Mtg arena open beta
Re: Mtg arena open beta
Well, I don't have an awful lot of duplicate rares at the moment, so my list of things to trade would probably be pretty small. I have no idea what I want/need as I have yet to try building a deck aside from my first attempt at a Commander deck with Karametra.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Mtg arena open beta
I managed to get online yesterday and play my 15 games to get some XP and gold.
The deck I am using a lot is a White/Red Greek inspired deck focusing on creating token soldiers and then buffing them for a coup de grâce. I picked up a card Haktos the Unscarred which I have thrown in there as a potential nasty surprise. The red cards in the deck are mostly cards that allow me some control or quick damage until things are set up for the coup de grâce. I've got some portent of betrayals in there and a shocks. I had fun using it and having a themed deck is fun. Still a fresh player and losing to decks which are constructed with a lot more experience and know-how, but it's all part of the learning.
The new sets up for pre-order include Vivien who I quite like. How about the red commander? Do you know anything about him and his tiger dragon?
The deck I am using a lot is a White/Red Greek inspired deck focusing on creating token soldiers and then buffing them for a coup de grâce. I picked up a card Haktos the Unscarred which I have thrown in there as a potential nasty surprise. The red cards in the deck are mostly cards that allow me some control or quick damage until things are set up for the coup de grâce. I've got some portent of betrayals in there and a shocks. I had fun using it and having a themed deck is fun. Still a fresh player and losing to decks which are constructed with a lot more experience and know-how, but it's all part of the learning.
The new sets up for pre-order include Vivien who I quite like. How about the red commander? Do you know anything about him and his tiger dragon?
Re: Mtg arena open beta
I think he is new. Viv's new card isn't bad, letting you pump out reasonable sized tokens with some useful abilities, as well as letting you play from your deck. She'll probably fit into most green decks easily enough. Lukka could be awesome if you build around him. His basic ability gives you more versatility in what you have available to cast. His second is potentially amazing if you plan for it.
e.g. you have 1,2 and 3 mana creatures as the majority of your deck. Drop Lukka while you have a 3 mana critter in play. Hit his 2nd ability and fish this chap out of your deck.

If you reach his third ability with a full board, it's pretty much game over.
That said, as a 5 mana card, you may well be dead before you can cast him or see him dispelled before he hits the board.
I'm probably going to get the Viv pre-order for the packs (and the Godzilla tie-ins I guess). The Lukka pre-order is not quite as tempting sadly, but I'll get a copy eventually through packs or wild cards.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
- me_in_japan
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Re: Mtg arena open beta
Alright there, Kojibear
Good to have you join our wee convo here 
I’m not super sold on either of the two walkers so far, but then my favoured colours are blue black white, so no great surprises there. Of the two, I do like Mr Red a bit more. As Prim points out, setting up your deck so’s you’re guaranteed to pull a big fatty like drakuseth seems like a pretty viable plan. The sticky part will be making sure you survive until turn 5 to do it. I can see potential in a red/green deck with loads of wee rampy beasties and straight up burn spells working ok. Just spend the first few turns playing druids and things, maybe a few burn spells to take out problematic RDW components, then play Mr Red and summon yerself a big fat dragon.
Also, fwiw, I have never and proooobably will never buy preorder packs. My preferred method is just draft the shit out of a new set (once that’s available) until I get to open my vault. Then I basically hoard gold until the next set drops. The exceptions to this are mastery passes and I also got that last historic package. It takes time, and can be grindy sometimes, but I’ve managed to get most all of all the sets so far using this method.
Incidentally, if you’re enjoying a bit of Boros, take a look at this deck:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/budget-boros-auras-1/
It’s from the Prof at Tolarian Community College (an excellent YouTube channel). It does include a fair smattering of rares, but it’s comparatively few compared to many decks, and they’re honestly not super duper necessary to the deck functioning. Might be worth taking a look at? Boros usually aren’t my colours at all, but I’ve been enjoying this deck because it either wins or loses fast and can be really surprising and swing for 10+ from an empty board, given the right cards in the right places.
I’m not super sold on either of the two walkers so far, but then my favoured colours are blue black white, so no great surprises there. Of the two, I do like Mr Red a bit more. As Prim points out, setting up your deck so’s you’re guaranteed to pull a big fatty like drakuseth seems like a pretty viable plan. The sticky part will be making sure you survive until turn 5 to do it. I can see potential in a red/green deck with loads of wee rampy beasties and straight up burn spells working ok. Just spend the first few turns playing druids and things, maybe a few burn spells to take out problematic RDW components, then play Mr Red and summon yerself a big fat dragon.
Also, fwiw, I have never and proooobably will never buy preorder packs. My preferred method is just draft the shit out of a new set (once that’s available) until I get to open my vault. Then I basically hoard gold until the next set drops. The exceptions to this are mastery passes and I also got that last historic package. It takes time, and can be grindy sometimes, but I’ve managed to get most all of all the sets so far using this method.
Incidentally, if you’re enjoying a bit of Boros, take a look at this deck:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/budget-boros-auras-1/
It’s from the Prof at Tolarian Community College (an excellent YouTube channel). It does include a fair smattering of rares, but it’s comparatively few compared to many decks, and they’re honestly not super duper necessary to the deck functioning. Might be worth taking a look at? Boros usually aren’t my colours at all, but I’ve been enjoying this deck because it either wins or loses fast and can be really surprising and swing for 10+ from an empty board, given the right cards in the right places.
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
- me_in_japan
- Moderator of Swoosh!
- Posts: 7480
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:46 pm
- Location: Tsu, Mie, Japan
Re: Mtg arena open beta
soooo. I have a question.
Should I buy a box of Mystery Boosters (about 14000yen)? Or should I buy the new commnander decks (about 18000yen) ? Or should I just, y'know, Not Buy Stuff I Don't Need?
Answers on a postcard. Problem is, I've started work, and while it's kiiiinda nice to be getting back in the groove, it's also sinking in that it's, y'know, work and not super fun. And I'm tired, and whatnot. So, I need summat to perk me up. So, Mystery Boosters, Commander decks, or just man up* and stop comfort spending?
*or woman up. Whatevs. Person up?
Should I buy a box of Mystery Boosters (about 14000yen)? Or should I buy the new commnander decks (about 18000yen) ? Or should I just, y'know, Not Buy Stuff I Don't Need?
Answers on a postcard. Problem is, I've started work, and while it's kiiiinda nice to be getting back in the groove, it's also sinking in that it's, y'know, work and not super fun. And I'm tired, and whatnot. So, I need summat to perk me up. So, Mystery Boosters, Commander decks, or just man up* and stop comfort spending?
*or woman up. Whatevs. Person up?
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
Re: Mtg arena open beta
Why not both?
The Mystery Boosters are great if you don't have a ton of old cards to draw from. You're pretty much never getting dupes of any card from one box and there are lots of great cards. But.... It's kind of random what you get. You could get nothing that you need or want. The commander decks at least have clear lists of what they contain. You'll know if it's the sort of deck you like to play and if the cards have any value if you decide to break the deck into pieces and build your own.
But my vote is still for both.
The Mystery Boosters are great if you don't have a ton of old cards to draw from. You're pretty much never getting dupes of any card from one box and there are lots of great cards. But.... It's kind of random what you get. You could get nothing that you need or want. The commander decks at least have clear lists of what they contain. You'll know if it's the sort of deck you like to play and if the cards have any value if you decide to break the deck into pieces and build your own.
But my vote is still for both.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
- me_in_japan
- Moderator of Swoosh!
- Posts: 7480
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:46 pm
- Location: Tsu, Mie, Japan
Re: Mtg arena open beta
I went for the commander decks. I've also already ordered an Ikoria bundle, which needs another couple packs to make a sealed game, but nobody's selling packs just now. I can wait, though...
This was defo a comfort purchase, mind you. I foresee impulse guilt kicking in shortly in 3...2...1....

