Q&A Episode Questions!
Added 2018-09-07 01:09:52 +0000 UTCHey All,
Luis and I were thinking of different topics for the show tomorrow since we have one week to go until the M19 Sunset Show but also didn't feel like dedicating another episode to M19 specifically was really in the listeners best interest. Ultimately, we love answering your questions directly, as you give us a host of mini-topics to sound off on, and you get exactly what you want from us for that episode.
So we are doing that. Ship the questions in the comments here and we'll blast through as many as we can on the show!
THANK YOU!
- Marshall
Comments
Luis, in the past you have recommended having a backup plan to go out and site see on day two of a GP if you drop out of the main event. I'm planning on going to your home base in Denver for the team sealed GP coming up in October. Got any advice on places to go should we not make the cut? (also I realize with the set reviews coming up this question may not get answered until the week of the GP)
Mediocre Magic Man
2018-09-21 02:13:18 +0000 UTCMarshall, does someone watch your cat when you're out of town for work or is it just self reliant?
crushcastles23
2018-09-08 12:27:20 +0000 UTCHi Marshall & Luis! Love the show. My friends & I are undertaking the overwhelming task of developing our very own MTG set. Purely for drafting purposes in our local community. Luis, what do you look at in your first pass of balancing a card within the context of a set?
Dylan Turner
2018-09-07 21:17:48 +0000 UTCHave you been following the Magic Bracket? They're in the Top 8 now, and the voting is between Bolt vs. Counterspell, Wrath vs. Ancestral, Birds of Paradise vs. Bob, and JTMS vs. Lotus. What do you think of these match ups, and what card do you think will win it all?
AJ Seidorf
2018-09-07 18:53:39 +0000 UTCAnother question, What deck building tips can you give players for Team Sealed events, and how do Team Sealed events differ from "Solo Sealed" events?
Kevin Good
2018-09-07 17:38:33 +0000 UTCTop 5 sets to chaos draft together?
Kevin Good
2018-09-07 17:34:40 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and LSV, looking for some thoughts on the natural progression of improving at limited and how that translates to the right evolution of queue on MODO. I draft once a week in paper but felt I needed to get on MODO to level up my in-game decision making in particular. As a disciple of value, I started with the Friendly Sealed leagues as they provided the most favorable EV in an attempt to "go infinite". After learning the ropes of the interface and its nuances, I have worked up to a win rate that generates modest gains on average (60-65% win rate), achieving "infinite". While this feels solid, the lack of broad player data beyond trophy count (which is prone to bias toward higher leagues played count) makes where I stack up a bit difficult to determine. This opacity leads me to wonder: what is a good win rate on MODO for Draft (and sealed if it is different) and at what point do you think one should move up the ladder from Friendly to Intermediate to Competitive?
Draft Punks Camberville
2018-09-07 17:29:10 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis, love the show! Ben Seck was on the show last week and mentioned that Huey Jensen's run at Worlds last year was the best stretch of technically optimal play he's seen. That got me curious, what you two would estimate as the percentage of games you play 100% optimally? Is that a realistic goal to strive for?
Seth Fellenstein
2018-09-07 15:57:02 +0000 UTCtop 5 limited formats since Luis joined the show. What did you like about them vs bottom 5?
D P
2018-09-07 14:47:55 +0000 UTCHow do you tell the difference between “I am overdrafting this archetype” and “I am correctly drafting this archetype a lot because it is undervalued by other drafters and/or it is the most supported archetype in the set”? Basically, how do I know I’m Robert Horry -chucking threes because I’m always open somehow - and not Joel Embiid chucking up threes because I’m playing out of position and just forcing it.
Jonathan Montgomery
2018-09-07 14:45:38 +0000 UTCI love burritos but I have to go on a low carb diet. Help.
Jonathan Montgomery
2018-09-07 14:38:59 +0000 UTCI have enjoyed drafting on Arena over MTGO because Arena is inexpensive, graphically superior, and the games seem to go quicker. Do you guys draft on arena? If so, any thoughts on the differences between MTGO and Arena drafting? Also...will spending time on arena stunt my growth as a limited player? Thanks guys! Great show!
