KTK: Manafixing in the top 8 of GP Orlando

October 14, 2014 Leave a comment

As a follow-up to last week’s post, let’s take a look at what manafixing players ran in the top 8 of GP Orlando. (Dual lands include both the common lands that enter the battlefield tapped and the rare fetchlands.)

Maindeck
Rank Player Colors # Lands # Nonbasic Lands # Lands Only Making Generic Mana # Dual Lands # Tri-Lands (3/2 color match) # Banners (3/2 color match)
1st Eugene Hwang Mardu (B/W/R) 17 3 0 2 1/0 0/0
2nd Melissa DeTora Temur (R/U/G) 17 2 0 2 0/0 2/0
3rd Sol Malka G/B/w/u 17 6 0 4 1/1 0/0
4th Artur Villela G/W 18 0 0 0 0/0 0/0
5th-8th Harry Corvese Jeskai (W/R/U) 17 3 0 2 1/0 0/0
5th-8th Ian Farnung Jeskai (W/R/U) 18 2 0 2 0/0 0/0
5th-8th Pierre Mondon Mardu (B/W/R) 17 4 0 4 0/0 2/0
5th-8th Frank Lepore Abzan (G/B/W) 17 3 0 3 0/0 0/0
Sideboard
Rank Player Colors # Nonbasic Lands # Lands Only Making Generic Mana # Dual Lands # Tri-Lands (3/2/1/0 color match) # Banners (3/2/1/0 color match)
1st Eugene Hwang Mardu (B/W/R) 3 1 2 0/0 1/1/0/0
2nd Melissa DeTora Temur (R/U/G) 1 1 0 0/0 0/1/0/0
3rd Sol Malka G/B/w/u 0 0 0 0/0 1/0/0/0
4th Artur Villela G/W 1 0 1 0/0 0/0/1/0
5th-8th Harry Corvese Jeskai (W/R/U) 0 0 0 0/0 0/0/1/0
5th-8th Ian Farnung Jeskai (W/R/U) 0 0 0 0/0 1/0/0/0
5th-8th Pierre Mondon Mardu (B/W/R) 0 0 0 0/0 0/1/1/0
5th-8th Frank Lepore Abzan (G/B/W) 1 0 1 0/0 1/0/0/0
Rank Player Colors # Multicolor Cards (2/3 color) # Cards in Each Color # Colored Mana Symbols in Each Color # Lands/ Banners Making Each Color Other Manafixing
1st Eugene Hwang Mardu (B/W/R) 1/4 11/5/15 12/5/18 7/6/8
2nd Melissa DeTora Temur (R/U/G) 1/6 5/13/14 6/14/16 6/9/10 Embodiment of Spring
3rd Sol Malka G/B/w/u 2/1 9/16/1/1 9/16/1/1 7/11/3/3 2x Scout the Border
4th Artur Villela G/W 0/0 14/8 14/8 10/8
5th-8th Harry Corvese Jeskai (W/R/U) 1/3 8/9/13 8/10/13 6/7/8 Sideboard: Scout the Borders
5th-8th Ian Farnung Jeskai (W/R/U) 0/2 9/4/13 9/4/15 7/4/9
5th-8th Pierre Mondon Mardu (B/W/R) 0/3 8/7/12 9/7/14 7/10/10
5th-8th Frank Lepore Abzan (G/B/W) 1/3 8/11/14 8/12/14 6/7/7 Sideboard: Seek the Horizon

Observations:

  • Most players stuck to a wedge (2 Maru, 2 Jeskai, 1 Temur, and 1 Abzan) but some player ran 2-color decks (G/W and G/B with 1-card splashes in 2 colors). There were no Sultai decks, or other decks that had both blue and black as main colors.
  • Most players ran 2-5 multicolor cards, although one player had 7 and another had none. Most were wedge cards, but many players also had a 2-color card.
  • Most players ran 17 lands, although 2 ran 18.
  • Most players had 2-4 nonbasic lands in their deck, although one player (G/B/w/u) had 6 and another (G/W) had none.
  • There were 19 dual lands in maindecks and only 4 in sideboards. This means that dual lands were usually drafted after colors were set.
  • Players always ran tri-lands that matched 2+ colors. (It’s effectively like a common dual land that doesn’t gain you a life.)
  • 2 players ran Banners in their wedge, but most left them in their sideboard, even when they matched all 3 colors. No one was desparate enough to run a Banner that only matched 2 colors.
  • Players ran 3-11 lands/Banners producing a color. The low end was when splashing a single card and the high end was when running 16 cards.
  • Manabases seem a bit fragile, with most deck having at least 1 main color with only 6-7 sources. (The only deck that did not have this issue was the G/W deck.) This makes sense given that having 8+ sources for each of your 3 colors while running 17 lands requires 7 duals (or 1 tri-land in your wedge and 5 duals).

