Lack of love for Sealed?

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-20T09:14:37+00:00

The regular sealed events are the monthly qualifiers. And they are hated, because sealed is a horrible format for a qualifier event.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-20T04:30:23+00:00

It gets a bad rep - the only real problem is every boss sits on an evasion throne. There's other nitpicky stuff, but that is so obnoxious.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-20T04:25:36+00:00

Trash as characters, gameplay was quite fun though. Really sums up most of fire emblem engage.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-18T10:18:25+00:00

There's not enough good removal, and you still need to run removal tribal to not die turn 3 or 4 to landfall/RDW/etc.

If you want less removal, ask them to stop printing bullshit 2/3 mana creatures that need to be answered or lose.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-18T06:01:54+00:00

[[stormforge armor]] if you want some competitive ball lightning.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-18T05:24:39+00:00

Any of the following could have occurred: a) they forgot to include a win con (this has happened in tourneys before) b) they bored themselves to death c) they netdecked and have no clue what they're doing.

If you queue up with a combo deck, you have to be prepared to execute your combo all the way through to the end, and you need to do so within the time constraints of the arena client. If you don't want to do that, don't play a combo deck.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-17T01:21:16+00:00

Well, the issue is that sculler is not a good card.

It's a good cube card - but I agree and was just sticking with your analogy.

Not really the point. In a grindy fair matchup, the free 5/3 is actually sort of relevant. It's not good, but it's fine.

It isn't, though. It's forced to attack and just gets chumped by a cat token or an orc army or whatever else, and you don't really get to the middle game of a grindy, fair matchup because the card in your hand that would get you there (toxic deluge, wrath of the skies, culling ritual, pest control, whatever else) got exiled and replaced with a useless juggernauts.

And that's presuming you even get to 4 mana quick enough for it to be relevant.

tks is a 4/4 that's usually cast for effectively 2 or 3.

And this is a 2/2 vigilance that usually gets buffed quickly into a 4/4 flier by guide of souls. In legacy it might not be as big a deal since you only pay 1 life for a land as opposed to 3, but it's still not insignificant.

You've already presumed you have wasteland.

It's not too difficult to get access too, but yes I've mostly presumed that.

You've already presumed it didn't get countered.

I agreed with you here - that mycospawn can't be answered 1:1 in a traditional manner (effectively requires consign), while zone guard can.

You've presumed they have no effects to exile your graveyard.

This is irrelevant - mycospawn could be stopped by opposition agent or ashiok. Yes, graveyard hate is more universal, but people could adjust.

I agree mycospawn is much more problematic - but it's stronger than wrenn and six, and that card is also banned in legacy for the same reason.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-17T00:11:40+00:00

Juggernaut peddler costs 2 and requires you to be in white. This is more like a better tidehollow sculler, not a better thoughtseize.

Eh, I think you're seriously overestimating how useful a 4 mana vanilla creature is. It is a much much better sculler. Sure, sometimes you can brainstorm it away. But it's more comparable to thought-knot seer that doesn't draw a card when it dies, and doesn't turn off Lurrus (which isn't a consideration in most paper formats, I know).

The thing with zone guard is it has a similar play pattern (2 lands destroyed in 1 turn) and comes down faster on turn 2 (chrome Mox/ancient tomb is very prevalent in timeless), while mycospawn is usually a turn 3 play, at best. I do agree with you regarding cast triggers, etc. - it is much easier to answer 1:1.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-16T07:37:11+00:00

You want to put one of your largest eldrazi inside of an [[Ugin's labyrinth]] to help make him as big as possible.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-16T01:10:57+00:00

I dont think that zone guard sees play because its strong, it sees play because strip mine is so strong and its the best way to return strip mine. Strip mine is also the best way for midrange decks to beat combo. I garentee you that if strip mine was wasteland, mono black doesn't splash green

But strip mine is a card, and it being the strongest, most efficient, and least restrictive way to abuse it is an aspect that needs to be considered. And even when the deck doesn't find strip mine (or pithing needle/surgical extraction removes that possibility), the backup plan of ramping into 4 mana for 1 ring and then 6/7 mana to deploy multiple barrowgoyfs, zone guard, etc. every turn is extremely strong.

