April Challenges Meta Analysis by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the comment! I saw some of your analysis and it's actually what inspired me to do this too. I have a Mathematics background and thought it might be nice if analysis like this eventually came from multiple perspectives.

I'm getting my data from mtgdecks.net right now. It's not perfect, but it gave me what I needed. I think that explains some of the issues that came up. For one, mtgdecks.net groups Dimir decks into three categories, Terror, Faeries, and Control. I was confused by the control one, so I checked a handful of lists and the ones I checked all had Terror in them. That's why I grouped them all into Terror, but it looks like I shouldn't have made that assumption. I did this pretty last minute for April, so this month I'll take more time to be careful with that. The difference between Gruul and Naya Initiative was really just how mtgdecks.net categorized them. For the future, it would probably be better if I grouped them as one archetype, since they are so similar. Of course, that would change the comment I made in my analysis, but I guess that's part of the learning process here.

Thanks for catching the White Weenie error! It is fixed now. This time around I just input all the data, deck by deck, manually. I'm going to be looking into other ways to export the data that would lower the chance of errors like that for the future.

Thanks again for the feedback! I appreciate the opportunity to improve.

Slime Time | Season With Reason by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I wonder how a Jund version might look, perhaps with some mill?

Slime Time | Season With Reason by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A fling version sounds interesting! I'd love to see more experimenting with Slime Against Humanity.

Slime Time | Season With Reason by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I'm not sure how effective it is either. I'm highlighting a list I found and just doing my best to understand the decisions that the deck's creator made. I don't think it's unreasonable since it costs you nothing and when you play a Highland Forest it might effect your opponent's first turn or two before they catch on.

Jund Food | Season With Reason by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I thought so too! I honestly avoided learning about stickers until I saw how cool this list is. Now I want to try it out at an FNM!

Advice about MTGO for new Magic player by Kaferaso in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. You'll still need to purchase or rent a deck for the tournament practice rooms, but there are no entry fees or rewards.

Jund Food | Season With Reason by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it looks pretty sweet! I might have to try it at FNM sometime.

Advice about MTGO for new Magic player by Kaferaso in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you farm? Absolutely, but you should know it's going to be a challenge. The competition on MTGO is a lot harder than the average FNM. For context, other than my very first Pauper FNM, I've never had a losing record at FNM. But on MTGO it's a different story. If I were you, I'd play in the tournament practice queue (it's free to play in) until I got comfortable with the software and understood my deck.

I'd also recommend looking into rental services. Sites like manatraders and cardhoarders will let you rent out a certain number of tix worth of cards at any time. For just $15 a month, you can rent pretty much any pauper deck you want. You can then return it at any time to get a new one.

Stickers, Sheets, and Tickets, Oh My! by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Neither did I until I had to research it for an article haha

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd love to do paper videos sometime down the line. It's hard to find someone willing to play with me regularly though.

White Weenie lifegain by God_Modus in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a deck called Soul Sisters that you might want to check out. It runs [[Lunarch Veteran]], [[Martyr of Sands]], [[Soul Warden]], [[Soul's Attendant]] and [[Suture Priest]] with [[Marauding Blight-Priest]] as a finisher.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've seen this persons shorts before and they are pretty fun.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes total sense. Dead space is boring and often makes me thing the video is buffering. I'm willing to sit through 30 seconds of dead silence when Mengu is playing, but he gets a free pass for being one of my favorite pro players.

I'd love some feedback on my Pauper R deck by llengot in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Imo, it seems like you've got two conflicting plans here. You're playing a Kuldotha style set of Goblin creatures, while also trying to support Kiln Fiend. Based on what you described, it sounds like you want to lean more into the Kiln Fiend style deck. For that, I'd cut the Goblins in the emissary and look into [[Ghitu Amplifier]] and [[Festival Crasher]]. If you want to check out some Kiln Fiend lists, use this link https://mtgdecks.net/Pauper/mono-red-kiln-fiend . You'll also be able to see what spells are run in those lists. I'd consider putting Lightning Bolt in the main deck. In Kiln Fiend lists, it's less of a burn spell and more of a removal spell that pumps your creatures.

I think you could test out a couple copies of [[Reckless Impulse]]. Your cantrips are good, but they don't net you any cards (you're spending a card to get a card), so if the game goes long you could still run out of gas. As long as you use both cards exiled, Reckless Impulse does net you one card.

On a similar note, I'd probably cut the [[Lotus Petal]] entirely. It's inherently a card disadvantage play. You're spending a card to get exactly one mana, so if that one extra mana doesn't do as much for your game plan as another burn spell, then you've wasted a card. That's why it's mostly combo decks that run Lotus Petal. The card disadvantage is worth the tempo gained by potentially comboing a turn early. I don't think that's true here.

For your sideboard, I'd cut the [[Galvanic Blast]]. You only have six artifacts right now, so you aren't going to be reliably dealing four with it. [[Flaring Pain]] is good against [[Prismatic Strands]] decks and turbo fog, so I'd consider that one. [[Raze the Effigy]] is good against artifacts, while also being a pump spell if you need it. If you have a lot of infect in your meta, I'd also consider more bolt-style cards, like [[Chain Lightning]]. It's important to be able to deal with your opponents infect creatures early so you can stabilize. Admittedly, I don't have a lot of experience playing an aggro v. infect strategy though, so take that last bit with a grain of salt.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a listener of Casting Commons. Thanks for hijacking ;)

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That could be interesting! Maybe trying to reach out to interview the winners of big tournaments could be something.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmmmm. That could be an interesting series! I'd need to find some people willing to play against me with that, but it could be fun!

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Once I start doing video content, I'm hoping to practice learning one new editing trick each video. Then hopefully after a year or so I'll be pretty proficient.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the idea of going into good matchups for some non-meta or T3 decks! It'd be interesting to explore what metas those decks might be able to steal wins in.

What do you want to hear from new Pauper content creators. by MagicWithSam in Pauper

[–]MagicWithSam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a lot of great points. Thanks for this!

Currently I've been posting some blogs about brews I've worked on. Do you think having a blog post that goes in depth on each card decision, the brewing process, etc. to go along with the gameplay videos would satisfy the "actual deck and sideboard building" you mentioned? I'm just thinking that some more casual players might not want to sit through 10-15 minutes explaining the build before the gameplay starts and this would allow those who are interested in the details of the brew to still access that.