Counting Shadow Prices
I’d like to recommend this excellent theory article, “Putting It All Together” by Jacob Orlove.
Jacob’s masterpiece reminds me of my personal favorite piece “Counting Shadow Prices,” and given my present circumstances, I was hoping my readers might review that old article of mine and give feedback in light of what Jacob just released.
Type I developed a real and rapidly changing metagame before the Control Player’s Bible could be finished, so before I truly fade away into the oblivion of high-stakes litigation and start billing corporate clients for steak dinners I actually split with a date,*** I was hoping to tie up some loose intellectual threads. Thus, feedback on my old, favorite theory pieces would be great.
(Like the Bible, I hope to benefit primarily the beginners and vicarious, armchair Vintage players, and if you have any requests, do e-mail.)
“Counting Shadow Prices” incidentally contains a signed confession of Oscar’s worst pickup line ever (with Knut’s comments), and we don’t mean the cinnamon roll debacle chronicled by JP Meyer.
Oscar lives
This is probably my last set review.
I’ve faded away gently like a good Paragon.
I finally finished the national Bar exam, and my last contacts with the Magic world were several birthday greetings from old Paragons and Parfait creator Raph Caron a.k.a. K-Run, plus a short note from Steve Menendian, “Good luck in the Bar because you’re going to need it.”
Before that, I had a good run in Philippine legal writing****** and just signed the Contract from Below that sold my soul to a small law firm called Abello Cruz Concepcion & Regala.
Over the past few years, I’ve had to choose between playing Magic and writing about it. Now, I have to choose between writing about it and getting a life.
It didn’t take me long to sell my soul, people!
(But I’m still not selling my cards.)
Ravnica and Oscar’s rules of set review
Back in 2001, I wrote up two rules for sizing up new cards:
Is the card more efficient than an established benchmark? (Or, do I get more bang from my buck?)
Does the card do something no past card ever did, and if it does, is this new card playable?
And, for the more general discussion, refer to “Shadow Prices” (see “Counting Shadow Prices“).
I personally like Ravnica since Invasion was my favorite set for Limited play, down to how those pesky common tappers grew rarer as the expansions were released. Simply, most Magic players enjoy playing with as many colors as possible, and the multicolored tricks reminded me of “The Deck.”
(Of course, the Saproling themes are enough to make me like Ravnica but that’s just me.)
However, in general, Ravnica is simply creature and combat-oriented. That makes Convoke and Radiance largely irrelevant, and Dredge’s looks awkward but not worth abusing.
So will we have a few off-theme cards?
Suppression Field
2005 Vintage World Champ Roland Chang almost lost twice to a simple Kataki, War’s Wage.
Suppression Field is a bit like the new legend, and it’s an annoyance best turned into a threat by teaming it up with other disruption. (To state the obvious, it hits everything from Goblin Welder to Polluted Delta, Bazaar of Baghdad and Wasteland, so it’s a damn fine annoyance.)
Disruption obviously points you to Fish with White, but this is counterproductive in a deck that has recently been defined by Aether Vials and Umezawa’s Jittes, not to mention other abilities from Wasteland to Mishra’s Factory.
That seems to leave multicolor Stax decks not heavily reliant on Welder.
Dark Confidant and Dimir Cutpurse
Dark Confidant is, honestly, a Type I enigma since it’s obviously a good card but on second thought, you’re not sure where it goes.
Control and combo want their draw in powerful bursts, so that leaves aggro-control, where Bob Maher, Jr. is a bear with built-in Curiosity (except turning over Force of Will is a pain).
Similarly, Dimir Cutpurse has two power and looks even more attractive than Shadowmage Infiltrator with Vial and Jitte supporting it. (I do think I underrated Ninja of the Deep Hours since I didn’t consider Vial’s synergy.)
If Ravnica makes Blue/Black Fish possible, these are the support bears to test, though I’m not sure if you’ll have enough slots for both in any case.
Muddle the Mixture and Perplex
Tutors always get Type I players excited, so some of you must be fantasizing about Transmute into Tinker or Yawgmoth’s Will. Thing is, tempo penalties are a bitch.
I mean, if you Transmute Dizzy Spell into Ancestral Recall, all you got was Concentrate. Worse, Transmute is at sorcery speed, and you don’t even see Cunning Wish these days.
The beginner’s note is that tutors should generally be cheaper than the spell they’re fetching, and should be really cheap in any case so you don’t waste more time tutoring than actually casting the spell (yes, this is why Demonic Consultation is so powerful).
Even if it’s Transmute to Yawgmoth’s Will in some combo deck (over Death Wish), I don’t think Transmute knocks out the available filtering and tutoring.
Incidentally, Perplex is hideous against a player with no hand who topdecks a bomb.
Bottled Cloister
Since Stax has few instants, you wonder if Bottled Cloister is a better Grafted Skullcap, one that doesn’t backfire with every Hurkyl’s Recall or Rebuild thrown at you.
Note, however, how often Roland Chang just boarded out Thirst for Knowledge, and you’ll doubt you can cut enough lock pieces to make room. Further, Robert Vroman has already come up with a scarier draw engine in Uba Mask plus Bazaar of Baghdad.