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with , , ,

KTK: Expected numbers of copies of a card

October 2, 2014 Leave a comment

Khans of Tarkir has the same rarity distribution as Magic 2015: 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, and 15 mythics. This means that an 8-person KTK/KTK/KTK draft will have an average of 2.4 copies of a given common, 0.9 copies of a given uncommon, 0.4 copies of a given rare, and 0.2 copies of a given mythic.

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with

KTK: List of removal

September 23, 2014 Leave a comment

This is a list of all the removal in Khans of Tarkir, divided into permanent creature removal, temporary creature removal (such as bounce, tap, and falter effects), non-creature removal, and off-battlefield removal (hand, stack, and graveyard). The column labeled T (to the right of the permanent creature removal column) indicates how tough a creature the removal can handle; if there is no number in that column, the removal is independent of the creature’s toughness (the default is destroy, any other effect will be explicitly called out). Conditional removal is indicated after the card name in most cases.

Italics indicates that one or more permanents have to remain in play for the effect to continue. Bold indicates a reusable effect. Yellow highlight indicates that multiple permanents are affected. Red highlight indicates mass removal that you should be careful to not overextend into. Within each color/rarity, cards are ordered by how tough a creature they can kill, then by converted mana cost.

Unlike the lists of tricks and morph creatures, this list does not try to provide an abbreviated description of the effect, but just references how it affect creatures. Here’s how to interpret those effects:

  • Abbreviations used: A (artifact), attkr (attacker), blkr (blocker), bounce (return permanent to owner’s hand), bury (destroy permanent & it cannot be regenerated), C (creature), CMC (converted mana cost), counter when used as a verb (counter a spell), dmg (damage), draw X (draw X cards), E (enchantment), ETB (enters the battlefield), flyer (creature with flying), freeze X (tap X and it doesn’t untap next turn), gain X (gain X life), GY (graveyard), I (instant), L (land), loot X (draw X cards, then discard X cards), lose X (lose X life), opp (opponent), opp’s X (X controlled by opponent), P (player or power, depending on context), prot (protection), PW (planeswalker), raise (return card from your graveyard to your hand), reanimate (return card from the graveyard to the battlefield), redirect X dmg from A to B (next X dmg that would be dealt to A is dealt to B instead), regen (regenerate), S (sorcery), sac (sacrifice), T (toughness), your X (X you control).
  • Effects (+X/+Y, -X/-Y, hexproof, first strike, prot from a color, etc.) last until end of turn unless specified otherwise.
  • Effects only target creatures unless otherwise specified, e.g., X dmg without any qualifiers means that the effect does X damage to any creature. If the effect also targets players, that won’t be mentioned here.
  • Descriptions sometimes mention other cards as a way to describe their effects, e.g., Mardu Charm’s non-battlefield mode is described as Duress, to avoid having to write the full description.

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with

KTK: Compact FAQ

September 18, 2014 Leave a comment

This is a compact version of the Khans of Tarkir FAQ (13 pages vs. 52 pages for the original).

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with

KTK: List of morph creatures

September 18, 2014 4 Comments

This is a list of all the morph creatures in the format. The first table has the creature names while the second one has abbreviated descriptions; any portion of the description after a semicolon refers to effects that trigger when the creature is turned face up. Note that the latter table may not accurately represent all attributes of the creature and often leaves out certain details. For instance, it never has information about enters-the-battlefield effects since those are not relevant since face down creature are already in play. Also, I sometimes make mistakes while filling out these tables; please let me know if you spot any issues.

Both tables categorize the creatures by converted mana cost, color, and rarity. Unless specified otherwise, each creature has one colored mana in its morph cost with the rest being generic mana, so a morph creature listed under white/5cc has a morph cost of 4W unless listed otherwise. I also specify morph costs if the creature has X in its morph cost, has a multicolored morph cost, or costs more than the column it is specified in.

