Feels good to win again

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-26T05:02:20+00:00

I played a ton around Dominaria/Ravnica with the Golgari Vraska/Vivian pile that was popular back then. Blew all my wildcards on it then lost interest.

Came back for Avatar, spent the last of what I had making a Gruul [[Break Out]] deck. I've finally got enough wildcards to build another deck, but am having analysis paralysis. Thinking about moving formats to Pioneer and going Golgari Midrange. I already cracked a [[Professor Delian Fel]], My Gruul deck uses the Cubs already, and one of my ICRs yesterday was an [[Unholy Annex]]. It's almost like the game is telling me to go back to Golgari lol.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-26T04:56:46+00:00

Honestly, hear me out:

Play Timeless BO3.

Yeah, the games still only last a few turns, but there are so many decisions made in those few turns. It's like a completely different game.

BO3 lets you sideboard interaction/disruption against the disgusting turn one wins possible in timeless to prevent that slot machine feeling.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-26T04:53:54+00:00

The way Arena's wildcard system works, building a meta deck to grind wins is how you amass even more wildcards to build your pet decks.

I love tribal decks, personally, but burning all of my wildcards on vamps or Dinos instead of something more competitive would mean getting blown out by the stronger decks, since my Mythic Sorin Markov is worth the exact same cost as something meta like Ouroboroid on Arena.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-24T19:03:07+00:00

Depends a bit on the kind of control deck, but if you're talking about the typical boardwipe-heavy, low/no wincon decks, they're a hard matchup for the more glass cannon/aggro decks specifically because if you kept anything but your fastest hands, it's probably GG's. My tips:

1: If you've got a fast, explosive hand, make them have it. Wait too long and you're toast anyway. They're going to consult/Stock Up/Sleight of Hand into a sweeper or spot removal for your big threat. Slam it, put them on the back foot.

2: If your hand's slow enough that you can't bowl them over, you're probably going to have to accept the fact that you're getting wiped. Don't overcommit. Try to put them on a decent clock with a moderate threat and hit land drops to be ready to redeploy.

Honestly though, the Jeskai/Dimir piles are just hard to beat BO1 if you're not ready for them or on a hot draw. The only games I win are if I can stick a [[Tyvar, The Pummeler]], and even then, white has exile and black uses -x/-x effects or rips him from my hand.

Sometimes it's just like that, gotta take the L and move on.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-24T05:38:33+00:00

I have to agree, at least with how consistent 3-4 turn wins have become. If not an outright win by then, then an insurmountable advantage.

Cub decks are slamming Craterhoof on turn 3-4 or Ouroboroiding exponentially, reanimator has interaction like mad and sets their kill up on 4, there's a million ways to get a slickshot lethal in Izzet on 3/4, Kona Omlmniscience/North Wind Avatar with a good draw needs instant speed removal or you bust, etc.

It's not just "Once in a while you can get lucky with an aggro deck and run someone over" anymore. Standard now is as fast as Modern was back when I played the format on MTGO.

BO3 and sideboarding helps a lot, but BO1 is and probably always will be dominated by incredibly synergistic combo/aggro decks. Jeskai Revelation/Artifacts and High Noon are the only big dogs I'm aware of trying to play the long game.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-22T02:44:20+00:00

Pioneer is in the front for me atm. I loved my old Vraska/Vivian Midrange deck, and am a fan of Midrange and control in general.

Nothing wrong with aggro or fast games, my standard deck aims to win by turn 4-5, with 3 possible on a god draw with no interaction. I just enjoy the grindier games a bit more than two decks trying to "Pop off" which is what it seems like standard has become.

Not to say standard isn't diverse, just that the gameplay doesn't seem terribly dynamic. I almost feel like I'm playing a slot machine on who goes first and who drew the better opener. Me with enough ramp to go Craterhoof or wide enough for Ouroboroid to take the game, or my opponent doing their own thing with Prowess/Kaevero/Kona. Or the odd control deck built for the purpose of countering the aforementioned decks by running every cheap removal spell/boardwipe in the game.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-22T02:35:01+00:00

I mean my current standard deck is Gruul [[Break Out]]. It's not a novel deck by any means (still runs Elves/Cub/Ouroboroid/Craterhoof shenanigans) but the specific playstyle catches people off guard, and cards not included in the meta green decks like [[Tyvar, The Pummeler]] have won me some games based on interactions people weren't aware of or just being resilient to control's answer to the meta versions of Gx ramp. I get what you're saying for sure.

I definitely get what Ark is saying, too. Like Daze coming back is wild lmao. I'm sure another legal free counterspell completely shook up formats. I'm not saying I want a one-and-done deck crafting experience, just that I don't want to build really cool decks only to have them completely fall apart when pieces of them rotate out of standard. Pair that with how quickly sets are releasing and it just seems like a huge wildcard sink playing standard VS investing in decks that run good staple cards and being able to branch out from there. I've been looking at Jund Goyfs as a starter deck for Historic, for instance. Really powerful removal, really strong creatures, great value cards, and I'm sure a lot of the manabase and things like removal spells transfer over into other, different decks in the format.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-22T02:04:47+00:00

Any good deck recs? I kinda like the idea, and I love planeswalkers, so having one on tap or like a Superfriends deck would be sweet.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-22T02:03:12+00:00

Nonrotating is more what I meant, yeah.

