Community

In the last post, I covered the events of our first 4-Pack as a group/clan. In this part, I cover the cards I opened and the deck that I built.  

I am also very much looking forward to people's comments on the decks and what they themselves would have built!

READING THE CARDS

Here are the Mythics/Rares/Uncommons I got.  I liked the Rare/Mythics, but felt I could only use one this time.  Would be happy to be proven wrong, though ^_^

I 

I felt that Garuk would have been great if I had a lot of creatures.  He also spawns 3/3 tokens so that's very strong too and he could be a creature machine.  However, I didn't feel that I was getting much quality in the creature department, especially in the early game creature department to warrant using him.  But

First, a shoutout to germanjerk's blog post: How to do an M11 4-Pack Sealed.  

This is a well written, concise (unlike me) and illustrated article about germanjerk's process of building M11 4-pack decks.  I highly recommend it to everyone who plays 4-pack sealed.

This is the first of a (hopefully) multi-part series:

PART 1: Tournament Report (from Chanchai's perspective)

PART 2: Chanchai's Cards & Decklist

PART 3: (hopefully) Ewiper & Josep's Decklists (and maybe more perspective on their matches)

WE BE PACKIN'

I had a blast last night (or this morning as some would put it)!

Three of our clan members went into the same M11 4-Pack tournament and it made for a great time.  We didn't get the best results we wanted, but we all had mostly wonderfully competitive games

Another day, another Sealed 4-Pack with M11.  Still loving it, though I'm still trying to improve.

Question for everyone out there who has done Sealed (of any form).  How would you describe your time spent Deck Building and how would you describe your process?

Right now, I spend a lot of time deckbuilding but it's still a bit chaotic, panicked, and sometimes looking things too much on color.  I love synergy, but I'm somehow blind to it in the 20 minutes (more than enough time) that they give you.  

I let the time pressure get to me, and I think there's probably a bigger fundamental flaw behind the mess that is my deckbuilding--something I must work to improve on:

I think I am setting myself up for failure by trying to create options (Plan B's) instead of using all

In November's Ampersand column, the author lists a number a things that he likes about the the new Character Builder. Quoting from the article:

1. It's ultimately portable. I can use it on any computer or computer-like device, wherever I am.
2. It's both PC and Mac friendly. I can access it from either kind of machine.
3. There are multiple character sheet options. I can pick an Essentials character sheet or a sheet that takes advantage of the digital medium, and we can add other versions of sheets as demand warrants.
4. The user interface is better. We've learned a lot, tested a lot, and made a tool that is easier to navigate and use.
5. Content filters are better. The D&D game is loaded with content, and the new Character Builder offers lots of ways to filter that content for you. You can make

As I am posting this, I'm in another M11 4-Pack Sealed Tournament.  Outlook isn't too great, but it's fun and I'm getting cards.  Nothing too exciting this time though.  

I just lost the first round.  In the first game I was mana screwed and only drawing the lesser mana of my deck.  At least that's how it felt at the time.  The second game was very close, but opponent was mostly in control of the game the whole time and things might have been different if I had been willing to trade on a blocking decision (I ended up overthinking, worried opponent had a buff card... what I should have been thinking is if he had a buff card, let him use it early and waste it on small fries--still trying to learn ^_^).

That said, I think my second deck (Red-Blue) is better

What kind of decks would you build with the cards I got in my 4-Pack Tournament?

Just turned in a bad performance in M11 4-Pack Sealed, but as always it was a learning experience.

I will submit myself for public embarassment and list out the cards I got from the 4 packs.  I will also list out (with embarassment) the 3 decks I built from them.

I am still learning (and hopefully always will) and all respectful criticism and critiques are very welcome ^_^

The good news is that I think I've shaken off Sealed Tournament nerves!  In fact, I think my overall play was better than it had been in other events, though still littered with errors and blunders that have not become obvious to me yet.

However, I think my deckbuilding was pretty poor.  I think I overreacted to limitations

I am realizing I'm doing this wrong. I'm new to the game and what a person like me should do is play Magic with friends. This would let me learn and enjoy myself in a nice casual atmosphere.

Instead I'm playing on Magic Online. People there are ridiculously focused on winning. Most won't even say hello or good game. I also went to an IRL tourney. It was fun to play people in person but still -- it was a tourney and everyone was ridiculously focused on winning.

I have no problem with people being ridiculously focused on winning, per se. It's just, as a new player, I want to enjoy myself. Part of the learning process is building confidence. Part of what gets people hooked is having a lot of fun. Playing with competition-level players, who would gladly kill their own grandmother for a win,

The new Online Character Builder look great and seems to be user firendly. However, I am crashing a lot. I think it will become the essential tool for any adventure seeking gamer.

Well made two halflings one rogue and the other ranger -

The only thing about it is I don't know if I am ready to Roleplay a cannabalistic halfling and would it be considered cannabalism if it was other humanoids and not halfling the character ate?

I hadn't planned on blogging about DDI. Regardless of the "new web-based tool" I had been planning on letting other blogs handle the news and opinions. But with the release of the new online Character Builder I'm finding it truly hard not to rant. Not that I'm the first. You can read gargs454's comments on the subject here.

Firstly, the disclaimer. For reasons of financial belt-tightening and the lack of updates, I decided not to renew my DDI subscription. The magazines seem to be offering mostly D&D Essentials content that I have a limited interest in reading and the programs lacked updates. Plus my wife is on maternity leave reducing us to a single income so a little belt tightening was needed.

The Compendium

I hadn't mentioned the revised Compendium for a very good reason: I had nothing