Interlude: My Mana Drains saw the light of day again
I was studying for this damned Bar exam since April, so it was a relief to have the thing done with – but the results come out next April – and go sign my Contract from Below. After that, I went straight to the card store in the mall near my new office.
What do I see?
Extra-thick sleeves and Beta Moxen on the table?
I walk straight up and have a very welcome afternoon of Type I, finally.
I brought something close to Probasco’s Gifts list.
I have to admit it was funny, in the sense that “The Deck” would always entertain people who were getting creamed because they desperately wanted to see how I’d kill them. Gifts, on the other hand, confuses the living daylights out of beginners.
The first guy who offered me a game had played against Stax and combo before, but for some reason, never against Mana Drains. The first time I cast Gifts, he read it thrice while another guy gasped when he saw the Recoup in the pile.
He got so scared of Recoup that he sent that to the graveyard and gave me Ancestral Recall and Tolarian Academy, even after I reminded him what Ancestral did.
(I won the next game after drawing into Turn 2 Darksteel Colossus protected by two Force of Wills. Goodbye Morphling!)
Thus, on the next Gifts, he insisted on sending Ancestral Recall into the graveyard, even after I explained that the Yawgmoth’s Will he was sending to my hand would just give it back to me.
Well, I guess explaining Gifts and Fact or Fiction beats explaining Tendrils of Agony. (The kid now knows what Yawgmoth’s Will does, no doubt.) Seriously, I’m just glad to start shaking all the rust out of my Magic reflexes. I did some really silly stuff!
In my last game, I tried my hand against some kind of Deathlong. I countered a couple of spells then dropped Engineered Explosives to kill our Moxen and shut off his Tolarian Academy. I then Fact or Fictioned into Thirst for Knowledge into Yawgmoth’s Will for all my Moxen back.
Thing is, instead of casting the Time Walk I drew off recurred Ancestral, I cast Demonic Tutor for Tolarian Academy, achieving nothing but killing his.
Embarrassed, I played the Mana Vault I drew, then the Belcher I discarded to Thirst, then Mystical Tutored for Mana Severance, and passed the turn sitting on a Force of Will (and fortunately won).
Damn, I’m even forgetting what the art on legendary lands look like!
I’ll be fine in a couple more weeks.
Oh, and I love the Thirsts so far, Andy…
It just friggin feels so good to be holding power cards instead of law books!!!
/end interlude
Razia, Boros Archangel
New six-power haste angel?
Even if Oath numbers have dwindled, you still have to ask if Razia, Boros Archangel replaces Spirit of the Night.
Or, is Vigilance and that defensive redirection better than trample?
I think so, since keeping counters off Umezawa’s Jitte sounds more important than flying chumps (and against Pentavus, you can still redirect damage to the supporting Goblin Welder).
Of course, the art seals the deal. If you thought Akroma was a skank, well… you just wonder where the elegance of the Beta Serra Angel went off to.
Probably got lost in the royalties renegotiations.
Blazing Archon and Nullstone Gargoyle
Blazing Archon is the other interesting white fattie, but it looks too specialized to be useful, and it can’t be Weldered out unlike Platinum Angel.
Nullstone Gargoyle is also interesting, on the heels of Erayo, Soratami Ascendant. However, Sundering Titan does something similar, but with a faster clock and a higher chance of being hardcast instead of Weldered.
Veteran Armorer
Old Man of the Sea was a great answer to Fish.
Kira, Great Glass Spinner was a great answer-answer to Old Man.
Old school Pyroclasm was a great answer-answer-answer to Kira.
Mental note: Could Veteran Armorer be a very narrow answer-answer-answer-answer to Pyroclasm?
Watchwolf
This is a very efficient creature, so do we apply Rule #1 and give it a thumbs up (never mind the color combination first)?
Notice that efficiency greats from Jackal Pup to Phyrexian Dreadnought (via Illusionary Mask) have all disappeared from tournaments. As I implied in “The Death of Aggro,” you only have two Type I decks these days.
First, your deck wins off some combo and races the opponent. Thus, Jackal Pup’s efficiency is irrelevant since Goblins combo off synergy.
Second, your deck disrupts the hell out of the opponent. If you saw old Oshawa Stompy builds, the efficiency was key in cheap disruption like Root Maze, not particular in the creatures anymore.
In short, you can all but throw out Rule #1 for beatdown creatures now.
Darkblast and Spawnbroker
Is Darkblast a possible narrow but terribly annoying answer to Goblin Welder?
Spawnbroker would be trying well too hard, though.
Consult the Necrosages and Putrefy
This is a “Vindicate problem,” meaning flexibility is much less important compared to tempo.
Hymn to Tourach is no longer playable, and Night’s Whisper sees very narrow use.
Did you expect to add an extra mana and improve either effect?
Repeat for Putrefy, not to mention how tough the color combination is.
Compulsive Research and Moonlight Bargain
Unlike Thirst for Knowledge, Compulsive Research is a sorcery, so thumbs down. The land discard is also tougher when you need mana early, and working with Crucible of Worlds is not as sexy as working with Goblin Welder.
