N
NorrYtt
Guest
Well after all the hulabaloo, the people that chimed in on the forums seemed to actually learn something.
There's some very interesting things about Magic Theory. Just some hiccups I've run across.
Cemetary Gate holds back Avatar of Woe indefinitely. That's a huge difference in Tait's Effective Card Advantage generating 1.0 points of Virtual Card Advantage.
I've lost games because I couldn't get my Genesis into my graveyard. Beating down with a 4/4 at the time was far weaker than Genesis's power in the graveyard. My opponent refused to block or remove Genesis and won in the air. I more or less lost because I lost options or paths to victory, and my opponent denied me my out - Spike Weaver recursion.
Some cards are luck or skill testers. Cabal Therapy can 8-for-2 an opponent for single B (hit 4 cards, sac an Ornithopter, hit 4 more cards) if you are a skillful card namer and get extremely lucky.
Mirari's Wake - this powerhouse Standard card generates no card advantage. It generates a massive tempo advantage. Large mana for large game-breaking spells to overwhelm your opponent.
I think another author on SCG put it best. His formula was something like:
G + Scryb Sprite card -> 1/1 Flying Faerie
R + Shock card -> 2 damage to target creature or player
2WW + Wrath of God card -> Wipe creatures
Choosing to Shock or Wrath the Faerie lets you compare the resources they spent. Since it incorporates mana costs and other additional costs, we can see who comes out ahead.
Just as intuition tells us...
Playing Wrath of God on a Scryb Sprite is a bad trade, resources wise (G vs. 2WW).
Playing Wrath of God on a massive Decree of Justice for 9 Angels a good trade, resources wise (you spent less mana).
From this you can concoct a larger convoluted example including creatures and equipment and instants and life totals.
There's some very interesting things about Magic Theory. Just some hiccups I've run across.
Cemetary Gate holds back Avatar of Woe indefinitely. That's a huge difference in Tait's Effective Card Advantage generating 1.0 points of Virtual Card Advantage.
I've lost games because I couldn't get my Genesis into my graveyard. Beating down with a 4/4 at the time was far weaker than Genesis's power in the graveyard. My opponent refused to block or remove Genesis and won in the air. I more or less lost because I lost options or paths to victory, and my opponent denied me my out - Spike Weaver recursion.
Some cards are luck or skill testers. Cabal Therapy can 8-for-2 an opponent for single B (hit 4 cards, sac an Ornithopter, hit 4 more cards) if you are a skillful card namer and get extremely lucky.
Mirari's Wake - this powerhouse Standard card generates no card advantage. It generates a massive tempo advantage. Large mana for large game-breaking spells to overwhelm your opponent.
I think another author on SCG put it best. His formula was something like:
G + Scryb Sprite card -> 1/1 Flying Faerie
R + Shock card -> 2 damage to target creature or player
2WW + Wrath of God card -> Wipe creatures
Choosing to Shock or Wrath the Faerie lets you compare the resources they spent. Since it incorporates mana costs and other additional costs, we can see who comes out ahead.
Just as intuition tells us...
Playing Wrath of God on a Scryb Sprite is a bad trade, resources wise (G vs. 2WW).
Playing Wrath of God on a massive Decree of Justice for 9 Angels a good trade, resources wise (you spent less mana).
From this you can concoct a larger convoluted example including creatures and equipment and instants and life totals.