Ertai’s Meddling: Stampede of Beasts (m11)
Welcome to another installment of Ertai’s Meddling, the occasional series where we take a preconstructed deck and use it to create a new, stronger casual/playable deck. For many, the “intro pack” is their introduction to deckbuilding, taking out cards they don’t like or that don’t seem to work, and replacing them with others from their collection. As always, there are two fundamental rules we’ll observe:
Today’s patient is Stampede of Beasts. A Green/Red deck from Magic 2011, it scored a 3.75/5.0 on account of some glaring weaknesses to the overall deck structure. Here’s the card list as you’d find it tight out of the box:
And before we begin here’s what we learned about the deck from our playtesting and analysis:
Today we’ll be making two versions of Stampede. The first will keep it’s colour scheme intact- unlike Reign of Vampirism, the off-colour here is an asset, not a liability. The second iteration of the deck will be full-on mono-Green, trading burn for rulership of the red zone. Let’s get started!
Wizards Announces New Preconstructed Product
Wizards today announced the forthcoming “Event Decks,” which will be “strong, capable Standard-legal decks” designed for the more competitive player who wants to make the transition from the kitchen table to their local Friday Night Magic. Here’s the official announcement, and a link to some of the forum discussions here. Although nothing but speculation at this point, there’s some interesting concern and debate over the possible contents of the decks.
Here’s a reprint of my comments on the forum regarding the use and positioning of these forthcoming Event Decks:
As a passionate collector and reviewer of preconstructed decks, I’d be very surprised if these supplanted the “intro decks,” because both have a different place in the market. A common assumption about precons is that they’re in some way meant to be “good,” assuming that the definition of “good” means “competitive against non-precons.” Some are, some aren’t, but obviously you’re not going to have consistent success against a T1 deck with one.
Personally, I see precons as drawing upon the best elements of both Constructed and Limited, and work best when seen as a “fly in amber” representation of what the designers and developers were trying to do with a particular set. Taken in that vein, they’re quite a bit of fun to play when you can “revisit” sets from years ago and try out new cards and mechanics you might not have been around for.
Much like Wizards makes cards that are deliberately poor as “skill testers,” precons have existed in the same design space with some of their choices. This may make them unpalatable to some, who are looking for a competitive experience right out of the box, but it certainly helps those newer to the game. There’s a certain, necessary realisation that has to occur to progress in skill, such as when you look at, say, a Runeclaw Bear and realise- aha!- a Garruk’s Companion might be a better choice in the slot. It’s easy to forget after long years of play how incremental learning the game often was for many of us. The alternative is to simply netdeck a list and run with it rather than develop your own fundamentals.
Most precons will step up their power quite noticeably if given some careful pruning- weeding out the suboptimal, and adopting a four-of mentality to increase consistency. Again, this is a teaching tool- my first decks forever ago were sprawling, 120-card singleton affairs, and it took awhile to learn such lessons.
From the sound of it, these Event Decks won’t be world-beaters, but probably second-shelf consistent performers that are sort of “Precons 2.0”- the learning-curve cards and goofy elements that showcase a set’s mechanics will be gone, repalced by consistency with an eye towards perfoemance: 4-of Lightning Bolts, Spreading Seas, or what have you, wrapped around a theme that’s a little tighter than most.
So long as they don’t replace the existing precon structure I’ll be excited as heck for em! They may not cause me to leave my beloved Grixis Control or RDW decks at home each week, but they’ll be a fun alternative.
More preconstructed decks to dig through and review? Ertai’s Lament says, “yes please!”
Ertai’s Meddling: Reign of Vampirism (m11)
For our first Ertai’s Meddling deconstruction, we’ve selected the popular M11 deck Reign of Vampirism. As discussed in the deck review, Reign is an intriguing but flawed Black-Green concoction that relies on a particular gimmick (the Captivating Vampire) as its most dangerous win condition. Here are the raw materials we are working with:
Now, let’s next examine the strengths and weaknesses we discovered through analysis and playtesting, so we know where to focus our attentions:
Today we’ll be building two versions of Reign of Vampirism– one keeping it a two-colour construction, and the other bringing its darker elements to the fore and stripping it down to be mono-Black. Remember the rules of Ertai’s Meddling: no Rares or Mythics will be added! In addition, we’ll be keeping the core content of the decks intact- we may have some recommendations for cards from other sets, but for the task at hand we’ll only be using M11 cards.
Poll Closed: The Tribe Has Spoken!
And by a healthy margin, you have selected Zendikar’s intro decks as the next set review! Look for the Zendikar decks to get their turn under the microscope beginning Thursday, 26 August after the reviews of Metallic Dreams and Zombie Empire conclude.
Continuing to Thoughtsieze, our next poll is up in the right-hand margin.
