O.Ruelov članak za uspeh u MTGu

[BB]

Ovaj članak se meni jako svideo, mislim da će pomoći svim igračima u našoj zemlji.
Svako može da se nađe u jednoj od 10 kategorija i da pokuša da bude što bolji!

If you want to get better at Magic, working on your mental and on your game is, of course, very important. But there is a third factor required for improvement: the “trigger” that will help you level up.

We can consider that there are ten levels of Magic players:

Level 1: A beginner player. He plays casual decks with own rules.
Level 2: Has been playing for a few months. He started trading and buying the cards he needed to make his deck better at the same time as he was getting better.
Level 3: An average local player. He doesn’t post spectacular finishes, but he gains experience.
Level 4: A good local player. He regularly posts decent finishes at the events he attends.
Level 5: A local champion. He does well almost all the time, and starts becoming interested in PTQs.
Level 6: A good PTQ player. He reaches the Top 8 every once in a while, and he may have played in one Pro Tour already.
Level 7: A PTQ specialist. He plays at least one Pro Tour a year via PTQs, and his level is very close to the professionals.
Level 8: A player at Level 5 in the Pro Player Club. He is qualified for every PT. He can’t make money with Magic, and barely pays for most of his trips via playing, but his playing skills are very high.
Level 9: A player at Level 6 in the Pro Player Club. He makes a little money with Magic, and his playing skills are excellent.
Level 10: A player at Level 7 or 8 in the Pro Player Club, meaning one of the top 10 or 15 players in the world. His level is almost perfect, and he may even make a living from Magic.

Do not worry if you recognize yourself and realize you’re in the bottom levels. This is the case of most players. These levels are not a scale, but a pyramid. In any level, there are about one-fifth of the players below. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is impossible to leap up several levels, and we are actually just about to see how to provoke the trigger that will help you jump from one level to another.

Level 1: Start Playing
You only have to find your very first cards and buddies with which to play. As you may have guessed, the most exciting part of the adventure is not the most difficult.

Level 2: Learn the Game and its Rules
Going from Level 1 to Level 2 is something that occurs naturally. It occurs over time; you assimilate the basics of the game and the rules. The period necessary to do so depends on the efforts and skills of each player involved, but after a few months, decisions are made faster, and you spend less and less time reading your rulebook. Performing correct plays without thinking is sign of progress

Level 3: Attend Tournaments
You join Level 3 when you start playing in sanctioned events. The very first time is pretty much the same for everyone: an absolute fiasco. You arrive at the event confident in your deck and in your skills (after all, you do beat your friends most of the time), and you just get crushed by better decks ran by better players. Then you have no choice but to admit that you were not as high on the pyramid as you would have liked to think. But do not worry, it is no big deal. After all, nothing’s better than a good dose of humility.

Back home after this painful experience, you’ll notice that not only did you get your ass kicked, you are now totally exhausted. The efforts you put into focusing for a whole day will drain you in a very surprising way. Don’t worry though, it gets a lot easier when you get used to it.

Also, at your first few events, don’t be afraid to ask more experienced players for tips. You still have so much to learn, such as how to make your deck better, how to correct your mistakes, or even how to shuffle.

Level 4: Form a Group of Players
This is usually when things are becoming difficult, as you start needing assistance. From Level 3, if things go right, you should start meeting local players, and even playing with them outside tournaments. Having a group of friends as players is advantageous in many ways.

Your practicing becomes more and more frequent, and you can exchange ideas on plays and decks. Furthermore, at some point, you’ll realize your relation with your pals is somewhere between friendship and rivalry, and this will helps you all get better. There is one last advantage, which is extremely important: you can now lend and borrow cards, which will help you save money and give you the opportunity to play more, and to build and play much more varied decks.

From this point, and no matter how skilled you are, you should be doing fine. Also, it would be good to start playing Limited formats. Why not start with a prerelease, for instance?