Here’s how to interpret the second table:

  • Abbreviations used: A (artifact), attkr (attacker), blkr (blocker), bounce (return permanent to owner’s hand), bury (destroy permanent & it cannot be regenerated), C (creature), CMC (converted mana cost), counter when used as a verb (counter a spell), dmg (damage), draw X (draw X cards), E (enchantment), ETB (enters the battlefield), flyer (creature with flying), freeze X (tap X and it doesn’t untap next turn), gain X (gain X life), GY (graveyard), I (instant), L (land), loot X (draw X cards, then discard X cards), lose X (lose X life), opp (opponent), opp’s X (X controlled by opponent), P (player or power, depending on context), prot (protection), PW (planeswalker), raise (return card from your graveyard to your hand), reanimate (return card from the graveyard to the battlefield), redirect X dmg from A to B (next X dmg that would be dealt to A is dealt to B instead), regen (regenerate), S (sorcery), sac (sacrifice), T (toughness), your X (X you control).
  • Effect (+X/+Y, -X/-Y, hexproof, first strike, prot from a color, etc.) last until end of turn unless specified otherwise.
  • Effects can target any legal permanent or player unless otherwise specified, e.g., X dmg without any qualifiers means that the spell does X damage to any creature or player.
  • Spell descriptions sometimes mention other spells as a way to describe their effects, e.g., Jeering Instigator’s unmorph effect is described as “Act of Treason if your turn” to avoid having to write the full description.

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with ,

KTK: List of instant-speed tricks

September 17, 2014 Leave a comment

This is a list of all the instant-speed tricks in the format.  The first table has the spell names while the second one has abbreviated spell descriptions in case you don’t remember what the spell does.  Note that the latter table may not accurately represent all uses of the spell and often leaves out certain details.  Also, I sometimes make mistakes while filling out these tables; please let me know if you spot any issues.

Both tables categorize the tricks by converted mana cost, color, and rarity.  Unless specified otherwise, each colored spell has one colored mana in its mana cost with the rest being generic mana, so a 3-mana white spell with no explicit cost listed has a mana cost of 2W.  I also specify mana costs if the spell has X in its mana cost, is multicolored, or costs more than the column it is specified in.  Spells in bold can leave a creature in play, e.g., flash creatures, spells that create token creatures, or spells that allow you to cast creatures at instant speed.

Here’s how to interpret the second table:

  • Abbreviations used: A (artifact), attkr (attacker), blkr (blocker), bounce (return permanent to owner’s hand), bury (destroy permanent & it cannot be regenerated), C (creature), CMC (converted mana cost), counter when used as a verb (counter a spell), dmg (damage), draw X (draw X cards), E (enchantment), ETB (enters the battlefield), flyer (creature with flying), freeze X (tap X and it doesn’t untap next turn), gain X (gain X life), GY (graveyard), I (instant), L (land), loot X (draw X cards, then discard X cards), lose X (lose X life), opp (opponent), opp’s X (X controlled by opponent), P (player or power, depending on context), prot (protection), PW (planeswalker), raise (return card from your graveyard to your hand), reanimate (return card from the graveyard to the battlefield), redirect X dmg from A to B (next X dmg that would be dealt to A is dealt to B instead), regen (regenerate), S (sorcery), sac (sacrifice), T (toughness), your X (X you control).
  • Spells that confer an effect (+X/+Y, -X/-Y, hexproof, first strike, prot from a color, etc.) last until end of turn unless specified otherwise.
  • Spells can target any legal permanent or player unless otherwise specified, e.g., X dmg without any qualifiers means that the spell does X damage to any creature or player.
  • Spell descriptions sometimes mention other spells as a way to describe their effects, e.g., the third mode of Mardu Charm is described as Duress to avoid having to write the full description.

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with ,

KTK: Compact spoiler

September 16, 2014 Leave a comment

This is an 8-page version of the full Khans of Tarkir spoiler. The card image gallery at DailyMTG is 68 pages so I’m hoping this saves trees, and it’s certainly easier to carry around in your pocket.

Filed under Khans of Tarkir Tagged with

Newer posts →