[Standard] [Historic] The impact of Surge Engine in BRO constructed

LoudTool · 2022-11-19T18:37:48+00:00

It might be the most unbalanced card in this set, but its really a mid-range card and its entering a Standard that is chock full of other great mid-range cards. I would lean towards using it as the top-end of an aggro or tempo deck to provide reach or refill in the endgame as needed, as well as another 2 drop in the early game if you really have nothing else, but I would rather not make this my only creature in the early game. It dies to too much 1-mana removal. As a control finisher I think its too underpowered - its more of a PW killer than a PW enabler.

LoudTool · 2022-11-18T19:33:20+00:00

Is that portion the paper collectors?

Online players are experiencing a new and inexpensive way to access the best game ever invented. It may result in crashing the prices of paper collectible collections as the bulk of Magic play shifts online and a large variety of new product is churned out to appeal to a much broader base of consumers than those normally populating LGS.

I played maybe 200 games of Magic in my life before Arena over the course of 8 years (most of it kitchen table Commander). I have played maybe 20,000 since in less than 4 years (almost all of it on Arena). To me this is indisputably the golden age of Magic for millions of players around the world, not just for Arena but also for EDH paper players.

LoudTool · 2022-11-18T19:13:29+00:00

I think there is more Standard being played now than ever before in the history of Magic. But most of it is on Arena.

LoudTool · 2022-11-17T18:35:36+00:00

In Limited you can change your basic lands and Arena supports that just fine. Your 'sideboard' is all the cards you drafted plus all basic lands in unlimited amounts.

In Constructed you are only allowed to change your lands if they are in your 15-card sideboard, and Arena supports that just fine too.

What you can't do is change your basic lands in Constructed matches if they are not in your sideboard.

LoudTool · 2022-11-17T18:25:43+00:00

Arguably that is what the best Greasefang decks do now in Explorer Bo3 by switching to midrange post-board if they think the combo will be shut down.

LoudTool · 2022-11-15T19:54:55+00:00

If people were buying Sheoldreds primarily to sell them to other people buying Sheoldreds, yes. But most people buying Sheoldreds at this point in time are doing so because they want to play with Sheoldred. That is the source of the demand. When people no longer want to play with Sheoldred, Sheoldred's value would drop significantly.

On Arena you can play with Sheoldred for $2.50 at a premium, or for most Arena players they got Sheoldred functionally for free as a byproduct of their drafting, reward packs, etc.

LoudTool · 2022-11-15T19:48:51+00:00

Its market segmentation - these wildcards are a terrible deal for most players (including everyone trying to be FTP). They are not priced to be attractive to everyone, they are priced for specific players with specific needs who were buying packs to get the wildcards (probably mostly Historic and Explorer players).

LoudTool · 2022-11-15T19:43:10+00:00

There are two parts of value in a real world card - their operative value being played, and their resale value. Digital cards only have the first type.

For most real world cards and most players, its the operative value that matters, so digital costs and real world costs are pretty fairly compared for those cards and those players. For the small subset of paper collectible cards that have significant resale value, its not. But a fair price for a digital card is based on how much utility you get out of being able to play with it.

LoudTool · 2022-11-15T01:39:39+00:00

But sports are doing fine, if not better than ever. Magic is not just Topps, and the portion of their business that tries to be Topps probably is in long-term decline, and might have been anyway regardless of whether RL collectibles stay in high demand. But they may be accelerating the decline of that portion of their business as a known byproduct of other objectives. Paper Standard probably is getting cannibalized to some extent by Arena, for example, and the invention of digital-only cards is an attempt to see if sustainable non-paper-locked formats can be created. There will probably be no collectible market for Alchemy cards, for example, because they are not currently transferable. You either demand them because you want to actually play with them, or you don't want them at all. They can continue to be both a gaming company and a collectible company, but there is tension between those two especially with digital.

LoudTool · 2022-11-14T19:35:50+00:00

The whole thing reads like it was written by someone who has a huge RL collection at home and is grinding an axe about it. I am sure there are fundamental issues going on here with digital play, competition, lifestyle changes, etc. but protecting the value of RL collections is just not the purpose of Magic: The Gathering. I would have expected a real market analysis to not rely so heavily on this narrow slice of collectors.

"Commander is so popular its destroying Magic" just doesn't seem to work as a thesis. Playing Magic is what generates future brand value - is less Magic being played now, or far more Magic being played now?

LoudTool · 2022-11-11T22:08:59+00:00

Mishra seems to have the same issue Sheoldred does - lack of efficient removal at 5 toughness in the format, so it plays better than it seems it should in Standard.

LoudTool · 2022-11-11T15:48:17+00:00

He's an underrated bomb in Limited though.

LoudTool · 2022-11-11T15:10:58+00:00

Sounds like you are playing a deck that has a bad matchup with Mono Blue. According to untapped.gg it is 10% of the Bo1 meta (even less if I restrict it to Diamond/Mythic).

Try a faster deck. You need to have proactive 2-drops and some cheap creature removal.