Level 5: Play Complex Decks
If we can say that a Level 4 mage is of an “average” level, a Level 5 mage actually has a “good” level. To get there, the best way (as for any other way to level up) is regular and serious practicing. However, it is for this threshold that players usually find improvement more difficult. You have to become better than the players you’ve been playing with for months, if not for years. For the most gifted and/or the harder workers, this obstacle may be crossed naturally, but for the majority, it is long and difficult. One of the most efficient ways to force the passage to the upper level is learn how to play more complex decks.

It is, for most people, a lot easier to play aggro than control. Indeed, it will be a lot easier to optimize a creature deck as the choices are less numerous and the mistakes cost less. But if you want to pass this threshold, you have to play different archetypes. You will then discover a whole new face of the game as you will learn how to survive before thinking about the best way to annihilate the opponent’s resources and to eventually kill him. Control needs to be able to read one turn further than aggro decks. If you manage to master a control deck, your playing skills will definitely grow, and, when you decide to play aggro again, it will be easier for you to read your opponent’s plays.

Learning how to play control gives one much pride and pleasure. This step surely isn’t an easy one to pass, but it will make you see the game from a whole different angle.

Level 6: Become Familiar with Limited
Nearly everyone makes his first steps in the world of Magic playing Constructed. In order to approach the higher levels, it is necessary to become specialized in Limited as well.

Playing Limited is very similar to playing control in Constructed, as you have to adapt constantly to your opponent’s deck and plays. It is a lot more complex, at least at first, to think about everything your opponent may have in hand, and therefore to play around it. There are so many interactions between the cards on the board and those your opponent could have in his deck that you will have to navigate by instinct.

Also, try and draft as often as you can, and don’t be scared to ask other players for advice. Discussion is, in Limited, a full part of the practice session. Show your deck and sideboard to experienced players, and ask them if they would have built it differently. In the case of draft, also ask them about your less obvious picks. You will definitely learn a lot this way.

Level 7: Give Yourself Every Chance to Win
At first, you must know that most people can’t possibly go higher than this level. A good environment can pilot most mages with natural skills to Level 6. But most of them stop there.

The talent between these two divisions is not that different, but the efforts and the investments (both as a matter of money and time) aren’t comparable. When you have reached Level 6, if you feel like you can still fight in a higher category, it means you are now going to aim for the pro level.

To catch up with guys that are above you, you must first dominate your level. Meaning you must multiply the testing sessions and attend as many qualifier events as you can. You won’t be able to attend a lot, so analyze the metagame carefully before you chose your deck, and, unless aggro seems excellent in the metagame, try and play control or combo almost all the time. You should now have the strength to win many games by outplaying your opponent, so you actually want the games to last as long as possible.

At this point, it is highly recommended you use Magic: Online.

The program, at present, is pretty bad. It lags a lot, bugs a lot, and the refunds (when they happen) take time to come through, and emails often remain unanswered, etc.

But when it works, which still happens pretty regularly, MTGO is an excellent tool with which to playtest. You can find pretty high-level draft tables at any time, and even play against the best players in the world.

An 8-4 draft table, with 8 packs for the winner and 4 for the runner up, is almost as difficult as a draft in a Grand Prix Day 2, meaning it’s one or two levels below a PT table.

And if you play Constructed, you will be forced to prepare your sideboard and make it evolve at the same time as your maindeck, which is a significant time gain.

Level 8: Consider Magic a Job
Let’s be clear, no more than 5% of players have the potential to reach this point.

If you want to make sure you do have that potential, you have to be ready to make sacrifices. You need not only to reach a very high level of playing, but also to maintain it. To do so you have to play as if you were working. Play at least 30 hours a week, and when doing so try to always give your best. In the last two weeks before the PT, it is even advised to play double this.

It won’t always be fun, of course, but having a chance to join the pro world has a cost. Be conscious that, even if you make all the Pro Tours and even if you have decent results there, it doesn’t mean you will make money; you even have a good chance of losing some. Don’t misunderstand me, traveling thanks to your passion and visiting the world is a blessing, but you have to be aware that it will cost you much to try and reach this point.

