Magic: The Gathering Arena - Catch All

I've been out of playing Magic for a few years, just because I always spent too much on it, but man Wizards marketing has been knocking it out the park lately. The War of the Spark promos earlier this year were already excellent, but this Throne of Eldraine trailer's animation stepped it up even further. I enjoy the flavour direction they're going in for this set - might just be enough to reel me back in for a bit.

They have a Brawl preview event going right now, which lets you play one of four pre-cons and awards playsets of several Eldraine cards.

Badferret wrote:

They have a Brawl preview event going right now, which lets you play one of four pre-cons and awards playsets of several Eldraine cards.

And there's no entry fee for the event, so there's no reason not to check it out if anyone's curious.

All four decks seem pretty good. The buzz online is the White/Green/Blue deck is the best, but I found that was the one I had the most trouble with. It has some really powerful ramp options, but I had trouble getting there before the other decks' value engines got going.

Vargen wrote:
Badferret wrote:

They have a Brawl preview event going right now, which lets you play one of four pre-cons and awards playsets of several Eldraine cards.

And there's no entry fee for the event, so there's no reason not to check it out if anyone's curious.

All four decks seem pretty good. The buzz online is the White/Green/Blue deck is the best, but I found that was the one I had the most trouble with. It has some really powerful ramp options, but I had trouble getting there before the other decks' value engines got going.

One of the tracker apps shows that the esper deck has the highest win rate. I think I went 6 and 3 with it.

Badferret wrote:
Vargen wrote:
Badferret wrote:

They have a Brawl preview event going right now, which lets you play one of four pre-cons and awards playsets of several Eldraine cards.

And there's no entry fee for the event, so there's no reason not to check it out if anyone's curious.

All four decks seem pretty good. The buzz online is the White/Green/Blue deck is the best, but I found that was the one I had the most trouble with. It has some really powerful ramp options, but I had trouble getting there before the other decks' value engines got going.

One of the tracker apps shows that the esper deck has the highest win rate. I think I went 6 and 3 with it.

The Esper commander is an insane value engine in that deck. I think part of the problem is people don't want to spend a hard removal spell to just put her back into the command zone. But if you don't do that then the deck's draw-a-card artifacts lead to a quick Faerie beatdown. Also it's a really fun deck and does the kinds of things that Spike-y players like to do. All I know for sure is that's the one deck I'm snagging in paper because I want Alela in my cube.

I've had the most success with the Jund sacrifice deck. I like the Esper and Bant decks, but I think the Mardu deck suffers from having the most expensive commander.

The code

FiveBonusLevels

will give you five bonus mastery levels... but the code is only valid until noon on September 25th. So grab it soon!

The 26th is when the M20 Mastery goes away entirely, and is replaced by the Throne of Eldraine Mastery progression.

The code put me up to level 85. I should probably go ahead and buy the M20 pass. Even if I didn't care at all about constructed I'd almost be there on limited value alone. And I do care about constructed a little bit.

I got a Google Sheets link with a nice calculator to help determine if the pass is worth it. You just have to tell it how many gems you think the packs and individual card rewards are worth and what level you think you'll hit and it'll tell you the value of what the pass will get you. I filled in the numbers based on mostly playing a bunch of limited but still caring enough about constructed to want some of the Mythics and stuff. Even with a zero value in the cosmetic rewards it looks like I should go ahead and pull the trigger. Especially since I'm enjoying the XP grind event and am playing it a bunch for its own sake.

The spreadsheet comes from the Going Optimal channel on Twitch. That's Ryan Spain, a former Wizards employee and Arena developer who streams limited now.

Vargen wrote:

The 26th is when the M20 Mastery goes away entirely, and is replaced by the Throne of Eldraine Mastery progression.

The code put me up to level 85. I should probably go ahead and buy the M20 pass. Even if I didn't care at all about constructed I'd almost be there on limited value alone. And I do care about constructed a little bit.

I got a Google Sheets link with a nice calculator to help determine if the pass is worth it. You just have to tell it how many gems you think the packs and individual card rewards are worth and what level you think you'll hit and it'll tell you the value of what the pass will get you. I filled in the numbers based on mostly playing a bunch of limited but still caring enough about constructed to want some of the Mythics and stuff. Even with a zero value in the cosmetic rewards it looks like I should go ahead and pull the trigger. Especially since I'm enjoying the XP grind event and am playing it a bunch for its own sake.

The spreadsheet comes from the Going Optimal channel on Twitch. That's Ryan Spain, a former Wizards employee and Arena developer who streams limited now.

42.5 gems per pack? Isn't that super low?

SixteenBlue wrote:

42.5 gems per pack? Isn't that super low?

