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| Synergy vs Individual card quality http://862838.jrbdt8wd.asia/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=745 |
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| Author: | Cato [ Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Synergy vs Individual card quality |
Theros is an interesting set because the heroic mechanic is heavily synergy-based, heroic cards become much higher picks if you have more enablers, and enablers become much higher picks if you have more heroes. This means that you're best served by having either a lot of heroes and a lot of enablers, of by taking overall powerful cards, as a hybrid of these decks will usually end up being worse than either of them. So, the question is, which strategy do you prefer, and why? |
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| Author: | Krarks Pinky [ Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Synergy vs Individual card quality |
Of the three heroic decks I've drafted, two went poorly, never really got the perfect mix of targets and enablers, these were both WR decks, I've got another thread that shows what one of them looked like. The third deck was WG heroic with staunch-hearted warrior, centaur battlemaster, and wingsteed rider as targets with some pump and time to feed as enablers, and this deck shredded the draft. Moving forward, I'm inclined to avoid "the heroic" deck and instead incidentally take heroic creatures that are fine already by themselves, such as the rares, and not like akroan crusader which isn't usually worth a spot in the deck if you don't consider heroic. |
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| Author: | rstnme [ Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:27 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Synergy vs Individual card quality |
Good stuff. It's limited. I've been blown out too many times by drawing enablers and not targets. |
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| Author: | Tevish Szat [ Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Synergy vs Individual card quality |
to quote Urza "You can build a perfect machine out of imperfect parts". This isn't just true in Theros, that giftwraps the Heroic archetype -- it's true everywhere. A deck with strong synergy, internal consistency, and a good game plan can and will beat a messy pile that has 'better cards' in a consistent manner. I think splashes are a good example of somewhere else where this goes over -- a deck that keeps itself to two colors (or manages just one: I've done it) on slightly weaker picks is going to outperform the deck that tries to reach for "good stuff" in three or Yawgmoth forbid four or five colors (I've seen it.) Yes, you can run Anger of the Gods alongside your Master of Waves -- that's two colors. Fine. If you've got the support, you can double dip. Now you want to run your Xenagos, the Reveler and Ashiok, captain godpacks? Consider that you'll have fewer dead draws and slots that have to be devoted to correcting that problem if you leave one or both of the planeswalkers in the sideboard. I'll be here, playin' green black and leaving you wondering how you could lose to a deck that packs Returned Centaur. The answer: I did my thing consistently. Which brings me to the secret of Heroic. Make a proper Heroic deck, and you'll crush the field. But to do that, you need around a dozen enablers. I have one word for you, just one word: Bestow. When I ran undefeated r/w heroic, I had 13 cards in my deck that could trigger heroic. Six of them were Bestow creatures -- Hopeful Eidolons, Nymphs, and an Emissary. These are versitile cards that let your deck do something consistently, because they can either be bestowed and power up your heroic guys, or cast on their own if you need a body on the field. Emissary of Heliod in particular I don't think I actually bestowed in the entire tournament (Spearpoint oreads: almost always). I won because I had a solid game plan: I had Akroan Crusader, cantrip auras, Ordeal of Heliod, and combat tricks to apply pressure early. I had Wingsteed Rider and bestow creatures to dominate the midgame, and I had a Colossus of Akros to bail me out if things went really pear shaped and got to the long game. I used weaker cards than most of my opponents, but I still one because they supported each other and together forwarded a reliable game plan. I think looking at cards in isolation is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in limited. However awesome a card is, it's somewhere around 1/23 of the gas in your deck, and if it and the other 22/23 of your deck get in each others ways and make it harder to actually get those game winning plays on a regular basis, you'll lose to the guy with 23/23 cards that function together, because they're stronger together than each of your plays is alone. |
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| Author: | Confused [ Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Synergy vs Individual card quality |
So far, most of my drafts seems to go towards playing around heroic. Bestow is just wonkers in drafts, especially Hopeful Eidolon. That said, I have seen decks that doesn't run it or heroic and still win nonetheless. I say synergy is more important than individual card power in Theros but sometimes the individual power level outweighs the synergy of another possible pick. it is something people would have to judge for themselves. |
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| Author: | Yarium [ Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Synergy vs Individual card quality |
I ran my first Theros draft (not Sealed, which I've done 3 of) yesterday. Drafted a mediocre black/blue deck that went 2-1 in Swiss (win-lose-win). I didn't have a lot of synergies, but I did have a stable game plan - play out evasive dudes and removal spells to keep hitting for the hurts, while keeping alive by knocking out their voltrons. I was three colours, but the third was a splash for 2 cards and I had support that followed my game-plan (ran 18 lands for consistent mana flow, and the Traveler's Amulet). Outside game 2 where I twice got stuck on 2 lands, my deck performed solidly, even though it didn't have any "bombs". It just kept defending with the 3/4 flier, bestowing with Cavern Lampad and Nimbus Naiad, and forcing bad attacks with the super-performing Shipwreck Singer. I think I won two games from behind while at 1 life just because my deck functioned as intended against aggressive draws, and would consistently stabilize. |
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