Level 9: Innovate
To get here, you need to become one of the Top 30 players in the world. Your investment need to be full, and you need to be able to do very well both in Constructed and in Limited. In order to do so, you must be drafting a minimum of five times a week, and you must be able to do well in tournaments with your own creations. The surprise effect of a new deck on your opponent makes every matchup better. For instance, you are playing versus Elves with a super new control deck in the current Extended. From turn 1, you will be able to tell 55 cards in his deck while he will be wondering for the whole match what is in yours. Also, you know the matchup if you playtested it, while your opponents don’t. This way, if your matchup versus Elves should have been 50-50, it would be more likely to be 60-40. And if you can’t find an original deck that could be dominant, it’s just fine; just try and adapt what you think is the best deck in the format until you can make it a little better. If you want to reach that level, you should be able to improve every deck you’re playing.

It’s not only the technical side, but also the physical condition, that you should consider. This includes what I talked about last week, of course, but also paying special attention to jetlag. For a tournament in a different continent than the one in which you live, you should arrive a minimum of 48 hours before the event, and never just the day before. Otherwise, though adrenaline will keep you awake for part of Day 1, you’ll be in a pretty bad shape to finish the day, and even worse if you make Day 2. The other reason is that if you leave at the last minute and your flight is cancelled or even delayed, you might waste all the time you’ve put into testing and the money invested on the trip.

Level 10: Play the Game, See the World
Once you’ve already reached Level 9, you shouldn’t, in theory, be losing any money in Magic. However, if you want to get money and pro points and you don’t feel like waiting for your next PT Top 8 to do so, you will, paradoxically, have to take a financial risk. With no PT Top 4 or better, you will have to try and grab the Pro Points somewhere, pushing you to play as many GPs as possible. The cheapest tech is usually to wait for several events to occur in the same area and in the same period (for instance, GP: Seattle right before PT: Honolulu) so you don’t have to buy a ticket at full price. Once you’ve reached the highest level of the Pro Player Club, you will know that gamble was a success. But if it’s not, you will come to regret it. In order to ensure that doesn’t happen, try and plan a little time after each event to sightsee and enjoy yourself. This way, even if you do badly and lose money, you will have at least traveled across the world for one full year.

Except for the GP gamble, reaching Level 10 means something global, as you’re aiming at being on the top of the Magic world. You have to fulfill all the conditions that we’ve mentioned previously, meaning:

- Make sacrifices
- Work hard
- Play both Constructed and Limited
- Practice building your own decks
- Pay attention to outside-the-game details
- Always stay humble, and keep questioning yourself
- Do not look down on people, and value other players’ opinion
- Have high-level skills

One last piece of advice to conclude. Even if you have to take some of your free time to play Magic, try and keep on studying or working in the meantime, or you’ll have some big regrets some day. If you’re lucky enough to join the very few who can make a living out of Magic, it’s fantastic… but knowing that most people fail at doing it, if you feel like you can’t cross the barrier for one reason or another, it’s just fine. Magic is a game before everything, and even though it’s the best game in the world, there are more important things in life!

Until next week!

Olivier Ruel

[Galovic]

jes vala dobar... ovo vam je premium clanak na starcitygames.com...

ima ih jos... bajgo sam kaci....

[Whatevaaa]

Kod nas je 5,6 i 7 isto

[dd fan]

Za one koji ne znaju, BBajgo trpi sudsku zabranu fizickog prilaska O. Ruelu na 500 m od kada je zatecen da pretura po donjem vesu doticnog dok je ovaj bio na PT-u, i od tada mora da se zadovolji citanjem clanaka na starcityju.....

[Chuck Norris]

Za one koji ne znaju, BBajgo trpi sudsku zabranu fizickog prilaska O. Ruelu na 500 m od kada je zatecen da pretura po donjem vesu doticnog dok je ovaj bio na PT-u, i od tada mora da se zadovolji citanjem clanaka na starcityju.....

