, then a bomb three-color rare is a lot less
appetizing, and therefore, the format loses some of that dynamic fun that it has. To me, that’s the kind of risk versus reward principle that really tests
skill in Draft.
This doesn’t woo me, but it doesn’t upset me that possible new land slots are going to these format staples instead.
Socks, man. Socks.
Stupid Freaking Fruitcake: Magic The Gathering Online
This week I loaded up V4 because I wanted to draft. Work had me on paid time off starting Christmas Eve, so imagine how stoked I was when I thought I’d be
able to crush some drafts, maybe play some Constructed, and stream for the first time in months.
After getting my X-Split fixed and raring to go, I fired up MTGO and decided to do a draft just to warm up before announcing a stream.
Those of you that follow me on social media are probably sitting there like, “I didn’t see you post a stream.”
Well I didn’t.
Magic Online crashed a few times and froze my computer once.
I have an excellent gaming computer, so it damn sure wasn’t the hardware.
Eventually I became annoyed with the words “Not Responding” so I decided to do something I’ve been doing a lot more: play Hearthstone.
Without a doubt 2014 is the year of Hearthstone. As I sit here I’m watching a player named Trump stream with 23,000 people watching him. This is a Sunday
night while the Steelers are playing Cincinnati in an extremely relevant game…and 23,000+ people are watching a mildly entertaining guy stream Hearthstone.
The game is very intuitive, easy to learn, and fun to watch. The drafting rules for it make it so you’re paired against people with a similar record,
meaning you can play a few games at you’re leisure and then go about your day. Constructed is vast and there are a ton of playable decks that are dependent
on playstyle, and getting Legendary feels like an accomplishment when you do it.
In short, the current version of Magic Online can’t even hope to compete with it.
Magic is the greatest game out there. It brings people together for massive, festive events that have become destinations rather than just tournaments. In
the world of online gaming though, which boasts viewership in the hundreds of millions, Magic is an afterthought. Unless there is a Pro Tour or SCG Open,
you’re hard-pressed to find any streamer with more than maybe 300 people watching.
The online incarnation, Version Four, might be one of the most unacceptable programs a major corporation has ever put out. Period.
Let me tell you a little story about a game called Daikatana. This game was the “evolution” of the first-person shooting genre popularized by games like
Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, or Doom. The creator, John Romero, spent years hyping this game and telling players that they were about to experience the
greatest thing since chocolate-covered pretzels. This guy was so blatantly full of himself that instead of taking out ads to showcase the advanced engine
it was running on, he just told syndications how great it was and how we were all about to become his “b****.”
Of course, nothing can live up to that much hype, and when Daikatana was released (almost three years after it was supposed to come out) it was panned. Can
you guess why? Ridiculously difficult interface, very little in the way of explanation, and the all-important experience killer: tons of bugs.
MTGO V4 is Daikatana.
When it’s not crashing or freezing, the amount of bugs the program has is like reading a comedy of errors, and what’s even sadder is that they seem to be aware of all of them. Because putting Band-Aids on giant holes in sinking ships is a strong play, when these errors do happen
you’re reimbursed. That’s real nice! I’ll spend the money, try to play the game, fail, and then have the privilege of letting packs and tickets sit on my
account while I log on to Hearthstone instead.
The dream of having Magic at our fingertips at all moments of the day is the most enticing and exciting prospect out there, and I’ve slogged through this
nonsense just because of how much I love this game regardless of these oversights. It just seems like poor business to me to leave all that money
just sitting there when WotC could be advocating a product that people find irresistible rather than repulsive.
When I read people like Todd Anderson or LSV posting on Twitter that they’re considering giving up on MTGO until it gets fixed breaks my heart. These are
players I love to watch battle through their videos, and if those disappeared it would be a huge hit to some of the best Magic content on the web. It’s
just a shame.
So what do I want for Christmas in 2015?
Get your pen ready, Santa.
Fix Magic Online for the millions of people that play this game.
Give players an awesome interface that’s simple to use but compelling. Design a program that people would want to watch streamed and watch the numbers
erupt even higher than they are now.
Show Hearthstone who’s boss.
Let’s try not to end things on a negative note, kiddies.
With the new year approaching, I want you all to stay safe, be responsible, and make 2015 the best year of your life. I’ll be traveling a lot more this
year, so I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.
Hoist a glass for me.
Cheers.