Questions for Hall of Famer Ben Stark on the Show This Week!
Added 2018-12-11 08:36:32 +0000 UTCThe one and only BenS is coming back on LR this week and if you have questions for him, I can almost guarantee that he has something to say about it :)
Fire away in the comments!
- Marshall
Comments
Hi Ben (and Marshall and Luis), Thanks for the content, as always, it's been a big help. My spawn and I have learned a lot about playing limited, but are looking for ways to improve our limited game without playing on-line. (We are on the wrong OS and left out.) We study the cards, we watch your content, we listen to this podcast. But what we're looking for are ways to improve that involve our interacting with each other and help us with newer formats as they come up. We started with Ixalan so maybe it’s just a matter of time. But we are struggling with UMA (too much to learn at once) and we are wondering how to be better prepared generally when we show up for a cube or other unfamiliar limited formats. Any advice? Thanks! Gar and Gwen
Gar Culbert
2018-12-12 18:10:00 +0000 UTCHello, if you have a mediocre deck with a really good bomb or two, do you increase your Mulligan frequency?
Christopher Evenstar
2018-12-12 15:55:24 +0000 UTCHowdy Ben. What are your thoughts on the recent changes to the pro system? Specifically, are you a mythic famer now? And have you contracted for the sweet sweet $75k?
Ryan Glinski
2018-12-12 15:28:40 +0000 UTCHi Ben, how did you enjoy your experience on The Command Zone? What was it like to work with Josh and his team?
Martin MacKenzie
2018-12-12 11:49:57 +0000 UTCI learned to play magic in the 90s and will always have a special memory of Necropotence. When I first saw it I hated it and could not imagine why anyone would want to skip their draw phase. Very quickly I learned, as did all of magic, just how powerful the card was, and this changed the way I saw magic as a game. Can you guys think of a card from your early days of learning the game that changed your development as a player?
vladimir jevtic
2018-12-12 04:20:57 +0000 UTCHey Ben! How would you suggest optimizing (#branding #goingoptimal) your arrival at pro-tours or other tournaments. How many hours, or minutes, should your flight touch down beforehand? Thanks! PS love your draft videos!
Colin Tribble
2018-12-12 02:58:02 +0000 UTCHi guys! Can we get a quick Genious or Grifter series from BenS? Pick your favorites. Maybe Ian Duke buffing Nav Compass from 2 life to 3, LSV's settle play, and casting into your opponent's (or your own) chalice of the void. I don't remember the other greatest hits. Thanks!
DOUGLAS R GREER
2018-12-11 19:52:32 +0000 UTCIn magic, we know that the power level of a card varies based on the other cards in that format (some traditionally good cards are not great in some formats I.e shock and vice versa). So my question is what is the worst card you’ve seen perform well by standalone metrics? If you can’t think of one, could you convince Marshall of a scenario/set where Navigators compass is a reasonably playable card (I can already feel the rage Marshall :p)?
Thomas Cuff
2018-12-11 19:44:51 +0000 UTCHi guys! I saw Ben tweet that he's been playing some Arena lately and given we're only a couple weeks removed from the Going Optimal Arena episode I'm curious if Ben has any Arena-specific tips he'd like to share whether it be for drafting or gameplay. Excited for another episode full of Ben Stark wisdom!
Morgan Lewis
2018-12-11 18:51:17 +0000 UTCHi Ben, Marshall & LSV! How important is it to consciously time your plays to conceal information from an opponent? For example, if I'm in top deck mode on a stalled board and draw a obvious blank, passing the turn back immediately lets my opponent know my draw was irrelevant. Is it correct to wait a beat before saying go in an attempt to conceal that information, or am I chasing edge that doesn't exist?
james anderson
2018-12-11 18:06:41 +0000 UTCI know that while it’s typically beneficial to choose to play first in limited, that it’s sometimes smart to chose to draw first - an example from Guilds of Ravnica, like if you have a controlling Dimir or Izzet deck. My question is, when is it smart to choose to play first in games 2 or 3 with that same deck, after you’ve seen that your opponent is playing an agro deck, like Boros? Thank you Ben, your draft videos are always my favorite. And thank you Luis and Marshall, I love the content and you both do a masterful job each week.