This was defo a comfort purchase, mind you. I foresee impulse guilt kicking in shortly in 3...2...1....
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things
Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...
Re: Mtg arena open beta
If you don't want them, I'll take them off your hands.me_in_japan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:04 amI went for the commander decks. I've also already ordered an Ikoria bundle, which needs another couple packs to make a sealed game, but nobody's selling packs just now. I can wait, though...
This was defo a comfort purchase, mind you. I foresee impulse guilt kicking in shortly in 3...2...1....![]()
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Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450
Re: Mtg arena open beta
Re the commander decks, basically you are getting a legendary character plus creatures, sorcery, enchantments etc. from the new Ikoria range. Is that right?
The alternative is to buy an Ikoria bundle, which gives you a bulk set of booster packs to open up. Is that right?
Thanks for the information about the Tolarian Community College. There is quite a lot of useful information and the gent certainly loves the game!
Unfortunately, I don't have that many Boros cards at the moment to really be true to the theme, but I suppose I could look into it. I just went with an aesthetic theme (Greek) and tried to see how many of the greek style of cards I could fit into a deck while still having a strategy to win. The only card that I think is questionable for the theme is the inclusion of the Aurelia, but she works well with another card whose name I have forgotten, but when she mentors and gives that card +1/+1, it then activates an ability that adds +1 to all other creatures I think.
The alternative is to buy an Ikoria bundle, which gives you a bulk set of booster packs to open up. Is that right?
Thanks for the information about the Tolarian Community College. There is quite a lot of useful information and the gent certainly loves the game!
Unfortunately, I don't have that many Boros cards at the moment to really be true to the theme, but I suppose I could look into it. I just went with an aesthetic theme (Greek) and tried to see how many of the greek style of cards I could fit into a deck while still having a strategy to win. The only card that I think is questionable for the theme is the inclusion of the Aurelia, but she works well with another card whose name I have forgotten, but when she mentors and gives that card +1/+1, it then activates an ability that adds +1 to all other creatures I think.
Re: Mtg arena open beta
The Commander decks aren't necessarily all from the new set and include a lot of reprints from older sets. Each deck has one rule or style of play that it synergizes with. E.g. When you borrowed my Red/Black deck that focussed on discarding cards and then casting them at a cheaper cost and spawning zombies.kojibear wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:28 amRe the commander decks, basically you are getting a legendary character plus creatures, sorcery, enchantments etc. from the new Ikoria range. Is that right?
The alternative is to buy an Ikoria bundle, which gives you a bulk set of booster packs to open up. Is that right?
Commander Spoilers - http://www.mythicspoiler.com/c20/index.html
The bundle is 10 boosters and some land cards along with a promo or two. Boxes usually have 36 boosters if you really want to open lots of packs.
Ikoria Spoilers - http://www.mythicspoiler.com/iko/index.html
Aurelia is an awesome buff card for Boros. She offers good value on the turn she enters play if you have another creature on the board and can buff herself and others on later turns.kojibear wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:28 amThe only card that I think is questionable for the theme is the inclusion of the Aurelia, but she works well with another card whose name I have forgotten, but when she mentors and gives that card +1/+1, it then activates an ability that adds +1 to all other creatures I think.
Is this the card you are thinking of?

Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450