:lol:

@isa homo 5,6,7 isto? kod nas ne postoji profesionalac bilo cega sto se tice magica

[Whatevaaa]

naravno da ne postoji pro kod nas, samo sam hteo da kazem da lokalni sampioni, tj igraci koji su najbolju u klubovim su isti ljudi koji ulaze na t8 ptq, a to su isti ljudi koji pobedjuju ptq, nacionalne i bili na makar jednom pt. Posto kod nas magic nije razvijen, ta tri nivoa su se mergovala u jedan

[BB]

naravno da ne postoji pro kod nas, samo sam hteo da kazem da lokalni sampioni, tj igraci koji su najbolju u klubovim su isti ljudi koji ulaze na t8 ptq, a to su isti ljudi koji pobedjuju ptq, nacionalne i bili na makar jednom pt. Posto kod nas magic nije razvijen, ta tri nivoa su se mergovala u jedan

mudro zboriš

[Galovic]

Ovo je moj omiljeni članak o 5obojnoj kontroli

The archetype is probably the most difficult to draft in the format, but it may be the most efficient as well, if you respect the need to fulfill a certain number of conditions.

Here is your usual game plan:

Step 1: Get your mana fixed and slow down their beatdown if necessary. Usually, you have to use your first two or three turns for landcycling, land-fetching, and playing Obelisks. Then you play blockers and kill their most annoying guys. If you can't find your mana quickly versus an aggro deck, you just die if you don't have a mass removal spell (Jund Charm, Volcanic Fallout, or Infest).

Step 2: Once you are in the game and your mana is set, you should be able to play better cards than your opponent for the same cost. Also, your numerous removal spells can deal with most of the bombs, and your card advantage providers (Courier's Capsule, Kiss of the Amesha, Resounding spells) allow you to take the advantage.

Step 3: You win with either your biggest guys + removal spells in combination, or with your bomb when you end up drawing it.

So, to draft this archetype, here’s some things to consider…

Open a Bomb

It’s no secret that the first condition of a strong deck is, of course, to have strong cards. However, it is more important in Five-Color Control than in any other. As you are not playing many guys, those you play must be able to win you the game on their own. To bolster this need for bombs, Five-Color Control is the archetype in which you'll have the best chance to draw them, as games are longer and you usually play draw spells (including the very late pick Worldly Counsel, which is great in the deck), giving you the access to at least half your deck (if not more) every game.

Creatures

As you mostly play non-creatures spells, the ones you decide to play have to be very efficient. There are basically three kinds of creatures you want to run:

A: Early Blockers (Aven Trailblazer, Guardians of Alara, Kederekt Creeper) that will be able to slow down your opponent, as it is one of the first two things you need to address, along with getting at least four colors.

B: Efficient Kills (eight-mana cyclers, Cavern Thoctar, Tower Gargoyle, bombs). You cannot play too many of them as you can't afford to have dead cards in hand when your mana is often not very stable and you have to be able to answer their threats immediately. Interesting fact: in the last pack, you often get the possibility to pick up two rares that most people don't want, which are just made for your deck. The first one is Worldheart Phoenix, which is (at worst) called a bomb in the deck, as for four mana you have a very annoying blocker. If you randomly picked a Corpse Connoisseur, it becomes just ridiculous. The other one isn’t quite as good, but it is still very nice in the deck: Inkwell Leviathan. I know, usually, when a card says "Creature: Leviathan," you avoid running it. But in a pretty slow deck using more mana sources than a normal Limited deck, it fits just fine and is a reliable win condition.

C: Creatures that obey both A and B (Matca Rioters, Rhox War Monk). They are only a very few of them, and they are very precious as they are excellent at any time of the game. Rhox War Monk only belongs in this category when you have enough mana fixers to make it a relatively early drop.

Have you noticed what most of these creatures have in common? They don't die to pingers, Blister Beetle, or to most of the Red removal spells. Basically, to make the cut, a creature has to be immune to Magma Spray, except a very few exceptions (Paragon of the Amesha and his pals are good, as they can win on their own; Vithian Stinger and Esper Battlemage work, as they can just destroy some decks). Cards like Druid of the Anima or Tidehollow Strix, for example, are at best sideboard options versus non-Red/non-Black decks.