Jonathan Montgomery
2018-09-07 14:35:53 +0000 UTCMarshall and Luis, can some people just run better in certain Limited formats? I have found that my win percentages have been significantly higher in Dominaria than M19. Same with Rivals vs. Ixalan....or is this because some formats are a little more "flat" for everyone? Is it like playing football in a downpour (it's anyone's game regardless of the game plan)? Thanks!
Josh Feathers
2018-09-07 13:19:42 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis. In Magic Online, when is the point that we should switch from Intermediate Draft to Competitive draft queues? Obviously, there is a point where the expected value of Competitive Queue is greater than Intermediate Queue, but it's harder to win in competitive than in intermediate. How do we know we're there?
Leona
2018-09-07 13:10:53 +0000 UTCHi, Marshall and Luis - my question is about when to play around something vs. when to "make them have it". I know there are some scenarios that immediately raise a red flag, like attacking into open mana on an even board, but how do you handle edge cases where, if your opponent doesn't have something, you're just letting them off the hook while they get more chances to draw into their outs? A recent example was a Dominaria sealed I played against an opponent that I knew was running at least one counter-spell. I had a 1-attack creature on board (not a significant threat) and had to decide whether or not to play my four-drop on curve when my opponent had left his mana up. Do I just pass my turn to blank his chance at getting to use his counterspell, or do I just run it out there and "make him have it"? Specific examples aside, this is a general area where I feel like I have an opportunity to level up. Are there any heuristics I should be using, or is this just an area where I have to grow in wisdom as a player through experience? Any tips you have would be great! Thanks!
Eric Lynch
2018-09-07 13:06:53 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis! This question is pretty simple so I'll just fire it off: What has been your favorite card to play with, in any limited format? Or formats?
Clayton T. Carlson
2018-09-07 12:39:59 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis, With the advent of more weird limited formats like Chaos draft, how do you play around tricks? It feels like you lose equity by playing around unknown tricks, but (as Marshall showed me in his round 3 of his Chaos Draft video) you can get absolutely smashed by some of these if you aren't careful. Do you just need to accept more blowouts, or would you play more cautiously into open mana? Thanks for the content. P.S. Re-watching the match from the other side was very informative, even if "The Truth" wasn't enough to win.
A.J. Frank
2018-09-07 12:19:03 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis! Are there ever sets that you "just don't get". For example, in Dominaria, I felt I could get there most of the time and had a fairly high win rate. However, with M19, even when I felt I had a decent deck, there were times I would 0-3. Im guessing I just never really "got it". I consumed as much content as possible, trying to see what others did that worked, and tried many different strategies. Have either of you experienced a similar situation? Have you been able to overcome this type of situation? If so, what made the format click with you? When/if there is a set you just dont get, what do you do instead so that you can continue to play limited without throwing all your bucks down the toilet? Keep up the great work you two! Jamie
Jamie Fine
2018-09-07 11:59:37 +0000 UTCHey guys, I have a question about mana bases and splashing which I’m sure you get asked a ton but as a new player is a tough one to fully get to grips with. As an example in m19 I might be in blue back and take a speculative cinder barrens mid/late pack to allow me to splash an Electrify. Would you ever try to splash a card like Lich’s Caress, how much fixing would you need? My rule of thumb is it needs to cost at least four mana and only be one mana of the splash colour but are there exceptions to this if it’s even correct?
Peter
2018-09-07 11:17:18 +0000 UTCHi Marshall & Luis. I've been listening to LR since I got back into magic during Theros limited. I haven't looked back since and I basically play limited on MTGO with the occasional FNM (I often get good results at draft at FNM, I find the level typically a little lower than MTGO). Your episode about GP REALLY got me excited to try and go to a live event, with the caveat of: I don't know how to get into constructed. How does a limited player get into constructed? Which format? Which deck? Any resources recommended to improve?