Not really. My thinking went like this:

I have most of the commons and uncommons already (and plenty of wild cards), so I don't value those. I have most of the rares, so a decent portion of those will convert to 20 gems each once I get the full set. I do value the mythic rares at the full pack price because I'm not near having a full set of those and I care enough about my collection to want to get them. About 1/8 packs has a Mythic instead of a rare. So 7/8 of the packs are worth 20 gems and 1/8 of them are worth 200. I might not have done the math quite right, but I'm in the ballpark.

If packs are worth more to you then adjust the numbers accordingly. That's what those fields are for.

Vargen wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

42.5 gems per pack? Isn't that super low?

Not really. My thinking went like this:

I have most of the commons and uncommons already (and plenty of wild cards), so I don't value those. I have most of the rares, so a decent portion of those will convert to 20 gems each once I get the full set. I do value the mythic rares at the full pack price because I'm not near having a full set of those and I care enough about my collection to want to get them. About 1/8 packs has a Mythic instead of a rare. So 7/8 of the packs are worth 20 gems and 1/8 of them are worth 200. I might not have done the math quite right, but I'm in the ballpark.

If packs are worth more to you then adjust the numbers accordingly. That's what those fields are for.

Ah, I see. Thanks. I'm not even close to having everything so I was comparing the value of a pack vs the cost in gems to purchase one.

SixteenBlue wrote:
Vargen wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

42.5 gems per pack? Isn't that super low?

Not really. My thinking went like this:

I have most of the commons and uncommons already (and plenty of wild cards), so I don't value those. I have most of the rares, so a decent portion of those will convert to 20 gems each once I get the full set. I do value the mythic rares at the full pack price because I'm not near having a full set of those and I care enough about my collection to want to get them. About 1/8 packs has a Mythic instead of a rare. So 7/8 of the packs are worth 20 gems and 1/8 of them are worth 200. I might not have done the math quite right, but I'm in the ballpark.

If packs are worth more to you then adjust the numbers accordingly. That's what those fields are for.

Ah, I see. Thanks. I'm not even close to having everything so I was comparing the value of a pack vs the cost in gems to purchase one.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the pass, and I think I did lowball my estimate. I don't have as much from the sets before M20, and I forgot how many of those packs were in the pass. And M20 has more gaps than I thought; I've just been pulling a bunch of gems out of rare drafting and that threw me off.

Strewth wrote:

The code

FiveBonusLevels

will give you five bonus mastery levels... but the code is only valid until noon on September 25th. So grab it soon!

Where does this code go?

EDIT -nevermind, found it - top right of the Store UI.

I don't think I've ever won a single hand at Draft in any CCG ever.

I must be missing something very very obvious.

Anyone have some deck suggestions for the win 12 games get every card standard event?

Anecdotally, mono-red Cavalcade + Torbran, Thane of Red Fell has been treating me very well. I'm brewing up a temur elementals list with him, but it's difficult balancing the mana.

I'm nowhere near a competitive player, but I was surprised by just how quickly that can blow out somebody. It's probably the deck I'll craft fully first with Eldraine.

There's a very interesting deck built around Doom Foretold and Dance of the Manse. I have no idea how to play it, but I'll give it a try tonight.

Esper Stax
by Bryan Gottlieb

4 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Dovin's Veto
4 Kaya's Wrath
1 Planar Cleansing
3 Thought Erasure
4 Oath of Kaya
4 Guild Globe
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
2 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Temple of Silence
4 Watery Grave
1 Castle Vantress
3 Dance of the Manse
3 Doom Foretold
3 Fabled Passage
4 Golden Egg
1 Legion's End
2 Murderous Rider
1 Wishclaw Talisman

Sideboard:
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
2 Disenchant
1 Disfigure
2 Dovin's Veto
1 Cry of the Carnarium
2 Duress
2 The Elderspell
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Legion's End
1 Realm-Cloaked Giant

Have an extra one of those codes for 6 Eldraine packs from pre-release - DM me if you want it.
Edit: Gone

I've been playing one of those UG goose-Oko ramp/food decks. It's good fun and pretty consistently has broken starts, though it did struggle against that Doom Foretold deck, at least in its default configuration.

The Eldraine codes I saw were for just one pack. These promos are getting thinner and thinner; at this rate Theros prereleases will just come with a single card.

Someone at my LGS did say that you can redeem 5 of them on one account though. I’ll verify that once I get around to sorting my prerelease stuff...

And to think Pokemon TCG includes a digital code for the same item in every sealed product they sell. Wouldn't that be nice!

Vargen wrote:

The Eldraine codes I saw were for just one pack. These promos are getting thinner and thinner; at this rate Theros prereleases will just come with a single card..

I looked at the fine print on mine and it does in fact say "one pack" but actually redeemed for six. I assume they either misprinted them, or perhaps, they changed their mind on what the code would do after printing.

4dSwissCheese wrote:
Vargen wrote:

The Eldraine codes I saw were for just one pack. These promos are getting thinner and thinner; at this rate Theros prereleases will just come with a single card..