Other Spells

As with the creatures, there are three types of spell needed in Five-Color Control:

A: Removal spells, of course. The main benefit of playing five colors is that you can pick any bomb you open or are passed, and that you can just take the best card from every single pack, which is usually a removal spell. The more you have, the better. Cards such as Wretched Banquet are better here than anywhere else, as you are supposed to be able to clean the board, and therefore you can hit a big guy for one mana. For the same reason, Yoke of the Damned is a very good card in Five-Color Control as it is close to being a true two-mana removal spell. Bone Splinters and Soul's Fire are nearly unplayable because they require many guys to become good.

Countermagic is also better in this archetype than in any other. As mentioned earlier, the games are longer and it gives you a better chance to draw your bombs. But this applies to your opponent as well, and, even if you are able to deal with most creatures in the format, will you be able to handle Broodmate Dragon, Cruel Ultimatum, Obelisk of Alara, or Martial Coup? Cancel, Punish Ignorance, and Traumatic Visions will surely help. So will Blightning and Voices of the Void, two cards with a high potential in the deck, especially the second. This is a game breaker versus any slow deck. Voices from the Void has the potential to be one of the best card you can get, and it’s a card you will be passed very often as most decks can't make a good use of it.

B: Card draw spells, and cards that give you card advantage in general. If your game plan is to kill creatures one by one, you will lose if your opponent draws more spells than you do. That is why good blockers are needed (so you only have to kill annoying guys), and that is also the reason why you need to draw more spells than your opponent. The best thing about these cards in the format is that they don't only provide a two-for-one advantage. Courier's Capsule is awesome combined with Sanctum Gargoyle, Kish of the Amesha gains you 7 life, Resounding Thunder can be played for 3 mana, Resounding Silence is three-for-one, etc. Worldly Counsel doesn't give you card advantage, but it’s still great as it helps you fix your mana in the early game, and it should search for a removal spell if you need one after turn 5 or 6.

C: Mana fixers… but we'll get to them next.

Mana

The manabase of these decks is the most difficult thing to build. Anyone can just pick the best card from each pack and put them all in the same deck, but it won't give them good deck. If you can't build a solid manabase for your deck, it will be hard for you to win more than half the games. Basically, the most common choice you're encountering with drafting is this: fixer or removal spell? I'll pick the removal spell over almost any fetchland or Obelisk, but not necessarily over a Triland or Armillary Sphere. The fewer fixers you have, the higher you must pick them, but usually, for the first few picks, I'll tend to take the good card over the fixer. Here is an example of my common preferences in the first six picks:

1) Oblivion Ring, Resounding Silence, Resounding Thunder, Branching Bolt
2) Executioner's Capsule, Agony Warp, Sanctum Gargoyle (if I have already drafter either the blue or the black Capsule)
3) Trilands
4) Magma Spray, Bloodpyre Elemental, Courier's Capsule
5) Fetchlands
6) Obelisks, Vithian Stinger
7) Viscera Dragger, Blightning, Resounding Wave, Blister Beetle, Jungle Weaver
8) Other cycling guys, Wild Nacatl, Carrion Thrash, Kederekt Creeper, Knight of the Skyward Eye

After pick 6, if you are short in fixers, make them all one rank higher. In pack 3, pick Armillary Sphere over any other common, and Rupture Spire if you’re short on fixers, or after Matca Rioters and Drag Down otherwise.

You also need to have one or two dominant colors. The more you splash colors 4 and 5, the less you risks losing to mana problems. If possible, you want Blue to be your dominant color, as it is the color with the most cards that will help you fix your mana on turn 2 (Worldly Counsel, Traumatic Visions, and Courier's Capsule). Concerning the land cyclers: play only those from your main two colors (and Fiery Fall, as it is the best one on its own). The White, Green, and Black land cyclers will be a handicap more than an help most of the time.