Paul Vidal
2018-09-07 10:47:20 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis! When preparing for a big sealed event (like a GP or PTQ), what it is more important: create a sample of a good deck in the format or identifying the best archetypes? Thanks for the show!
Ferran Fons Titos
2018-09-07 10:15:46 +0000 UTCHey guys! Started listening after getting into Magic after Comic Con, shortly before Dominaria. I’ve heard comments about things like “oh, Ixalan was a ‘bad set’ for drafting”, but I never quite understood what that meant. What makes a set bad to draft? Why, specifically, did people not like Ixalan? And as a small side question, were you guys in Seattle recently for PAX? I thought I saw you guys at Spellslinger night but I was never actually sure and never got the chance to say hi.
Star Bright
2018-09-07 09:38:48 +0000 UTCThe second question is about an old set - Axion Now (my local store) is doing a Khans of Tarkir draft tomorrow as part of their Draft Cup and I've never played the set before (the other formats are Dominaria and Iconic Masters both of which I know). What is the key thing I should know going into that draft if you can each give me a single bit of advice?
Tim Boura
2018-09-07 09:02:04 +0000 UTCHi guys, finding the show interesting and informative - keep up the good work. Two questions here. The first is that in Guilds of Ravnica we're going to see 5 two-colour tribes split between 8 drafters. Are there any strategies you apply in that sort of format to mitigate or even gain advantage from the consequences of this since you can't always "be lucky enough to be the only one in your guild". How much does this depend on the flexibility of cards to be used in both guilds of their colour (i.e. will black cards be useable in both Golgari and Dimir decks or each card in just one?)
Tim Boura
2018-09-07 09:00:06 +0000 UTCHi Guys, love the show. Okay so my question starts off kinda sacrilige: I hate Dominaria Limited. I find it to be a bomb heavy prince format whose games end in a topdecks war; and I know I'm in a minority here #DontAtMe. (It doesn't help that I didn't play more than a handful of Dom drafts because I was moving house this spring) I assumed this was fine, I've not liked limited formats before, then they rotate and we get on with Magic; my problem, and question, is this; Dominaria seems to have been inducted into the format Hall of Fame, where all future sets get compared back to it (like Khans, Rise or Innistrad); how can I maintain perspective on future sets when my comparison point is so vastly different to that of the Magic influencers I trust?
Jethro
2018-09-07 07:01:27 +0000 UTCDoes your opponent's mulligan decision ever affect your own? Are you more likely to keep a mediocre 7 if you know your opponent is going down to 6? Would you be more likely to keep a land-light or land-heavy hand with your opponent on the mulligan? Thanks for the great content!
Nickolas Brandl
2018-09-07 06:36:29 +0000 UTCHey Limited Mum and Dad. (I'll let you figure out who is who.) I had a question about drafting sets with weaker themes, such as M19. I found it a lot harder to draft to a plan than with Dominaria, as quite often there just wasn't much you could do within an archetype. In a lot of cases even though colours seemed open, I ended up with decks that lacked impact. I keep wondering if I am under valuing certain cards that would make a difference or if drafting to a plan gets a bit more difficult in Core Sets? Having said that I did manage to 6-0 in a league in M19 on MTGO, which I attribute to all the hard work my Limited parents put in to making sure I was raised right.
Chris L
2018-09-07 06:27:48 +0000 UTCHey guys, really enjoyed the episode with TBS about what to know before going to a GP, and I was wondering if you think there are any tips that are more/less relevant for attending a PPTQ? There's a few coming up in my area that I want to get ready for, and I was wondering if you approach those any differently than you would a GP. Really enjoy the show and greatly appreciate all the hard work you put in!