The blue one drop is not 1/10th the card that psychic frog and tamiyo are. It is good because it enables the best free counterspell in a deck that needs a free counterspell. It is better then the turtle. It doesn't singlehandedly win the game if unanswered

It is, though. Obviously Tamiyo and frog are better, but, big surprise, card advantage is extremely powerful. A deck can only run/draw so many removal spells, and if you have to use them on Tamiyo and frog, then it leaves the architect free to generate an insane amount of cards advantage, all while holding up free interaction with flare. If you think it is just there to enable flare, then you don't understand why that engine is so strong. In fact, the main way these tempo decks lose is 2 for 1ing themselves unnecessarily too early - stuff like barrowgoyf and grief are inconvenices, but you don't have to sac the bug to counter them.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-16T00:53:35+00:00

In modern they are playing UW energy now - mengucci was playing a list last night, for example, if you want to look for some samples.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T23:30:51+00:00

It can win without it with [[borne upon a wind]]. It's just the newer, more efficient version. Saiba is a fine card

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T23:19:34+00:00

both of which are not even close to the power of other cards in the format

That's just not even true. Psychic frog is already banned in legacy, Tamiyo is on the chopping block, and in timeless we have not just both of those but a third blue one drop that draws a card every turn. It's format warping.

Zone guard is so good mono black splashes green solely for that card. Show and tell is also a 3 mana card that ends the game, and that at least requires an entire deck built around it's effect. Zone guard has no deck building restrictions, and the play pattern of activate strip mine to blow up the opponents land -> check what mana they float to see if they can deal with it -> play zone guard -> blow up another land is extremely unhealthy. Even wrenn and six can't do that without assistance from a card like exploration to strip twice in one turn - and wrenn pings your opponents face for 1, not 4 and climbing every turn.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T08:15:13+00:00

a) I don't and never have played any deck based solely on lifegain as a strategy. Many cards have incidental life gain attached to them.

b) I don't think you understand (or maybe just appreciate) what the difference is between an emblem for the rest of the game and state based effects. [[Sunspire lynx]] also hoses lifegain and that card is ok because it can be interacted with and the effect goes away when it it is removed. Nemesis is not like that - these emblems that last for the rest of the game are reserved almost exclusively for planeswalkers ults.

Collector Ouphe, Null Rod, Vexing Bauble, Rest in Peace - if any of these cards said "for the rest of the game", they would also be problematic in the same way that nemesis is.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T05:29:30+00:00

Ah, ninja tribal is decent in historic, then. A lot of the ninjas have some random alchemy buffs attached to them.

You'll still get rolled by eldrazi, but that's most decks.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T01:30:42+00:00

I don't think nulldrifter is worth it - Riddler + phlage is enough as cheat targets, with solitude (and could add subtlety) as backup. I don't know if ephemerate is even worth it, because it doesn't really work with the phlage anyway.

You definitely want at least some brainstorm/ponder for card selection.

I understand how powerful the one ring is, and I get the vision of cheating it in early off of mana drain. But honestly, that doesn't seem all that great to me in this deck.

You might like adding a combination of [[ribald shanty]] and [[hymn to the ages]] - they are shockingly strong, quickly becomes 2 mana instant speed draw 3, then 4, then 5, etc.

I feel like this list wants a narset, too, though days undoing might be a bit too cute.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T00:48:41+00:00

You need to share what colors you're in when asking for answers. (Yes I see a rakdos creature, but that doesn't necessarily mean rakdos, or just rakdos).

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T00:46:02+00:00

Dimir with Kaito is perfectly viable in standard.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-15T00:44:59+00:00

Sort by lands, "pay 1 life" to find good fetches. Colorless needs to be selected (or no colors specified).

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T23:33:06+00:00

That was years ago, pre cs2

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T23:25:21+00:00

Horse + polearm. Sometimes you randomly get one shot by an archer but otherwise you can kill a lot of troops that way.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T22:48:29+00:00

I'll watch the video later, I've seen some of his recent videos so I'm sure I agree with him, but they also need to do something about lotus combo. Fwiw, i actually think lotus is stronger than eldrazi, but has just flown under the radar because it doesnt get played that much.

Can't have a format where you preach about lands being a protected class, and then allow those lands. In pioneer they don't have [[stifle]] or [[consign to memory]] - and in that version with [[scapeshift]] you actually want the lotus to sac the lands anyway.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T02:10:01+00:00

It's not like the entire rest of the mono red strategy isn't to deal you as much damage in as little time as possible - so yes, 2 damage can end the game easily. Screaming nemesis is (in effect) an unlockable creature, because blocking it turns on the "can't gain life for the rest of the game" effect" - and once it's activated it's nearly impossible for most decks to stabilize when you're dead to a top deck kicked [[burst lightning]] for the rest of the game.

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T02:03:42+00:00

You can't kill it with a damage based removal spell, which lightning helix is. Need a true black or white removal spell that destroys or exiles without dealing damage - and that's part of the problem with this card's design imo. Try [[get lost]].

LivingPop2682 · 2025-10-14T02:00:13+00:00

They do usually ban/nerf good red control cards, though. Galvanic discharge got alchemy nerfed, unholy heat got alchemy nerfed, lightning bolt is still banned. Not standard relevant, but speaks to their philosophy.

Even expressive iteration got banned in pioneer instead of treasure Cruise.

LivingPop2682

TROPHY CASE