Coming Soon: Ertai’s Meddling
Ertai’s Lament is pleased to announce a forthcoming semi-regular series, the first installment of which should be on the site this week-end!
Since this site was started, we’ve found that one of the larger segments of our audience are players new to the game (or returning), who are using the Intro Decks as a starting point for their own building- a great place to begin! But often for the new player, deckbuilding can be a very unsteady thing (my own earliest efforts, for instance, were 120-card monstrosities), and a little guidance and suggestion can go a long way.
For those looking to build competitive Standard decks, there are plenty of resources online- just a few are in the ‘Links’ list in the right-hand margin. But for those players breaking into the game, regrettably there’s just not a lot out there. The Ertai’s Meddling series will deconstruct an Intro Pack deck and modify it into an improved version of itself. And along the way, we’ll be working off of one core assumption: you don’t need a ton of Rares and Mythics to make a fun, playable deck. The versions we tune will only have the Rares that came with the Intro Deck in the first place- all other tweaks will be with Commons and Uncommons, to keep them easy to build and affordable.
As always, feedback and testing is encouraged! If you like- or dislike- a change, say so, or make your own suggestions! Let us know what you’ve done to your own deck, and how that’s worked out for you. It’s our hope that the wisdom of the many can prove every bit as valuable as the wisdom of the few.
Thanks as always for reading, and look for the first installment of Ertai’s Meddling (on an M11 deck) coming soon!
A Glimpse of the Scars of Mirrodin Intro Packs Revealed!
Although we’ve sworn off any and all card spoilers for the upcoming Scars of Mirrodin, we’d be remiss in our duties if we failed to note the unveiling of the Scars preconstructed decks.
Look closely, and you can even see the colour combinations we have to look forward to. For a bit more information, you can check out the original “leak” here.
Site Update: Archive Trap
Just a quick note here about a site update to the Archive Trap page. Our reader, Dave, recently suggested that we add in the Final Grade of each deck alongside the deck listing in our archives, so that they could be easily determined side-by-side.
We thought this was a great idea, and to make it easy on the eyes we’re unveiling a new ‘rating’ system for our Archive page. Next to the name of each deck is a rarity symbol corresponding to the particular set. These rarity symbols are based on the grade the deck was rated.
4.51 – 5.00 Epic
4.01 – 4.50 Rare
3.51 – 4.00 Uncommon
0.00 – 3.50 Common
It might sound confusing, but it looks easy- head on over to our Archives today and check it out. It will be a gradual roll-out, so not all decks will have symbols yet, but stay tuned!
Exclusive: Ultra Pro Releasing Archenemy Deck Boxes
Are you a fan of the Ultra Pro licensed Deck Boxes, such as those released for the Duel Decks and Planechase?
Quick, go do a Google search for Archenemy + “Ultra Pro,” and you’ll find… a thread on the Mothership. Another on MTG Salvation. Some ads for oversize sleeves. An article on Ertai’s Lament (surprised us, too). And plenty of crickets chirping.
So far, word on the street’s been mum about any special release for Archenemy, but you heard it here first: an Archenemy deck box release has been officially confirmed today by Ultra Pro to Ertai’s Lament due for release this Autumn.
No word yet on a final release date or what they will look like, but we’ll be at the front of the line when they’re out (at risk of sounding like a shill, Ultra Pro is the ‘official’ Ertai’s Lament deck archival supplier of choice).
Contest Winner
The Grand Prize winner of our recent giveaway has decided to share his good fortune with the reading public!
Who is that masked man?
Why, it’s Ben, our most prolific commentator. And what did those five packs of treasure contain?
Three rare lands, a Royal Assassin... and a Time Reversal? Lucky git...
Thanks again to all who entered… we’ll be having another before long.
Ertai’s Lament Spotlighted on The Mana Pool!
Well, okay, ‘spotlighted’ is a bit of a stretch, but we’re delighted at the mention in the latest podacast from The Mana Pool. As it turns out, lontime listener (and frequent reader here) Ben sent in an email recommending the site to the Mana Pool guys, and it sparked some discussion:
Mike: It’s called Ertai’s Lament… and the dude takes the precons that Wizards makes- they’re Intro Packs now- and he tests them out to see how they work and he analyzes how they’re put together and Ben thinks it’s pretty cool, so it might possibly be… pretty cool… so go there and find out whether it’s… pretty cool.
Brian: Yeah, we cannot guarantee or completely deny any coolness it may or may not have. And personally while I have not had the time to check it out, I’ve been busy with something- I’ll spare you the details- I do like that premise.
Check out the episode, which includes a long review section on notable M11 cards that’s quite enjoyable!
Thanks for the mention, fellas, and we hope you’ve found some time to stop on by and check the site out. And thanks to Ben for the good publicity!
Ertai's Lament 
