Locations
My next two articles are already in queue about the non-unified Modern SCG and my resolutions for the new year, so I'm going to take a moment to answer some questions!
Travis, as you may know I'm a BIG fan of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria; but, with how Standard is currently set up the Bant Nexus deck is certainly lacking. The mana feels a bit off and without any of the Cycle lands your mana base doesn't have a built in anti-flood clause. Overall it feels like the way the format is looking in terms of sheer power level means Nexus just doesn't quite cut it.
Hey Gen, I know when you're in a remote area overcoming a small network can seem challenging. Fortunately there are a ton of resources online and I think that's your best route for trying to grow. Arena and MTGO present a unique ability to grind a ton without ever leaving your house. I personally prefer to Discord with some people on occasion just to hang out while we're playing. We can occasionally talk about Magic or have a very focused phone call. If you try to do this with enough folks you'll eventually find someone who is willing to join you for these adventures whenever you're attending them. But it does taking putting yourself out there and asking people you know directly to join you.
At random :).
Jokes aside about 3 or 4 months ago Will Pulliam told me he wanted to make an SCG Tour team. We took a look at the Leaderboard and who had a team and who we have liked working with in the past and decided to reach out to some folks. We tried to get some sponsorship but were unable to attain any, so we shelved the idea for the time being. With the announcement of the Player's Championship I called up the group chat we made and told them I was interested in working together for the year to help everyone try and qualify. We decided to move forward with the members we had at the time. Except for Harlan. Originally I asked Harlan if he was going to the SCG events next year and he told me no. At a recent event Harlan mentioned how excited he was to travel to events next year. I asked him and the team and we all mutually agreed to add Harlan. So that leaves our current roster of myself, Will Pulliam, Austin Collins, Drake Sasser, Chad Harney, and Harlan Firer. We are currently looking into adding another member to our roster, but more news on that later.
We were originally going to keep to the same three for the year but decided we wanted a little bit of flexibility. Personally I'm going to be teaming with Harlan for the year and shifting around the third player, but as a squad we have this great option to keep within and have access to several other players for the year which makes team events MUCH less of a headache.
Tribal Phoenix.
- Taco Bell
- Chipotle
- Steak and Shake
- Wendy's
- Zaxby's
- Jimmy John's
- Pizza Hut
- Starbucks
Chipotle and Pizza Hut are fast food and you can't change my mind.
Under the Cork Tree is the best Fall Out Boy album. No arguments. Also has the best Fall Out Boy song in Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner.
Detection Tower is great. I recommended it to Will and Austin when I realized that Drakes was getting popular and it beats Dive Down. This moved the edge back to Golgari decks who were moving to Plaguecrafter as another way to beat the Drakes deck and the Drakes players were moving to Murmuring Mystic to beat that. I think it's worth a slot in the main deck despite being atrocious for your mana but also wouldn't hate it being a sideboard slot for the mirror and Drakes.
Being involved in something besides Magic and the physicality. I have felt very lethargic and lazy and would really love to jump back into classes just to be back in shape again.
Currently no. But if we're talking about when we get the new dual lands I could see Angrath really ticking up. Most creatures in Standard are 3 cmc, which means Angrath will have a ton of relevant abilities. Azor is also absurdly powerful, but with Ravenous Chupacabra and Conclave Tribunal being great answers and most removal being instant I can only see Azor being great against Drakes (and even then is it that good?). I'm not holding out high hopes but I think Angrath has all the tools to be dominant.
I don't think there should be a consolation prize. My hope is that if the 32 is successful there will be Leagues created right below. Overwatch League has a series called Contenders which is right below the League and something like that would be great for a lot of the pros kept right outside. I couldn't tell you exactly what the line is or how much prizing should be offered (although certainly less than the 32 get) but I think it's something moving forward that would be beneficial for all. Magic players are going to move into streaming. That's going to happen and this is a way for viewers and fans alike to tune into Magic content all the time.
Yes but with a caveat. Arena is the future but with Modern, Legacy, and Pauper (to name a few) not being on Arena we have quite some time to enjoy MTGO and what it offers before it dies. If prices are low on MTGO buy in now before they spike back up in a few months.
I'm going to be writing an article shortly on what my resolutions (and goals) for 2019 are. The main one is qualify for the Player's Championship again and help members of Team Nova qualify.
I play so fast because I usually play Control decks on MTGO where time is short and you don't have all day to win a game. Because of this a lot of the reflexes on what to do and how to play have become ingrained. I also spend a ton of time thinking on my opponent's turn. While my opponent is debating on what to do I make decisions on my game lines based on what they could play and what I could try and how best to answer it. Because of this I spend a lot of time on both turns making my decisions. So I still spend some time thinking about my plays but it never looks like it because on their turn I've mostly made my decision already and am able to take one of the lines I've had planned.