Paul Zivick
2018-09-07 05:58:58 +0000 UTCWhen you guys go over archetypes for a set you almost always say "... and of course you want all the removal you can get," in reference to almost every archetype. Is there such a thing as "too much" removal. Is the fifth Caress too many? Agreed it's a good problem to have and one that doesn't come up that often. But when it does we sometimes wonder what the right balance is. Are there archetypes when you want to limit the amount of removal you grab? Thanks as always for the show. -Gar and Gwen
Gar Culbert
2018-09-07 04:29:57 +0000 UTCHey guys! If my goal is to win a MtGO Limited PTQ, how should I devide my practice time between sealed and draft to maximize the odds? Do the percentages change for GPs?
Jaeger
2018-09-07 03:39:04 +0000 UTCHi guys, this is more of a question for Luis. I’m a middle school teacher and I have tons of students who love gaming. Since you’re a game designer, I’m curious: What academic skills do you think are important for aspiring game designers to cultivate while they’re still in school? I’m always looking for ways to motivate students and show them how what we’re doing at school can help them in the “real world.” Love the show, thanks for all the hard work on it! -Colin
Colin Tribble
2018-09-07 03:27:35 +0000 UTCI'd love to hear more about cube strategy, especially differences in legacy cube strategy vs vintage cube strategy with current mtgo offering.
Daniel Spiegel
2018-09-07 03:20:23 +0000 UTCHey guys! Thanks so much for all that you've contributed to the community. The LR podcast has helped me get to a point where I can consistently qualify for Sunday PTQs online and I'm considered to be one of the "end bosses" at my LGS. When I'm playing on all cylinders I feel like I'm a solid player, but I often fall into ruts where I'm just going through the motions and I'll get to the end of a game and realize I didn't actually think about my decisions at all during the whole game and just played on autopilot. These are of course usually accompanied by a string of match losses. How do you keep your mental focus, both in the long run career-wise and also when you're in a long tournament like a GP. Thanks!
Aardvark
2018-09-07 03:02:12 +0000 UTCHow good does a double-devotion bomb have to be for you to splash it in a deck? For example, is there a place for Demanding Dragon in a Black-Green midrange deck? How about Patient Rebuilding in a Red-Black control deck?
Drew Acquaviva
2018-09-07 02:59:23 +0000 UTCHey Marshall sensei and LSV sensei. My question is simple - is there such thing as too much removal in limited? I recently had a situation where I must have been the only black drafter at the table. I ended up with 2 murder, 3 lich's caress, the - 3/-3 instant, take vengance and lumionus bonds. Ultimately i ended up not playing the bonds fearing that I'm going to be too short on creatures. It felt weird cutting a removal spell though. Thanks!
Piotr Berlowski
2018-09-07 02:45:43 +0000 UTCHow do you evaluate new cards that are added to the MTGO cube? Something like Ravenous Chupacabra is obviously a bomb in its own limited format, but how do you evaluate it (or other new cards) in a cube environment? Do you have any heuristics for evaluating cards in cube?
Daniel Schneider
2018-09-07 02:38:06 +0000 UTCHey love your hard work! When drafting I have a hard time deciding wether to pick the best card in the pack or the best card for the deck I will most likely play. For example if I pick 1 pack 1 sarkhans unsealing, I often find myself forcing red green. Sometimes it works out sometimes not...any advice for a medium level player?
vladimir jevtic
2018-09-07 02:05:45 +0000 UTCWhen part-way through a draft how important is it to consider specific cards that your pool is lacking? For example, if red has had the best cards for most of pack one but you've not seen any of the top commons, would you be more likely to pivot to another color given the option in pack 2? P.S. Just listened to episode #100, which awesomely featured then-present Host Jon Louckes, Time-Shifted Host Ryan Spain _and_ FutureShifted Host LSV! :D
james anderson
2018-09-07 02:01:35 +0000 UTCHey guys, long time listener first time caller (Rocket update?). I was wondering about mulligan decisions when on the play versus on the draw, and where you draw the line between acceptable hands when on the draw versus the same hand that would not be acceptable on the play. What are you considering when you make this decision?
