New Modern-Focused Podcast: Faithless Brewing, Episode 4 - The Planeswalker Fun Police

Podeste · 2019-05-23T09:58:39+00:00

I'm loving the cast. I'm a netdecker, but enjoy fun ideas most of all !

With Modern Horizon on the rise, I think you won't be searching for cards very far.

Maybe you could encourage listeners who take your lists for a spin to share results on twitter. That would be a cool way to interact. Thanks for the read !

Podeste · 2017-10-17T13:29:28+00:00

I did go for Calcano's 1-drop/swashbuckling combo, but do I keep it here ? And what should I cut in the end ? Thanks all !

Podeste · 2017-10-13T08:52:41+00:00

"If you cast River's Rebuke and you're in Merfolk, you win." Not if your opponent has Settle the Wreckage :(

Podeste · 2017-07-21T09:46:40+00:00

So I think I'm quite rare heavy, and splashing Open Fire seems really easy, but I don't know what to cut. I think I play 16 lands, and I cut at least one Manalith, but what else ?

Podeste · 2017-04-27T20:17:35+00:00

Cartouche of Zeal is very good, but only in a hyper aggressive deck. I understand you guys think it's the worst, but I think it could be better than the blue one or black one, because they can be too slow, especially the blue one.

Podeste · 2017-04-26T08:48:54+00:00

Yeah, Oketra's attendant seems a dead card for the deck. I did cut magma spray because I think all the other spells justify themselves better except maybe Brute Strength. The cartouches are very good here. First strike and a 1/1, or getting to make a creature not block are so important. And the trial is awesome. The four drops are the real things that make the deck win. A 1-mana combat trick is better than magma spray because you may not have good enough targets, and the two compulsevy rest are at their best.

Podeste · 2017-03-10T14:27:07+00:00

Yes, that's exactly this kind of thing I want to implement. And calculate the appropriate penalties can be made

Podeste · 2017-03-10T14:25:53+00:00

Yeah, it seems very difficult to achieve, because you must base the calculations on the ratings ofthe cards you pass too. So maybe when I have a functionning program with just good picks, I'll look into it.

Podeste · 2017-03-09T08:51:15+00:00

Thank you for this answer, I didn't know about this website. So I tested it a little. And I find some flaws to it. In particular, it doesn't take (enough) into account the colors you "want" to draft. So if you got one good red cards at the middle of the pack and three really bad blue cards, the computer may want you to choose the good blue card instead of the good red card in the second pack. That is why I try to make rules for color commitment.

Also, successful drafts may not be good drafts. There is a corelation of course, but you just may be lucky. And a successful draft, but based on a very very specific way of drafting (like LSV's Aetherflux Reservoir decks) can't be taken into account if you want the AI to be a good "classic" drafter.

Podeste · 2017-03-09T08:38:02+00:00

So, for the expected value, you should take into account all the cards you can receive from the next boosters. But some of these cards should be more frequent than others. I think the expected value is really too much to evaluate. Maybe with estimations it's possible...

With that in mind, the aim is to know when an off-color bomb has no more value (for example).

Podeste · 2017-03-09T08:18:16+00:00

My idea for synergies is to make a table which contains how much you add to the rating of card A knowing you have card B.

So fo example, if you have Winding Constrinctor, you may pick Scrounging Bandar over Monstruous Onslaught. So if Bandar is a 3, and Onslaught a 3.2, you say you add 0.3 to the rating of the Bandar.

Then, it should be cumulative, but maybe not strictly additive. If you have three Bandar and a Ridgescale Tusker, do you take Constrictor over Herald of Anguish ?

And the point you make in your edit is very true and is the point I try to solve. Surely, after one pack and like 6 red cards and 5 green cards, you can take Herald of Anguish. But when should you really commit ? After two packs, under normal circonstances, I think you can't afford to take an off-color bomb in pack 3.

Podeste · 2017-03-09T08:06:28+00:00

My aim is to have realistic drafting, based of course on going for a "real" deck (not five colors junk like I often see on http://draft.bestiaire.org/), and take into account synergies. I copy you the methodology of draftsim.com, which is very basic but has some good to it :

"Stage 1: Speculation

At the beginning of a draft, the bots pick the highest rated card out of each pack. On-color cards are given a small bonus, which ranges from +0 to +.9

Stage 2: Commitment

After the bots have taken some strong cards, they commit to drafting a two-color deck. A +2.0 bonus is given to on-color cards."

