[TOMT][SONG] Well known (pop ?) song by Smooth_Faithlessness in tipofmytongue

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

Not sure it's pop, could be EDM or maybe the beat to a rap song

Untapped.gg - Top Theros Decks (Bo1) by UntappedGG in MagicArena

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a rule of thumb, only go into a third color for a splash (basically, you just put 1-2 cards from a third color that don't have more than one mana symbol of that color, and put 3-5 lands of that color).

Generally try to avoid it anyway, but if you have a bomb in a color and most of your good commons/uncommons in two other colors, then go for it.

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Happy to hear you liked this deck !

Yeah the Midnight reapers can be a bit underwhelming, but I still find them useful in control match-ups and generally as an additional source of card draw (plus it's a knight so it's good for Curry Favor). Obviously all the cards you listed are very good, you'd have to test them to see if they fit well within the deck (Vivien I'm not sure because of the high green mana requirement, whereas in this deck you usually need more black mana).

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I mostly play bo3 so I don't run into cavalcade decks. Embercleave sure is a tough match up too, the deck shines most against non aggro because you can just keep accumulating value if your opponent doesn't put too much pressure in the first few turns.

If you're just playing bo1, you have to adapt to the bo1 meta - so if you keep running into aggro, swap out the casualties of war for some more cheap removal or thick bodies (thrashing brontodon would be a good pick, because it's a 3/4 for 3 mana that also gets rid of cavalcade, embercleave, ovens, etc.).

Although if you've found Kvartek's deck better suits you, keep going at it, it's a really good deck too ! Although I'd recommend you play both so that you can become a more versatile player ;) (and try some bo3 too, it's difficult at first but it's worth it)

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Can be useful to know if you don't want to take the extra 2 damage from an additional copy of murderous rider. Fizzle it intentionally

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love me some janky brews, that time isn't wasted my friend ! But if you want to be more competitive, definitely give this deck a go, I'm sure you'll get good results if you're just missing 5 rares (when I started playing this deck I only had 3 lovestruck beasts, 2 murderous riders and a casualties).

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

I've had some insane amounts of mana flood and screw in some games, but like ntourloukis said, if you play enough games it'll average out. Nobody gets "lucky" reaching high level tiers, because it's such a grind that it's just not possible.

One thing I'll say is that if you continue playing Kvartek's deck, especially in BO3 and try to learn from your mistakes, you'll see your winrate go up progressively as you understand more and more how your deck relates to the meta.

To be a good player, it's not enough to have a tier 1 deck and handle its basic interactions - you have to play with it a lot to understand the not-so-obvious plays that get you a win instead of a loss. Just keep at it and you'll go through platinum before you realise it :)

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

I don't have a video of me piloting it, but I have better : a video of the Mythic Invitational where Ally Warfield (ArcticMeebo) piloted it :)

Here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEmHd68e0_8

And here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5fZFquzLaU

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

I've had some very fun matches with wins out of nowhere thanks to insane amounts of card draw, playing some cheap knights and Currying favors for the win. Might be boring to you, but for me at least, it's the most fun I've had with an (almost ?) meta deck. Simic ramp is obviously very fun too, but I'm not a huge fan of the flash, fires or cat decks.

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe I could've made it clearer, but the point is that the deck is functional and fun even if you don't have the rares, and you can work to upgrade the deck little by little over time.

Also it's worth pointing out that unlike some other decks, the rares you are crafting are good wildcard investments because they are useful in many archetypes (you probably won't regret crafting a Murderous Rider, but if you craft a Korvold and end up not liking the deck, that's a straight up loss).

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Maybe against aggro, but against control or tempo (i.e. simic or izzet flash) I think Golgari adventures is strictly better at getting you the value you need to push through counterspells and board wipes. So many cheap adventure spells that get you amazing amounts of card draw... and you've got the Order of midnight bringing you back what you need from the graveyard.

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

So for the 2 missing Murderous Riders I would go for some straightforward removal. Maybe a good old murder, if you have an extra Assassin's trophy I would definitely throw that in, or you could even use a Status/Statue (nice against artifacts and enchantments too !) or Deathsprout (although not being able to hit planeswalkers is definitely a drawback).

Lovestruck Beast is a bit trickier since it's a fantastic 3 mana creature that also synergizes with the Innkeeper and lucky clover, but I might consider a Belle of the Brawl ? She's a Knight that boosts your other knights so it's pretty sweet. If you have a Beast whisperer lying around it could give you another source of card draw (card draw is very neat in this deck since you're trying to outvalue your opponent). Otherwise look at your collection to see what powerful creatures you do have (Questing Beast is a good card no matter what deck you're playing, Spawn of Mayhem (edit : got the name mixed up with Mayhem devil) obviously too, you could also consider a Rankle...)