James Gardiner
2018-09-07 02:00:50 +0000 UTCHey guys! Love the show! I blame my 11-4 69th place at GP Phoenix 2017 on the advice I got from you on the show! (My best GP finish ever!) What is your opinion on the current bribery/wagering rules? Are they a necessary evil, do they get good people DQ'd for bad reasons, or are you happy they are what they are? Thanks so much! Luis, let me know if you ever want to be an L1 again! ;)
Daniel Lee
2018-09-07 01:44:53 +0000 UTCHi Marshall and Luis, I'm an avid limited player, drafting and cubing regularly at my local game shops, but I've never really been the biggest fan of constructed. Do you think my aversion to constructed could be impeding my limited play, and are there any skills for limited that transfer over from constructed that I could be missing out on?
Misha Colbourne
2018-09-07 01:44:42 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis, I always like it when I hear a clever nickname for a magic card (e.g., Rhox Pizza Delivery Man or Jace, the Wallet Sculptor) what are your power rankings of card nicknames?
Luc Roberts
2018-09-07 01:40:10 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis, thanks for continuing to produce top notch content. I've been listening for a couple of years now, even though I don't draft much. Part of the reason is that I can rarely get 8 MTG friends together for a draft. We've done a few 4-person drafts but the decks didn't feel right with only 4 players worth of packs. What are your favourite ways to get a better draft experience with only 4 players? Thanks again for all your hard work! <3 from Australia
Fithäkk
2018-09-07 01:39:58 +0000 UTCDo you have any tips on what signals you use while drafting to determine when to go deep into an archetype or for synergy with a bomb or two vs applying a more good cards/CABS approach? You guys rock!
Scott Laundry
2018-09-07 01:36:02 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and LSV. Did you do any Chaos Drafts while they were up on Magic Online, and do you have any thoughts/newly discovered pet cards? I found it to be a surprisingly fun format and really want Extra Arms to get a reprint now. (Bonus: Mini Let's Stump Vargas on Extra Arms)
Matthew Taylor
2018-09-07 01:34:02 +0000 UTCHey Marshall and Luis, love the show, keep up the good work. Do you guys have any thoughts on how to have the pro tour both involve teams and limited? Top cut team draft seems spicy, but the logistics in swiss seem rough. Would something like rotating the standard player between standard and draft day one then modern player between modern and draft day 2 make sense? Love to hear your take on if something like this would be possible or enjoyable.
Tyler Spiering
2018-09-07 01:32:29 +0000 UTCWhich guild of Ravnica do you each identify with?
Michelle Creutzberger
2018-09-07 01:28:24 +0000 UTCSub sandwiches or wraps?
Joel Prellwitz
2018-09-07 01:24:19 +0000 UTCi'd like to ask some questions about the value of gold-fishing and simulating games. is there any way to connect via an email or im? thanks, travis.somerville@gmail.com
MTG XRay
2018-09-07 01:23:58 +0000 UTCWe have various types of draft and sealed, can you come up with a new type of limited format? If not, which limited format would you most like to be made available digitally?
Michael Trevelyan
2018-09-07 01:21:50 +0000 UTCHi guys i love your show i have been listening every week for over 1 year now. I am definitely a vastly better player having listened to your advice and tips. I won heaps of boosters and joined your patreon to prove this to be true. I have very little GP experience (only the one) i found that people would shuffle my deck and blatantly stare at my cards, the same happens rarely in booster draft as well. How do i approach this rude behaviour, at the moment i have a mental internal implode of sorts and probably flush red.
Michael Hamilton
2018-09-07 01:20:30 +0000 UTCAlso love the podcast and y’all were absolute gentlemen when I met y’all at various GPs this summer. Thanks for putting up with my fan girling!
Glory Ancheta
2018-09-07 01:13:16 +0000 UTCHey guys what is a good 1 on 1 limited format I should try? I was looking at Winston drafting and it seems fun but I haven’t tried it yet and there are lots of others.
Kyle Wells
2018-09-07 01:12:45 +0000 UTCWhen is a gold card good enough to be pack one pick one worthy?
Glory Ancheta
2018-09-07 01:11:33 +0000 UTC