There is no limit in the number of fetchlands you can play, but try to limit Obelisks to two or three. If you have a deck full of super-strong super-expensive spells (Empyrial Archangel plus Martial Coup plus Resounding Silence, for example), running 18 lands and 3 or 4 Obelisks is no problem. I play 18 lands in these decks 95% of the time, even when my curve is not that high, as you can't really allow yourself to miss drawing enough lands. Your deck should be able to compensate a mana flood, but not a mana screw. I run 17 when I've very good fixers (3 of either Armillary Spheres and Trilands plus 3 fetchlands for example), and at the opposite end I can go for 19 if I have expensive spells, and either not enough fixers, not enough playables, or lots of fetchlands. If you have five fetchlands in a deck, the fact that you will sacrifice two of them a game and will remove as many lands from your deck means you shouldn't draw more than you would with the usual 18.

When Should You Draft the Deck?

Here are the elements you need, in theory, to run a Five-Color Control deck:

- One bomb
- One mass removal spell (Jund Charm, Infest, Volcanic Fallout, Scourglass, Martial Coup) to deal with the most aggressive decks, and so you don’t have to play a removal spell on every guy you will face.
- Lots of removal spells
- Card advantage spells
- Big enough creatures to win games
- A stable manabase

If you can gather these six elements, your deck is almost unbeatable. If you have five of these, it should be very strong. With four, your deck is still good, but with three or less, things will be difficult for you. Therefore, here are the most common reason to go for Five-Color Control:

- When you open a slow bomb (Broodmate Dragon, Hellkite Overlord, Empyrial Archangel, Sphinx Sovereign).
- When you pick up, in the first three picks, Infest or Jund Charm.
- When your first three picks are removal spells in three or more different colors

The Deck’s Weakness

Even though the archetype is strong, it can lose to cards that are usually just good, but that destroy the archetype. Such a case is Algae Gharial, which you'd better catch with a Pyroclasm while you can, or Blightning, which often grabs two good spells. But the worst card to face is probably Necrogenesis. When your goal in the game is to kill every single guy they control, it's very painful to face twice as many creatures, even if the remnants are only 1/1s. For the same reason, Necrogenesis is definitely a pick 1 to pick 3 pull in Five-Color Control.

One last piece of advice: do not give up on the deck if it didn't work out well for the first one or two drafts. It is a very complex archetype which is very difficult to master, but once you do, it will give you some of the coolest deck you'll ever play.

[Chuck Norris]

ffs ako neko procita i bajgovo i galovicevo svaka mu cast

[Micko]

Ovo je moj omiljeni članak

When Should You Draft the Deck?

Here are the elements you need

- One bomb
- One mass removal spell (Jund Charm, Infest, Volcanic Fallout, Scourglass, Martial Coup) to deal with the most aggressive decks, and so you don’t have to play a removal spell on every guy you will face.
- Lots of removal spells
- Card advantage spells
- Big enough creatures to win games
- A stable manabase

If you can gather these six elements, your deck is almost unbeatable. If you have five of these, it should be very strong. With four, your deck is still good, but with three or less, things will be difficult for you. Therefore, here are the most common reason to go for Five-Color Control:

Bombe, mass removali, point removali, card advantage, velika bica,dobra mana baza .... Kako li se niko ranije nije setio da proba taj koncept? :D

[Chuck Norris]

da stvarno...

[Aman]

neko preprica ova dva velika posta?

[Nikola]

Otprilike pishe "Biti dobar u Magicu (i zhivotu uopshte) mozhesh ako i samo ako si kadar chitati i po nekoliko paragrafa teksta uzastopce!", praceno komentarima koji su chist dokaz iznesene teorije.

[Chuck Norris]

[Aman]

Otprilike pishe "Biti dobar u Magicu (i zhivotu uopshte) mozhesh ako i samo ako si kadar chitati i po nekoliko paragrafa teksta uzastopce!", praceno komentarima koji su chist dokaz iznesene teorije.