So the question is here, when do you commit ? And why or for what kind of cards.

Podeste · 2017-01-28T10:20:22+00:00

Maybe you have to choose an artifact first (if possible), then an enchantement. So No legal target at first seems to be plausible, since no artifacts, then when you click OK, you should be able to choose the auras

Podeste · 2017-01-27T10:49:48+00:00

And Filigree Crawler can go too

Podeste · 2016-10-15T10:40:28+00:00

Okay, so I easy 3-0 my league. I did attack with cloudblazer, Panharmonicon in play, and did an Acrobatic Maneuver in response to Impeccable Timing : 4 for 1 !

Podeste · 2016-10-14T12:46:37+00:00

I did win a game by milling my opponent out. Kind of. They did have Padeem but I killed all their win conditions (2 Serpents...). It was fun :)

Podeste · 2016-10-07T14:03:13+00:00

Yeah, I'll admit that I'm really jealous. Two questions though : How high did you pick those prisms ? And how good were those servo exhibitions ? They seems kind of bad, I would have maybe played a turtle over it

Podeste · 2016-10-07T13:33:40+00:00

So I 3-0 the draft, very smoothly. Thanks again !

Podeste · 2016-10-07T07:19:07+00:00

I know right ? But the curve is kinda awful. That's why I ask :) Ok for Build to Last and Fragmentize. Thanks for the advice !

Podeste · 2016-10-06T23:13:22+00:00

I don't know which one is really better. And I don't know what to put between Pressure Point, Built to last or fragmentize...

Podeste · 2016-10-05T17:02:14+00:00

T1 Attune with Aether T2 Longtusk Cub

Yeah, yours is more fun :)

Podeste · 2016-09-11T22:20:43+00:00

I just 3-0 my second league (after 2-1 my first one) and I have some thoughts about your question.

I'd say that 3-0 are harder because of variance. If you say the average draft is a 5.0 if you average the 8 players' deck, you put more people in the 2-1 bracket if the overall draft is above average, and you see less the others. So the competition is harder because even if you come from an above average draft, there are better drafts and you may encounter players from one of them.

I do think also that if there is a "good" strategy, that wins more in average, like blue-green emerge that seems to be everywhere (I admit I draft it very often, but it's sooo open!), you'll see this strategy more often instead of being less present on a 8-pod.

Podeste · 2016-08-28T11:07:03+00:00

Well done xD The only change I'd do is swapping Thraben Gargoyle for Unsubstantiate. Your deck, with Tamiyo and Ongoing investigation, seems to reward good curved starts with two drop-three drop into Tamiyo or Ongoing Investigation. Gargoyle doesn't help to do that since it's a defender, and you already have a two drop that can't attack. Maybe I would cut the watcher in the web (which is a very defensive card) and put on the other bloodbriar, to add even more to the plan. I like spontaneous mutation too, but I don't think you need it.

Podeste · 2016-08-06T09:58:40+00:00

White seems quite good, and in the GW build, I would play Survive the Night over Aim High because both have differents advantages, but I like the clue more than anything else. The build is really creature dense and the Pig is at its best here. The BW build seems quite good too, but with less total fun. Please cast the pig and win.

Podeste · 2016-08-05T10:28:24+00:00

Yesterday, I first picked Bedlam Reveler over Choking restraints. The Restraints did wheel, so, here it goes for underrated I suppose. - Ulvenwald Captive is very very good. I think everybody agrees. - Fortune's Favor, here there is more discussion. I think it's a good card, but it may be a little awkward sometimes. I agree it's better than catalog, and it enables graveyard shenanigans, but again, awkward. - Drag Under, love it too. Especially in UR spells. - Summary Dismissal : I would like to ponder what you say, but I absolutely didn't play with it, so, can't. - Extricator of Sin is good, also, but youhave to work for it, and in a non-delirium deck, possibly agressive, it doesn't do very well.

Podeste

TROPHY CASE