Joseph Mayo
2018-12-11 16:45:04 +0000 UTCHey Ben! Are you a cube enthusiast like Marshall and Luis, or do you prefer to stick to the standard drafting sets? If you like cubing, what are some of your favorite archetypes or pet cards?
Seth Fellenstein
2018-12-11 15:35:19 +0000 UTCHi Ben and Marshall! I Recently won a Limited PPTQ (Thank you Marshal and LSV this podcast definitely helped me improve a ton!). However the RPTQ I received an invite to is Standard, and it will take place only a week and a half after the release of the new set Ravinca Allegiance. How do you or other Pro's on team Channel fireball go about selecting a deck and preparing for a meta game at tournaments that happen shortly after the latest set has arrived (for either Standard or Limited)?
Carter S.
2018-12-11 15:34:41 +0000 UTCHi Ben, this is a question from a guy who've never been to a GP before as we live in Thailand and the last GP was like 5 years ago. Luckily, we are going to have a GP Bangkok next year's fall. Then, this question came up to my mind. Do you think there is any significant difference between drafting at an LGS and at a premier event? For us who are playing at LGS, packs in a pod of draft came from a single box so we're expecting that there's 0% chance of having 2 identical mythic rares in the same pod and very low chance of having duplicate rares. Do the packs in GPs and PTs have more variance in that aspect? If yes, how do you cope with it?
Shanin
2018-12-11 14:53:24 +0000 UTCHi Ben, I'm wondering if you have any plans on how to approach the changes that Wizards just announced around how premier play will work and the move towards more of an eSport. Will you be streaming more? Playing more Arena, etc.? Or is it just business as usual.
Aardvark
2018-12-11 13:52:10 +0000 UTCHi Ben! Do you have any particular favourite build-around cards from you experience in Limited?
Josh Bell
2018-12-11 13:45:52 +0000 UTCHi Ben, I asked this question to Marshall and Luis a few months ago and I’m curious what your response will be too. What has been your favorite card/cards to play with in limited throughout the years?
Clayton T. Carlson
2018-12-11 13:43:08 +0000 UTCDo you have any stories about opponents cheating in GP's ? What they did and what to watch out for?
Michael Hamilton
2018-12-11 12:48:01 +0000 UTCHi Ben, I asked LR a question regarding opponents shuffling my library and obviously peeking at my cards, I was struggling with how to deal with this. The advice given to me was priceless and I won 10 boosters at my last GP in Melbourne in November just passed. I actually copied your deck drafted on Channel Fireball with a Boros Aggro. My pool was strong with Tajic and a nice Inescapable Blaze finished my last win :).
Michael Hamilton
2018-12-11 12:46:06 +0000 UTCHi Ben, p1p1, you see 3 strong cards that share an archetype. Would you pick one of them or would you rather go for a different archetype, hoping that the people to your left will no longer compete with you on picks? What about the same situation but with only 2 strong cards?
Jörn Bethune
2018-12-11 12:33:59 +0000 UTCHey guys, I think / hope most people agree that R&D nailed it with Guilds as a limited format, but what would you each most look forward to see or hope is a change coming with the next set?
Hoyt Battey
2018-12-11 12:18:50 +0000 UTCAnd, personally, what is your favorite guild to play and why, if you have one?
Antonio Valdez
2018-12-11 11:56:38 +0000 UTCHi, Ben! Has your evaluation of the guilds stayed the same since the beginning or has it shifted as the format advanced?
Antonio Valdez
2018-12-11 11:55:48 +0000 UTCHi Ben, could you give your side of the gencon beta qualifiers vs. Pro tour story? Something tells me it's been slightly modified when we've heard it previously. Thanks!
