Deckmasters- Garfield vs Finkel: Garfield’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
In the booklet that comes with the Deckmasters boxed set, both Magic creator Richard Garfield as well as the game’s best player, Jon Finkel, make mention of the same analogy in their deck write-ups, and it went more or less as follows: who would you pick to win a game of basketball, Michael Jordan… or Dr. James Naismith, the man who created the game. Written in 2001, the analogy has a certain sense of regrettable prescience about it. Most folks if asked today know exactly what basketball is, but very few might know Naismith. One wonders how long it might be before Garfield suffers a similar fate. After all, how many Magic players have ever read Worzel’s Story, the dollop of pulpy placesetting fiction penned by Garfield that was included in the rulebook in Alpha (and removed from all subsequent printings)? It’s not a number that grows. How many even know what it is?
What’s reassuring here are two things- first, that if a game is established long enough so that it’s still being played long after its creator is easily remembered, then that game can most assuredly be called a success. And second, one very quickly realises that there’s much more to Garfield than Magic. Gamers of a certain age are sure to remember other collectible card games that Garfield had a hand in creating perhaps without even realising that he was involved: Jyhad (later Vampire: The Eternal Struggle), Netrunner, BattleTech, Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle, and Star Wars, to name the more well-known ones. He still enjoys a paterfamilias-level of respect from those involved with the game, and continues to be active in gaming and game design. Pro tip: check out his “Three Donkeys” podcast (also available on iTunes).
Of course, we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but for newer players it might be useful to at least establish that what Jon “Johnny Magic” Finkel was up against was no slouch himself. Still, he addressed the Deckmasters competition with a healthy and somewhat unconventional approach, and his deck reflects this. In Finkel’s we saw a who’s-who of solid, efficient beaters backed by truckloads of removal. In Garfield’s, we see something altogether quite different.
ManaNation Spoils Mirrodin Besieged Intro Decks
In case you missed it, ManaNation.com has published the full lists of all four intro decks for Mirrodin Besieged. You can check them out here!
Ertai’s Lament reviews of the decks will begin on 02 February.
Ertai’s Lament and the Great Designer Search 2
As many of you may know, the Ertai’s Lament crew has been right in the thick of the Great Designer Search 2 this past week, assisting all four of the finalists with fine-tuning their intro decks for Design Challenge #5, “Introductions Please,” in which the aspiring designers are asked to make an intro deck for their set.
Our series chronicling our experiences playtesting the four decks through a gauntlet of precons will begin tomorrow on Quiet Speculation, in our Magic Beyond the Box series, so be sure to check it out!
Also, if you’ve been gollowing the GDS2, you’ll no doubt recognise the name Jay Treat. A top-8 finalist, his earlier elimination hasn’t stopped him a bit (and really, when you’re in a crowd of eight designers amongst over a thousand, why would it?). He’s reached out to Ertai’s Lament to collaborate with him on designing intro packs for his completed set Escape to Muraganda. Be on the lookout for Muraganda-themed articles and journeys into intro pack design here on Ertai’s Lament!
Deckmasters- Garfield vs Finkel: Finkel’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
Even if you’re a Red Sox fan, you have to admit that Alex Rodriguez is an extraordinary baseball player. Unless he’s caught, say, wagering on Reds games, he’s a lock for the Hall of Fame- and almost certainly first-ballot. He plays high-profile ball on a high-profile ballclub, and even most casual fans know of his accomplishments.
However, it’s probably also fair to say that a decade after he retires, he’ll be one amongst many, and his name will fail to carry the same gravitas that the utterance of names such as Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner carries. It would not surprise many to learn that if we were to compare Cobb and Rodriguez in some sort of Deadliest Warrior baseball variant, Rodriguez would emerge the victor. Why, then, the disparity in reputation?
Certainly, one must conclude, there is a value to be placed in getting your accomplishments in early in the development cycle for the game you’re participating in. We love our legends, and while latter-day legends do happen (see: Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan), there’s certainly a steeper hill to climb to obtain that status. To earn it, you must stand head-and-shoulders above your contemporaries, a feat more easily done in the infancy of your undertaking. The more heads and shoulders there are, naturally, the taller you must be to be so enshrined.
And so it is that in a game filled with Patrick Chapins, Brad Nelsons, and Luis Scott-Vargases, players so well-established that they are known not only by their accomplishments but by their personalities, that a name like Jon Finkel still resonates.
Worldwake: Brute Force Review (Part 2 of 2)
At last, our final foray into the plane of Zendikar begins! Having now covered all three sets of the block, it’s time to say goodbye in fine form, and to do so we’ve settled in to play our last three matches for the review. Natually, I’ll be piloting Brute Force, while Jimi has taken it upon herself to pilot Mysterious Realms. We’ve enjoyed reviewing the block, and hope you’ve enjoyed the journey alongside us. Here are the game notes for this final confrontation.
News: More on Mirrodin Beseiged Intro Packs Revealed
In case you missed it, last week’s Magic Arcana over at the mothership introduced us to our four Intro Pack decks for the upcoming Mirrodin Beseiged set. Exciting stuff, and right around the corner!
Worldwake: Brute Force Review (Part 1 of 2)
One of our oft-repeated problem with Zendikar’s preconstructed decks has been that the core set content was far too high- when close to half your cards are from Magic 2010, it’s a bit harder to get a feel for how Zendikar’s supposed to feel. Our other major complain was that the set’s mechanics were underrepresented. There was landfall to be certain, and Allies were championed in The Adventurers, but traps and quests were so absent as to be scarcely recognisable as a theme, let alone a major one.
In some ways, Worldwake addressed these imbalances, as we’ll see in Brute Force, a Red/Green beats deck and our last stop in the world of Worldwake, though it would not be until Scars of Mirrodin that a very visible break in the set’s funadamental composition became evident.
Guest Meddling: Blades of Victory (Magic 2011)
Not too long ago, I started playing with a group of people at my college on Monday nights. About half the group was newer players, taking their first steps into the world of Magic: the Gathering. These new players ran the gamut in skill level and what cards they had available to them, but one thing remained constant-they all wanted to improve their decks.
Let’s be honest, it’s not very difficult to realize that, say, Bog Raiders and Canyon Minotaurs aren’t winning you any games (the exception being Limited, where both are decent picks, but that is an entirely different beast). However, I constantly find newer players asking for other people to make their decks better, and while I’m certainly all for helping people out, that’s no way to learn!
Today I am taking the M11 Intro Deck Blades of Victory and outlining some simple steps that can be taken to “pump it up.” More importantly, I’ll explain some of the reasoning behind each tweak, to provide a nice basic iullustration on “why this card is better than that one.”
News: New ‘Magic Beyond the Box’ Article Up
Ever wonder what it takes to make a successful Duel Decks release? Certainly balance between the decks makes the short list of critical factors, and in today’s Quiet Spec column I analyse the series with an eye on precisely that. What have they done right, what have they done wrong… and why was Phyrexia vs The Coalition- irony of ironies- a radical break from the past?
Come on by, say hello, and find out for yourself!
Worldwake: Fangs of the Bloodchief Review (Part 2 of 2)
From the highs to the lows and everything in between, this match was set to be an interesting one. Jimi selected Flyover as her deck to pilot, while I of course were behind Fangs of the Bloodchief. With Flyover happy to get some early stall, would the aggressive Vampires be able to come out of the gate fast enough before Jimi’s aerial forces were able to marshal an effective counter? We sat down for the customary three matches to find out, and here are our notes.
Ertai's Lament 
