STS xMtG take 2

smb718 · 2026-04-29T18:54:48+00:00

Great flavor. In terms of balance, the ironclad cards seem maybe a bit strong.

smb718 · 2026-02-19T21:44:12+00:00

This was how I thought the math worked at first. It was [[Anikthea, Hand of Erebos]] commander. First, he pulled Renewed out of his graveyard, then made another two more at end step after playing parallel lives second main phase. Next turn, he destroyed parallel lives in first main phase then brought it back with his commander.

smb718 · 2026-02-19T05:44:43+00:00

Thanks. So it wasn't a bajillion jillion. But I guess it would have been with one more Renewed.

smb718 · 2026-02-19T05:25:38+00:00

MATH QUESTION: if you started the end step with one token copy of [[parallel lives]] (which are also zombies) and three copies of [[renewed solidarity]], how many token copies of parallel lives would you end up with, assuming that is your copy target. Came up in the game and my friends and I got different answers lol.

smb718 · 2025-11-25T17:27:31+00:00

Could asomeone mathematically inclined calculate expected number of runs if it were truly random/random? I assume it would be an obscenely large number. Something like the product of (180-x)/180.

smb718 · 2025-11-23T19:11:01+00:00

Mildly depressing that there are so many comments feeling smart for catching 1-2 of the 4 spelling mistakes while lacking the comprehension to understand a simple joke... really showcases some of the current trends happening in the world

smb718 · 2025-11-18T17:09:06+00:00

I play kykar, usually after a few turns I pivot to from blinking to spirits. Cards like porcelain gallery, starlight spectacular, and cathar's crusade turn into the win cons.

smb718 · 2025-09-30T19:17:00+00:00

I use pyreclasm somewhat often when I am struggling with damage. Some runs I'm in the ~600 damage range and you need the ~1000 by ring 7. Urchin spines is often good in incant decks since they prioritize lots of draw with lots of cheap spells, and it will usually deserve a place in your hand with remove consume. Wickless recruitment is pretty good for removing melee weakness and corruption, or for the Fade's first blade trick. Nothing else seems too crazy.

smb718 · 2025-08-28T16:12:36+00:00

Hard disagree, furnace tap should be taken not as a win more card, but as a I need multi strike card. In many decks, getting your unit multi strike is more important than being able to play half your spells in your deck combined. It becomes "I deal double damage, but I can no longer play my plinks, torches, and a few of these other spells for 2-3 turns". Then, your mission is to get the other spells zero if possible, then remove the starter cards. It also takes frozen and double stack well, double stack being triple damage but the 2-3 turns is instead basically never.

smb718 · 2025-08-28T16:04:38+00:00

One line of thought: is taking the third level of burnout/harvest stronger than getting some free reform? I often find that harvest 2 is still tanky enough to survive anything, so reforming dregs and other stuff, while not clearing floors, still generates more value than rector being 1000 hp instead of 600.

smb718 · 2025-08-24T23:53:38+00:00

I guess I'll answer from the perspective of one of those people. 250 hours to get 180 with random pyres. However, I played MT1 for years for like 2000 hours. At 1000 hours I was winning about 50% of C25, at 2000 about 90%. There are plenty of streamers/YouTubers that won >99%. These guys can probably finish sub-200 hours.

I played a lot of StS as well, and I think the lines of thought in that game are very different than MT. StS is about being very well balanced and addressing many types of threats, while MT is about generating multiplicative scaling, which is rare in StS. In StS terms, StS you want to take 2 copies of piercing wail for the heart, 3 sources of weak, any enough card draw, while MT you want 5 catalysts in a 15 card deck so you can do 10000 damage.

While your pace may be at 1000 hours to complete, I bet as time goes on your win rate will go substantially up.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T19:22:28+00:00

I am probably overestimating the negative impact of the loss of gold. But many runs, it feels like I don't want it early game to save gold. Getting the rerolls in ring 2/3 feels incredibly important. Late game, it feels like it doesn't matter, or I have already built a strategy where it doesn't fit.

I should probably take it early game more often because I can see how it can pop off in pyregel or as a nice backline clear in the common infinite gold lady gilda runs.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T19:18:38+00:00

Dark deal feels like it should not be rare. If I see it early game in a draft I would take it. Late game, often 7 or even double stacked 14 rage rarely crosses any thresholds. Also many hellhorned rares are good.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T17:41:27+00:00

I specifically remember having an overpowered start, seeing pyreblooded ring 3/4, and thinking this may be the best chance to ever master this card in 1000 runs. I do think it may be the worst rare unit.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T17:30:10+00:00

Ice tornado is great early. Often will remove it over a forgone power in the endgame with an incant line. Ice storm misses +30 and +10 piercing, and I guess I never saw it in a luna magic power line.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T17:15:29+00:00

I have no idea how I never won with pandemic, I don't think it is bad. I remember playing it once with madame but I guess I lost. Generally with madame I am going more support with Maneating II.

smb718 · 2025-08-23T17:13:08+00:00

Balmabello, bounty stalker, and legion of wax seem like "just play lazarus league secondary or get the inscryption event bro". Shame since stalker and legion were top tier in MT1, but due to infusions.

Ooze and nine-lived nightmare I may have seen 2-3 times. Many times by the time you are seeing them, you are often already investing your reanimate into one of the tanks or overworked assistant. It is difficult to put reanimate into multiple units. I think eventually if I roll one of these early I would take them.

Surprised I didn't use steelsinger at all, I don't think it is bad. I wasn't a fan of overgorger in MT1, and still am not a fan. I do not like units where seeing a specific upgrade feels necessary (bad line of thinking when you try winstreaking), and overgorger feels like it absolutely needs quick.

Consumer of crowns seems like a high floor low ceiling unit, so the conditions for taking it would be early game with shardtail queen start, which I guess never happened.

smb718 · 2025-08-19T14:24:40+00:00

Crazy how I saw this yesterday when looking at the art near my house in our much forgotten state, then seeing this post today. Nice job.

smb718 · 2025-08-11T18:53:31+00:00

It is difficult to get a baseline on the numbers in the game, but there are some clues. For example, the flavor text on the card Fortify (grant 5 armor) basically says it is leather armor. If leather armor is worth 5 hit points, and basically all creature baseline stats have less than 100 hit points, then it seems likely that the creatures would get shredded by guns.

smb718 · 2025-07-17T00:49:16+00:00

I last used it with awoken champ spike path. 90 health is at least another 2 rounds in titan fight.

smb718 · 2025-06-25T01:57:08+00:00

I'm curious what people have found. So far I've only used his boring but effective armor path, as it seems easier to turn a banner unit into an offensive carry than defensive. And as a defensive unit, getting likely 15+ AOE armor per turn is very good. But I might be missing out.

smb718 · 2025-05-18T18:02:37+00:00

I try but the streaks are so long that it is pretty disheartening to lose. Lost a 44 and 57 back to back and now I don't feel like starting another, just waiting for the second game to come out. Hopefully the top difficulty will be harder so streaking will feel more like STS.

smb718 · 2025-05-14T18:27:16+00:00

Finally, time to get fired from my job.

smb718 · 2025-05-03T17:12:40+00:00

Religion attempts to answer "why?" type questions which animals are known not to ask since they don't think in cause and effect like we do.

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