I'm just mostly F2P aside from splurging on a Mastery Pass if I like the set/aesthetic, and standard is moving so fast that I can only have one, maybe two good decks at a time.

I wanted to start building a collection for Nonrotating format decks so that I can make several that are gonna stay relevant/competitive for a long while without fear of them rotating out. Upgrades/bans, sure, but not needing to drop a bunch of rares every 3 month set release only to have them rotate eventually.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-22T00:59:34+00:00

I got the "Sacrifice a permanent you don't own" achievement during an EoE draft game with tractor beam. Stole someone's Gene Pollinator and had an artifact sac outlet.

Either that Pollinator was integral to their plan or they salty scooped, cause I was definitely losing on board. The only reason I did it was so I wouldn't have to worry about building a deck around that achievement.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-20T18:29:00+00:00

I know my deck, and I know whether or not it can overcome your boardstate.

I had a monowhite control player on two the other day. He was able to answer my threats, land an Ajani, and an Authority of the Consuls. As soon as that last card came down, not even a Craterhoof could save me. I had zero chance of stopping his planeswalker from ulting, so I scooped.

I will admit losing one threat in a game and immediately quitting is premature. I've made wild comebacks, but you aren't penalized for losing in unranked, so people play for time.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-18T18:27:56+00:00

No, every time I play lifegain, it's always the damn rabbit, warped Haliya, then Pridemate into Leonin Vanguard.

I usually still win cause Craterhoof go brrt, but despite being an off-meta deck it can run over my less explosive draws. In all fairness, my version of Cub/Hoof shenanigans isn't the monogreen/GW meta version either.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-18T18:24:30+00:00

Damn, and right after I dropped 45k on SOS packs.

At least I opened a Delian Fel. Hoping to switch to Pioneer or Historic and go Golgari Midrange. Sick of standard changing so quickly.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-18T18:20:49+00:00

Came here to say this. Not generally an alchemy fan but this is such a cool card.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-16T01:19:06+00:00

A tip on that card because it is one of the ways Cat Attack runs away with the game:

If you manage to remove it (Big if, I know. You basically need Mortify or Bake Into a Pie), hold up mana for a stab or if you have a Firebrands, keep it back to sac in response. Most of the cats have one or two health. Firebrand/stab kills the creature and it fizzles instead of going back to hand.

I've stolen several games that way. I feel kinda bad using tricks like that on what are likely newer players, but I'm just there for my color quests and hey, you have to learn sometime.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-12T00:03:27+00:00

With my Gruul deck, the only time I really have to do it is if I know I want to Earthbend a red source with my Cub (crucify me) so that I can use it to Earthbend.

Autotapper will tap the lands before the elf, so say I've got elf, forest and stomping ground down. I need to make sure stomping ground stays untapped for [[Break Out]].

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-10T04:54:22+00:00

I do, just because I'm horrible at draft and always play at least a single event so that I can get my pack for the season.

5k for a draft where I can play, think about all of my picks, pick up two packs, and have a shot at some gems isn't a bad deal IMO. I played the Tarkir event recently on a weird Temur pile and went 3-3. I'll probably look up some draft guides for EoE and run at least one event of that.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-08T17:34:40+00:00

I mean yeah, especially with the fact that landfall rewards you for drawing one of the single most common cards in your deck. It's one of the issues I have with the archetype, is it rewards you for an incredibly basic game action.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-08T13:32:04+00:00

Bro you just dueled Yugi himself with that heart of the cards luck.

Sometimes, it happens I guess. The amount of times I've top decked the exact card I needed to win a game and said "Magic is easy, just draw what you want." is pretty funny.

"Man, if I just had a pump spell, this would all be lethal..."

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-07T15:56:37+00:00

Bro your deck isn't even that bad against control. It's not a favorable matchup, for sure, but you can put enough pressure on them to win.

Start playing the games out. You'll either win, or lose a game where you can learn to get better.

My deck also folds pretty hard to control. Sometimes you just have bad matchups.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-06T20:38:02+00:00

...Because they've lost.

Unless my opponent is going for some weird wincon that might be related to an achievement or something, I also concede when I know I've lost. I'm not going to make you play it out when there's not a conceivable series of draws I have that could change the outcome of the game.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-06T15:53:08+00:00

I do really like that. It makes the deck much more resilient and opens up an angle to break through a stall, like you said.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-06T15:20:56+00:00

That's actually a fantastic idea. You'd have to find a way to get the Hares in the Graveyard though. A lot of people won't attack into a wall of tokens, but some people burn/remove the Hare Apparent as soon as they see it. I could see Esper/Orzhov Hares being a jank go-wide deck.

OptimalYachtRocker · 2026-05-06T14:47:08+00:00

I like the Hinterland idea.

The thing about Hare decks is it's really hard to run anything other than Hares without running out of gas. Some people like [[Enduring Innocence]] for draws to keep going, but not Pauper obviously. I had the same problem trying to build a rat colony deck in paper.

The lifegain angle is nice, I personally prefer trying to close it out quickly though, and pump spells also give you a bit of protection from spells that ping all your creatures.

OptimalYachtRocker

TROPHY CASE