[BB]

Otprilike pishe "Biti dobar u Magicu (i zhivotu uopshte) mozhesh ako i samo ako si kadar chitati i po nekoliko paragrafa teksta uzastopce!", praceno komentarima koji su chist dokaz iznesene teorije.

da li uspeš da nađeš sliku za svaku moguću situaciju?

[Aman]

Otprilike pishe "Biti dobar u Magicu (i zhivotu uopshte) mozhesh ako i samo ako si kadar chitati i po nekoliko paragrafa teksta uzastopce!", praceno komentarima koji su chist dokaz iznesene teorije.

...

da li uspeš da nađeš sliku za svaku moguću situaciju?

[Chuck Norris]

izgleda da, da

[arborsomniorum]

Ja sam nivo 4, a Vi?

[Galovic]

Pročitajte ovaj čklanak! Kako su samo kul... imaju skroz različit pogled na igru i super je način na koji diskutuju o pikovima...

a da.... napravili su komon i ankomon listu top 20 karata za naju...

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

ako vam se svidi okačiću još...


NAYA

Manuel:

1 - Oblivion Ring
2 - Branching Bolt
3 - Bull Cerodon
4 - Naya Charm
5 - Resounding Thunder
6 – Knight of the Skyward Eye
7 - Drumhunter
8 - Jungle Shrine
9 - Rhox Charger
10 - Woolly Thoctar
11 - Topan Ascetic
12 - Wild Nacatl
13 - Druid of the Anima
14 - Akrasan Squire
15 - Mosstodon
16 - Magma Spray
17 - Naya Battlemage
18 - Savage Lands
19 - Seaside Citadel
20 - Naya Panorama

Olivier:

1 - Naya Charm
2 - Oblivion Ring
3 - Branching Bolt
4 - Wild Nacatl
5 - Drumhunter
6 - Bull Cerodon
7 - Rhox Charger
8 - Jungle Shrine
9 - Soul’s Fire
10 - Woolly Thoctar
11 - Resounding Thunder
12 - Knight of the Skyward Eye
13 - Akrasan Squire
14 - Magma Spray
15 - Savage Lands
16 - Seaside Citadel
17 - Topan Ascetic
18 - Naya Panorama
19 - Naya Battlemage
20 - Mosstodon