I looked at the fine print on mine and it does in fact say "one pack" but actually redeemed for six. I assume they either misprinted them, or perhaps, they changed their mind on what the code would do after printing.

They announced that it was a misprint and that each code is for 6 packs each.

Eldraine might actually be the set to get me into arena. I have been holding out because I vastly prefer to play in person but I have been wanting to do more limited and arena seems like a good option.

Well, went 6-2 in the Win One of Every Card event with Rakdos Aggro. Won my first 6, then lost two in a row when both opponents stabilized just before I could get lethal. Still, I'll take the four rares.

A little sad that I’m away from my PC for the duration of the win every card event. If I was playing, I think I’d go with something like the Golos deck at the bottom of this article. Having the wish-board in bo1 feels really powerful.

4dSwissCheese wrote:

A little sad that I’m away from my PC for the duration of the win every card event. If I was playing, I think I’d go with something like the Golos deck at the bottom of this article. Having the wish-board in bo1 feels really powerful.

That's more or less what my wife ran. She got knocked out after three games because she hit opponents who were packing hate for Field of the Dead.

If she hadn't wanted to run that in the event, I would have tried something with a Priest of Forgotten Gods/Chandra, Acolyte of Flame/Mayhem Devil engine. That's been a lot of fun and it really pumps out the damage quick.

I had a lot of fun with Jeskai Fires of Invention deck, with the Fae of Wishes sideboard. Went 8-2, but missed winning the Sealed Deck token by 1 win.

Here's the deck list with some slight changes
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetyp...

Ok, sell me on your deck. I've got a few wildcards burning a hole in my inventory and I want to spend them on something competitive. I'm totally burned out on BO1 mono-red Cavalcade, and want to move into BO3.

I have 2 of the new Garruk's and a bunch of Golgari staples so I'm looking at a Golgari or Abzan midrange list. I think Vraska, Golgari Queen is in a good spot, with her -3 hitting a lot of relevant targets. Combined with Murderous Rider and Assassin's Trophy, there seems to be a lot of support for a control/value list.

Simic Flash looks strong, and I absolutely loathe playing against it. I have the 4 Nightpack Ambushers required and I'm thinking...If I can't beat them, why not join them?

My Bant ramp deck lost some key cards, but Kydroid Krasis is still bloody good. Looks like the best home for it is in a Goose Oko food deck. I'd loose my favourite card, Deputy of Detention, but Oko...Sorta makes up for it. Right?

It meets none of your criteria, but this is what I'm running right now:

"Acolyte of the Old Gods"

4 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245
1 Bloodfell Caves (M20) 242
4 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame (M20) 126
4 Dreadhorde Butcher (WAR) 194
3 Claim the Firstborn (ELD) 118
1 God-Eternal Bontu (WAR) 92
4 Grim Initiate (WAR) 130
4 Heartfire (WAR) 131
4 Knight of the Ebon Legion (M20) 105
4 Mayhem Devil (WAR) 204
9 Mountain (M20) 275
4 Priest of Forgotten Gods (RNA) 83
3 Spark Harvest (WAR) 105
7 Swamp (RNA) 262
2 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244
2 Rankle, Master of Pranks (ELD) 101

4 Drill Bit (RNA) 73
4 Legion's End (M20) 106
4 Noxious Grasp (M20) 110
3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator (WAR) 146

The sideboard is largely theoretical. Maybe the Drill Bits are too cute and it just wants Duress? It definitely wants two more Fabled Passage in the mana base.

The core of the deck is Priest of Forgotten Gods, Mayhem Devil, and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame. Priest gets you three Mayhem Devil triggers. Chandra makes two elementals for Priest, and if that isn't around she'll sacrifice those elementals herself for Devil triggers anyway. The deck is fast, but it's got a little more play to it than a typical aggro deck. Claim the Firstborn gives you all kinds of clever lines, since you can use it on your own creatures if you need the untap and/or haste. At first glance it looks like Knight of the Ebon Legion doesn't fit with the rest of the engine--it doesn't eat things and you usually don't want to eat it. What it does is it forces your opponent to deal with it while you're setting up your engine and leaves them with fewer resources to disrupt you once you get going.

I've seen similar lists that run more Throne of Eldraine cards like Bonecrusher Giant and Murderous Rider, but I haven't felt that's worth the wild cards. Claim the Firstborn and Rankle are the key Throne cards IMO. I haven't seen anyone else bother with Spark Harvest, but I like it because it deals with cards that Shock or Heartfire can't.

i have an arena code for the spellslinger starter decks if anyone wants. It can be activated twice so I have an extra activation.

Infernarl wrote:

i have an arena code for the spellslinger starter decks if anyone wants. It can be activated twice so I have an extra activation.

I'll take it if it's still around!