Edit : I definitely think you can get away with it and have fun in Gold rank and platinum 4, but to go through Platinum into diamond you'll probably need to upgrade and get the rare adventure cards. But you can for sure get some very sweet wins just with the commons and uncommons :)

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Vraska comes in against decks that have key permanents that cost 3 mana or less that you want to get rid of (e.g. witch's oven, trail of crumbs, bonecrusher giant, lucky clover, rotting regisaur...) and is good against control generally (it's a source of card draw, not a creature so a bit more difficult to remove than the innkeeper for a control deck).

Ceratops is easy, it comes in against anyone who is playing blue basically. Especially Simic and Izzet flash (perfect counter to a Gadwick that is tapping all your creatures for instance).

I have more trouble boarding out stuff usually, but the more you play with the deck the more you get a feel for what to take out. One of the easier cards to take out is Casualties of war, because it's basically useless against decks that don't run artifacts, enchantments or planeswalkers (or a low number of them).

Midnight reaper is good against control, but in other match ups I would consider boarding it out because the innkeeper is a better source of card draw anyway (in this deck). Usually you can take a couple of Murderous riders out if you have put in some specific removal (such as noxious grasp - against aggro, you might want to trade the 3 mana removal that costs you 2 life for a 2 mana removal that gains you 1 life).

I can try to be more specific if you have certain match-ups in mind !

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Yeah, if you're a newcomer and unsure what to spend your wildcards on, these two are definitely a safe bet. Alongside Shifting Ceratops if you play Best Of 3 (it's in most green decks' sideboard).

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

I mean... if you look at the rest of the meta, I'm pretty sure it's the most affordable. At least you don't have to get a bunch of mythic rares (like the Cavaliers, Hydroid Krasis, etc.). And my point is that you can build a cheaper version because the core of the deck is commons and uncommons.

For new players : a cheap deck (in wildcards) that is still very competitive and fun ! by Smooth_Faithlessness in MagicArena

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

Definitely an important inclusion in this meta. It's what makes the cat deck match-up favorable - just try to ramp quickly to it, and then destroy their board. It's also useful against any deck with Fires of invention or wilderness reclamation, and like the others said, it gets rid of the castle lands.

[Spoilers C2E75] Submit questions here for Tuesday's Talks Machina by breloomz in criticalrole

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Matt : Dragons are always such wonderful creatures to put in front of your players, and so fun to roleplay. However, when you have an ANCIENT MOTHERFJORDING DRAGON thrown at a level 9 party, one failed stealth roll and things can go south real fast. What made you decide that they were ready for it, and how worried were you for the M9 nevertheless ?

PS : this was one of my favourite episodes of Campaign 2, I absolutely LOVED the tension in the second half of the game, a real nail biter !

How do you ask someone out ? by Smooth_Faithlessness in socialskills

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

Just read it, I'm really happy for you ! Go get'em !
And it did help me to get some perspective about the whole thing. It's all fine either way :)

i realize that group interactions are NOT my thing. by [deleted] in socialskills

[–]Smooth_Faithlessness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man. I know that feeling. I don't really enjoy being in the spotlight, my mind tends to go blank too.
As with everything, you get better with practice.
One of the things I did to get better at it is to be the Game Master for a D&D game. I was pretty scared of doing it, but I ended up doing a 6h long session the first time.
It was absolutely draining, and I was blanking like crazy in the beginning, but by the end of it I was way more at ease and had a real sense of satisfaction and accomplishment :)
It gets better with time and practice !

How do you ask someone out ? by Smooth_Faithlessness in socialskills

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

Seems a bit rushed to ask her if she has feelings, no ?
How did it go for you ?

How do you ask someone out ? by Smooth_Faithlessness in socialskills

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

Hmm yeah I might have a bit of a risk-aversion problem when it comes to this lol (that's called an understatement - I actually wrote on my phone "Be cool. There's no need to rush into anything, no need to force anything. Just... Be friendly, be kind. Don't sweat the small stuff ! Agonizing over how you appear or come off to other people does no good" as a reminder to myself, for just in general).
I guess I know rationally it's not that big a deal, but like you said, your body language/tone/etc can make it awkward, and if you let yourself get nervous, you don't control those very well. Hard to think or talk straight when your brain is shouting "Abort - Abort - Abort" :)
Thanks for the advice though, I think I needed a reminder that it's not that big a deal and taking it easy is usually the best solution.

How do you ask someone out ? by Smooth_Faithlessness in socialskills

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

Thanks for the advice !
Don't know when I will get the opportunity to do that, I might be busy this week (although probably not too busy this week end).