Oli: These rankings are so different this time than it's hard to know what to start with! First, what do you think a Naya deck should be?
Manu: Well, my average Naya deck is a G/W/r semi-aggressive deck.
Oli: For me, you can have very different styles of decks. Either you play W/G super-aggro splashing Red (which is why I rank Wild Nacatl so highly), or G/w/r fatties.
Manu: The W/G super-aggro splashing Red deck is what I’d count as the exalted White archetype, which we are going to discuss later. When I draft, the G/w/r fatty archetype doesn’t happen as often as the G/W/r semi-aggressive build.
Oli: In both cases, I don't think there is any card I want to pick over Naya Charm. The card has won me countless games, and it's one card I regularly lose to.
Manu: Well, I think this debate is very similar to our Tower Gargoyle from the previous article… maybe I should just pick these cards higher. But I always dislike the color commitment.
Oli: We're talking about an early game removal spell which, when you can't (or don't want to) play it in the early game, changes into a Fireball in the late game. You can always form a game plan when you have it, and if you have either Sigil Blessing or Soul's Fire alongside it, you'll win almost any 10-turn game (or greater) in one shot
Manu: Yes, but it is a very clunky early-game removal spell. Oblivion Ring and Branching Bolt are much easier to cast.
Oli: If it was only a removal spell, it would probably barely make it to the top 20.
Manu: It’s possible that I slightly underrate the three-color cards. Branching Bolt has an "I win the game" mode as well, but it is much easier to cast, and its I Win application can be used much earlier in the game.
Oli: About underrating (or is it about overrating ?)… we need to talk about Soul's Fire. Because at least one of us is mistaking its use pretty badly
Manu: Well, Soul's Fire is ALWAYS a blow out. But Unsummon is a common you always sideboard in when you see a Soul's Fire, and I just don’t want to run into the one Blue mana. I mean, it usually ends up in my deck if I get it, but I don’t feel like the card is that good, as it is a little too fragile for my taste.
Oli: Seriously, how many times, facing Naya, did you think "okay, now I win if he doesn't have Soul's Fire and doesn't draw it in the next two turns"…? I know the card is not good as a removal spell alone. I just like cards such as Soul's Fire, Naya Charm, or Sigil Blessing… cards that give you a game plan. But if you have bad draws, Soul's Fire is definitely not the card you're counting on, agreed.
Manu: How many times, playing Naya, do you think "okay, now I win the game if he doesn't have an Unsummon, Path to Exile, or Drag Down"…?
Oli: When you almost have the game, your opponent is usually running out of removal spells anyway, and nothing scares me as much as a good old Soul's Fire. Except maybe for Naya Charm.
Manu: Next time I draft Naya, I’ll try to pick Soul's Fire earlier. The first three times I played the card, it didn’t work out at all.
Oli:Thanks, by the way. That’s one important message for all the people reading this column: testing cards is not only a Constructed matter. In Limited, you must also question yourself on how high you pick the cards and why your decks work or don't work. Discussing with other people, as we're doing right now, can be very educational. About the Knight… even though you picked it a lot higher than I did, I totally understand your point.
Manu: I understand your point of Wild Nacatl as well, but I like that the Knight is an early drop supporting the five-power theme.
Oli: To me, the cards from 4th to 12th are very close, and it depends on what you already have in your deck.
Manu: I agree; the same counts for my cards numbers five through twelve.
Oli: However, Druid of the Anima… I've never been a huge fan of the card.
Manu: I have Wild Nacatl far lower than you do, because I often don’t have access to the Red mana on the first few turns. It ends up as an Isamaru most of the time, and this is where Druid of the Anima comes into play, giving me the Red mana when I need it.
Oli: It's fine, but if I have to pick a fixer, I'll always take the fetchland over it, as I can use it without a Forest and because it doesn't die to the first pinger/Blister Beetle. I think I even like Steward of Valeron more than the Druid.
Manu: This time I am on the fragile side of the card. I don’t only like the mana fixing aspect… the tempo you gain of the card is also enormous. And a pinger can be too slow if they are on the draw, as you can play your five- mana 5/3 on your 4th turn.
Oli: True! The thing is, I rarely play many big guys, as it's not my favorite Naya build, but it is really good in that archetype, and probably deserves a shot in the top 20 indeed.
Manu: But as pingers and Blister Beetles are usually pretty bad against Naya, I think we both didn’t rate magma spray that high.

[Nikola]

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

I ja sad izgubim svaku zhelju chitanja ne samo ovog, vec i svakog buduceg njihovog clanka...

[Chuck Norris]

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

I ja sad izgubim svaku zhelju chitanja ne samo ovog, vec i svakog buduceg njihovog clanka...

Ne razumes fiki, manu je mickov ucenik

[Micko]

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

I ja sad izgubim svaku zhelju chitanja ne samo ovog, vec i svakog buduceg njihovog clanka...

Ne razumes fiki, manu je mickov ucenik

Mali Manu ..... secam se kada sam mu objasnjavao razliku izmedju interrupt-a i mana source-a :D

[Galovic]

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

I ja sad izgubim svaku zhelju chitanja ne samo ovog, vec i svakog buduceg njihovog clanka...

a sto?

[Micko]

manu nekako razmišlja kao mićko (tako bar meni deluje.. mićko)
meni je ruelov pogled nekako bliži....

I ja sad izgubim svaku zhelju chitanja ne samo ovog, vec i svakog buduceg njihovog clanka...

a sto?

Gax, Fiki je osnivac "Micko nema pojma" kluba

[Galovic]

aaaaa pa vidi .... nije u pravu.... mićko nema pojma... bože mili.....