Tyler Spiering
2018-12-11 11:16:22 +0000 UTCHi Ben! Thanks for giving us your time. I've seen on twitter that you've been playing a lot of Arena. While I have been absolutely loving Arena and think it's the future of Magic, I'm concerned that playing so much of Arena's less skilled, bot-drafted state, rather than MTGO, is going to cause my Magic brain to atrophy. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Arena in general, but can you also talk about whether or not you think grinding the much less frustrating world of Arena is helpful in improving a player's skill.
Dylan Nelkin
2018-12-11 11:04:22 +0000 UTCHi Ben. You're a player with an extensive experience (which I'm laking). I'm a CUBE lover but -as I try to design my own Cubes - I often struggle between choosing to put a card with an overall big power level (cards like Knight of Autumn or other swiss-army-knives) and typical narrow combo pieces (like reanimation enablers or 2-3 card combos). Any tips? What cards are your favorite in an unpowered Cube?
Janusz Okoń
2018-12-11 10:41:03 +0000 UTCHey Ben, I love all the content you provide! What are your draft quirks? Do you notice any certain tendencies you have? How do you learn to deal with those tendencies? For example I am starting to realize that I draft white less than any of the other colors. Keep it up!
GermanGaryOak
2018-12-11 10:37:00 +0000 UTCHi Ben- I love your videos because of the expertise and perspective you offer and also because I can listen to them without watching. Who are some of your favorite Magic content creators and why do you like them? PS Marshall- There isn't time here to explain how much I enjoy anything created by you or Luis. Thanks for all you do.
Rae Trego
2018-12-11 09:38:38 +0000 UTCIt's been said on the show that playing Limited makes one better at Magic, including Constructed, by honing skills like decision-making, card evaluation, and the like. For those of us who enjoy Limited most, is there anything to learn from playing Constructed formats, or should we stick to the clearly superior Limited formats?
Spencer St. James
2018-12-11 09:24:10 +0000 UTCHow do you order/sort the cards in you hand and why is that way objectively, scientifically superior to the way other people do it.
William Gross
2018-12-11 09:20:50 +0000 UTCHey Ben, if you could design a gold card to improve the guild that you think is the worst in GRN what would it look like? Bonus question, what are your thoughts on mainboarding flexible sideboard cards in Aren's best of one formats?
Michael Trevelyan
2018-12-11 09:09:22 +0000 UTCHey Ben! Excited to have you back on the show! I've always wondered how much we should think about signals we are sending in the first few picks. Here's my example: Pack 1 GRN with 7 solid Boros playables, only 2 dimir, and the rest filler. I hesitated, but the best card in the pack was the Boros rare (Tajic), which I took over the best non-Boros card (Sinister Sabotage). I had a couple more good Boros picks, then it turned on me. Ended up being my worst draft of GRN. Felt like 5 or more in the pod were drafting Boros as well. Was this just a fluke, or should I pay more attention to what I'm passing in my first pack?
Nick Stelzer
2018-12-11 09:03:24 +0000 UTCHello Ben and Marshall. Just like the core sets are designed to get new players into the game of Magic. Are there any sets that you would consider are designed to get new players into drafting. Sets that "teach" people how to draft? One-off special sets excluded. For context since Guilds of Ravnica I believe my drafting has improved since there are clear goals in terms of colour pairing and the mechanics within.
Lewis Harper
2018-12-11 09:01:05 +0000 UTCwhenever I'm building a deck in limited, I wonder, what power level of card make you want to splash for it. It always, of course, depends on the fixing you can get, but can you give some guidelines as to how powerful / game winning a card has to be for you to risk consistency in your decks?
2menace
2018-12-11 08:57:41 +0000 UTCHello Ben, Love your content. I’m a huge fan of the format Battlebox, (danger room as it’s sometimes known) And I’ve been building my own for the last few years. Do you have any limited favourites from recent sets that you think are good for the format? Or any problem cards you see in battleboxes that you wish weren’t there?
Jethro
2018-12-11 08:48:39 +0000 UTCWhat are your top three sets to draft and why are they so great?
Peter Rosin
2018-12-11 08:39:33 +0000 UTC