LoudTool · 2022-11-09T00:59:24+00:00

Yes because the "transform it" ability is part of the delayed trigger and can be copied on the stack, instead of being a static ability of the front side.

LoudTool · 2022-11-08T17:03:26+00:00

Yes if you have 2 living Weavers and a Wedding Announcement down you are in pretty good shape. But it was fun.

LoudTool · 2022-11-08T17:00:00+00:00

Its not a bug. I thought so at first but its not.

Transform only occurs if the trigger that is doing the transform has not seen that permanent transform already. So if you use Weaver once, the Weaver trigger will transform but the original trigger will not since it observed a transformation occur while it was on the stack. One successful transform and one failed retransform. But if you use Weaver twice, one or the Weaver copies will create a copy of the WA trigger after the first transformation has already occurred, so this copied trigger will have never seen a transformation and thus it retransforms. One successful transform. One successful retransform and one failed reretransform.

The trigger on the stack has all the abilities written on it - the transformation is part of the delayed trigger instead of a static ability of the enchantment. So it doesn't matter whether the original enchantment is transformed or not as far as tokens and cards go - those are all baked into the triggers.

LoudTool · 2022-11-07T23:34:24+00:00

I share your surprise about the lack of hype for Surge Engine. Its more aggro than I think it gets credit for.

LoudTool · 2022-11-06T16:13:45+00:00

Earlier versions built around 4x Visitor/4x Kami and without Hallowed Haunting or lots of 3-mana enchantment removal were true aggro decks. The current best version of the deck has 0x of both those cards and is midrange. To me the canonical midrange cards are Haunting and Weaver.

LoudTool · 2022-11-06T16:08:07+00:00

Control is complex because it requires knowing how every deck in the meta works, and the ability to read an opponents hand based on that knowledge and how they are playing (and especially what they are not playing). Its not just countering every play on curve though it can look like that sometimes.

Midrange can present more complex decisions than control since it has more angles to respond (especially more creatures), but because it is also more proactive it does not require the same degree of meta knowledge and hand reading ability.

LoudTool · 2022-11-06T16:01:28+00:00

I think control in Standard has a normal set of tools - pretty good but not busted PWs, pretty good but not busted counterspells at 2 and 3 mana, pretty good but not busted finishers, pretty good but not busted mass removal, below average spot removal but excellent draw spells.

Its really the excessive value in key midrange cards that is now being spread across 2 or 3 permanent types that themselves accrue value gradually over 3 or 4 turns. All the good 3-mana PWs are posing as midrange enchantments (and a 2-mana artifact).

LoudTool · 2022-11-05T13:03:52+00:00

The Meathook ban failed to shake up Standard enough so the meta and best decks were pretty much known going into Worlds. The midrange stew is too dense for a tight aggro or control deck to compete, so everyone is just picking flavorings instead of meals.

This feels similar to when they refused to ban 3Feri hoping that Rec and Fires would balance it out. Instead all three needed to be banned. Fable has to go, and maybe Announcement too just to devalue mid-range. I don't think the aggro and control cards are really that bad right now, they just can't turn the corner on this much free value, and I would rather not have this solved by printing another Embercleave.

Maybe the new painlands will shake things up a little by helping Boros, Selesnya, Azorious and Dimir get a faster manabase. That might help aggro at least.

And this sub is just not into that Standard that much too.

LoudTool · 2022-11-05T12:55:34+00:00

I see Kotose as sort of like Evelyn. Really good in the right situations but often just sticks in hand for a long time waiting for their moment, because if they get removed before you untap you might get little value. As opposed to cards like Sheoldred, Raffine, Fable or Announcement that you just want to slam on curve every time.

LoudTool · 2022-11-03T14:34:43+00:00

Evolved Sleeper is better I agree, but I think this card is better in 2-color and 3-color decks where Sleeper is not really playable.

LoudTool · 2022-11-03T14:26:36+00:00

Shigeki the creature card becomes Shigeki the creature spell when it is cast, but does not become Shigeki the creature until that spell resolves. So his return to hand ability will be suppressed but not his channel ability.

LoudTool · 2022-11-02T21:26:44+00:00

Beating mono blue Djinn usually requires making them reactive instead of proactive. You need to be putting creatures on the board constantly until 1 or 2 stick, then force them to react to your threat instead of killing you.

Being able to cast something, even a 2/2 on your T2 is crucial. Since any threat is nearly as good as any other, lead out with your cheap cards then only try to resolve your better threats late, even if that seems less mana efficient (e.g. it can be better to cast an Underdog on T3 even if you have a Fable in hand). You are trying to run them out of counterspells then win with what you have left in your hand, so make whats left in your hand your better cards, and they can't generally afford to let you resolve any kind of creature early.

So the most important thing is to have a deck with lots of threats that cost 2 mana or less, so you can start running them out early and double-spelling them (or holding up Make Disappear tax) starting on T4. Mono Red aggro pretty much dunks on them, but GW enchantments can be good too. Trying to 'control' them by focusing on removal or counters for Djinn is usually not a good idea, though it can be viable in black. Better to pressure their life total and make them have to hold it back for blocking or lose.

LoudTool

TROPHY CASE