As for Moonlight Bargain, I thought the spoiler put it at four mana, and I immediately wondered whether this new draw spell might be playable despite the double Black mana.
Oops, it’s actually five mana, so forget it.
Telling Time
Not a new Impulse.
Won’t inspire a new deluge of “Impulse like a…” Internet jokes.
Wonder if they could’ve named it “Giving Time” secretly in honor of Ed Banky’s car from Catcher in the Rye…
Leave No Trace
Unless multiple enchantments becomes a more common problem, I don’t think Leave No Trace makes the cut, and Stax decks bring in enchantments of different colors anyway.
Further, Serenity is a broader sideboard card, despite the one-turn delay.
Terrarion
I was thinking whether this might be a stronger Chromatic Sphere for combo.
Then I saw the “comes into play tapped,” so no.
Recollect
As the game got faster, Regrowth effects got weaker, since they do nothing until you cast the spell you wanted, and even then you expect to get what you wanted the first time.
Eternal Witness wasn’t anywhere near broken in Type I, so Recollect will just gather dust with Relearn.
Junktroller
Mental note: Carrion Beetle and Withered Wretch and their activation costs aside, Junktroller is a narrow solution to Welder out or reanimate that’s harder to play around than Phyrexian Furnace.
Reroute
Okay, so this is even narrower than Deflection.
However, given the long-running Thirst for Knowledge in Gifts debate here on Star City, wouldn’t you give a foil Noble Panther to see Steve Menendian Reroute a lethal Goblin Charbelcher hit from Andy Probasco? [I don’t even know what that means. -Knut, bewildered]
Shadow of Doubt and Remand
Shadow of Doubt’s cantrip will make some people think this is more useful than a real counter against things from Tinker to Gifts Ungiven. But more importantly, Remand is the same Magic IQ test as Memory Lapse: Do you or do you not understand tempo? (see “Counting Tempo“)
Eye of the Storm
This card confused the living daylights out of me, but if it doesn’t trump Yawgmoth’s Bargain or, it’s not that important, right? The usual. You could cast Time Walk followed by any instant or sorcery, but then why not just win for your trouble?
Hex
This is another Magic IQ test: Do you realize “six target creatures” is not the same as “up to six target creatures”?
Loxodon Gatekeeper
Mental note: For whatever reason it might be important, Kismet can now be searched for as a creature.
Sunhome Enforcer
Wildfire Emissary lives!
Boros Swiftblade and Rally the Righteous
Nice to see Wayne Alward’s double strike finally getting mileage, and I’d love to have this guy in casual White Weenie updated with equipment and Aurioks.
I also suppose I’m happy to see it come with a new Army of Allah, even if I have four copies and wonder if they’ll reprint it someday.
Congregation at Dawn
I so wish this is broken the way I wish Guided Passage could be, but Survival of the Fittest isn’t seeing play in Type I right now…
Selesnya Guildmage
My Thallid theme blueprint last had something to do with Thallids and Thallid Devourers fueled by Fungal Bloom and Gaea’s Cradle. Thing is, Selesnya Guildmage alone makes Fungal Bloom obsolete – not to mention Doubling Season – so I honestly wonder if I’ll end up taking the Thallids out of the Thallid deck?
Heck, Ravnica even gives us Tolsimir Wolfblood to trump old school Kaysa, and Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree is an in-theme Kjeldoran Outpost.
It even has Hour of Reckoning for all those annoying little Saprolings! (Honestly, one reason I’m so attached is the number of Fallen Empires packs my high school group bought just to complete the alternate art sets. One friend actually recorded the number of Saprolings in his graveyard for Animate Dead purposes until I told him tokens didn’t stay in graveyards.)
My mind is still muddled from the Bar, but someone please post me a good Thallid theme circa 2005 and I might start trading for the cards!
Flame Fusillade
I assume you’ve heard of the combo with Time Vault by now, though it’s intended for Legacy and not competitive Type I.
Well, there goes the last set review I’ll likely ever write. I do hope my beginners notes in these reviews have helped people have an idea what they want each prerelease.
Next week, I was planning to do one last article on “The Deck,” and what lessons 2005 players still draw from my favorite but superseded archetype, and how you new, young upstarts would be surprised at what you should have learned from the old school.
Again, if you have any loose threads you think I should tie up before I become a corporate mercenary noble officer of the Philippine justice system, just e-mail.
Oscar Tan (e-mail: Rakso at StarCityGames.com)
rakso on #BDChat on EFNet
Team Paragons of Vintage, still open for franchise
University of the Philippines, College of Law
Forum Administrator, Star City Games
Featured Writer, Star City Games
Author of the Control Player’s Bible
Maintainer, Beyond Dominia (R.I.P.)
Proud member of the Casual Player’s Alliance
*** — If you are my new boss or a client, this is a joke. Honest! It’s standard Star City humor, just go ask Knut!
****** — I guess I want to share with my other law student-readers that I was fortunate to graduate having achieved:
[If you want Oscar’s lengthy resume of awards, please e-mail him. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you anyway. – Knut]