[Article] Unlocking Legacy - Lessons Learned

[aTn]

I guess the question is, do you readers want to hear about "failed experiments" or something more relevant to tournament Legacy?

I think this sums up most of it. Personally, I don't mind hearing about failed experiments if there is actually something valuable to be learned from it. I guess my ideal would be for 100% tournament relevant Legacy articles.

Hi-Val, I don't think a lot of people here debate the fact that it's nice Kevin questioned some canonical choices made in Goblins. I just find the suggestions and arguments justifying them a bit lacking; I wouldn't have had a problem if the content of the article (concerning Goblins) were a post in a forum. Testing would obviously have supplied more arguments in favor or in opposition with some of the changes suggested.

I fail to learn anything and feel that I'm reading about casual Legacy, which I guess is okay if you don't care about competitive tournaments.

Same here. I would like it better if the articles aimed at competitive players. Casual players can learn from competitively minded articles, but it doesn't seem to work the other way around.

[hi-val]

Something I'd like to return to as a writer is looking at tournament results, which are always hit articles. So expect some crunching from me in my next article (which should be in two weeks) regarding national and international events. With Worlds coming up, we'll have a lot more to talk about as well.

Theory articles are fine when there isn't a whole lot going on event-wise, but I think it's time to return to results analysis again.

[TeenieBopper]

I see nothing inherently wrong with removing Aether Vial from Goblins (Extended Goblins does OK without it)

Yeah, they banned it for a reason.

[Horror Business]

Something I'd like to return to as a writer is looking at tournament results, which are always hit articles. So expect some crunching from me in my next article (which should be in two weeks) regarding national and international events. With Worlds coming up, we'll have a lot more to talk about as well.

Theory articles are fine when there isn't a whole lot going on event-wise, but I think it's time to return to results analysis again.

The leading up to GP Columbus was the best time I had reading SCG Legacy articles. The "budget" series still contained relavent decks(TES), match up analysis, and the Goblins primer come to mind.

I actually was into Pyroclasm.dec for about 5 minutes, but when we only get one article a week, having it used on articles about throwaway decks like Tron and questionable Goblin lists I might as well get a slot on the staff to talk about the time I tried to make Fruity Pebbles work in the modern meta.

[AnwarA101]

I actually was into Pyroclasm.dec for about 5 minutes, but when we only get one article a week, having it used on articles about throwaway decks like Tron and questionable Goblin lists I might as well get a slot on the staff to talk about the time I tried to make Fruity Pebbles work in the modern meta.

Maybe we could rename the column to "Casual Legacy" then.

[Cabal-kun]

The leading up to GP Columbus was the best time I had reading SCG Legacy articles.

You mean the ones that said Hulk Flash was a fair and balanced deck and wouldn't ruin GP Flash?

[hi-val]

You mean the ones that said Hulk Flash was a fair and balanced deck and wouldn't ruin GP Flash?

[AnwarA101]

That's exactly how I feel when I see another thread about "Unlocking Legacy".

[Cabal-kun]

Extremely over used cliched term in animated image form.

Hey now, I'm just asking for some clarification.

[DeathwingZERO]

Sadly I gotta go with Anwar on this one. I can't really see any reason to read the Unlocking Legacy stuff as of late. It's cut in half of things like theory/practice that are so basic they span all boundaries of formats and are pretty much common knowledge (thus not really "unlocking" anything), or making modifications to already upper/top tier decks to either beat each other or mirror matches.

I think so far the TES and Breakfast lists were the only "new" things to have been read about in a while now, and now it's so commonplace seeing fast combo decks that even that archetype isn't worth talking about in articles. I guess the articles are kinda reflecting the N&D section, there's really no innovation going on right now that's looking to be hitting the upper tiers anytime soon, just recycling already well established ideas with (sometimes) sub-optimal or differing choices.

[Jak]

You know what would be cool to read about? Write about how the metagame has changed and do a cycle of decks that used to be good (i.e. Red Death, Truffle Shuffle, Belcher, Solidarity, different Landstill variants, etc.), and explain how they could possibly be able to compete in the metagame. I would read that.

[Illissius]

You know, I had a similar idea -- Goblins has many awesome semi-expensive cards with lots of colorless mana in the costs, why not try a Goblin Stompy deck? -- something like half a year ago. But if you're going to do that, why half-ass it? Adding a couple of Tombs and Moxen is something you could do to a traditional Goblins list while keeping the same structure and Vials (and could be worth trying). If you're going to cut Vials, I'd compensate by going all out with the Tombs, Moxen, probably Cities, maybe Songs and Guides, some (but not too many) Thorns, Chalices, Moons, and/or Jittes, and then Goblins for the other half of the deck. The biggest annoyance, I think, would be Goblin Warchief's mana cost.

[ThoseWhoFearTomorrow]

You know, I had a similar idea -- Goblins has many awesome semi-expensive cards with lots of colorless mana in the costs, why not try a Goblin Stompy deck? -- something like half a year ago. But if you're going to do that, why half-ass it? Adding a couple of Tombs and Moxen is something you could do to a traditional Goblins list while keeping the same structure and Vials (and could be worth trying). If you're going to cut Vials, I'd compensate by going all out with the Tombs, Moxen, probably Cities, maybe Songs and Guides, some (but not too many) Thorns, Chalices, Moons, and/or Jittes, and then Goblins for the other half of the deck. The biggest annoyance, I think, would be Goblin Warchief's mana cost.

I think this idea is flawed. One of the best reasons to play a Stompy deck is to abuse chalice and I wouldn't cut Vial, Lackey and Fanatic so I can set a chalice at 1.

Going all out with Goblin Stompy (using moons, chalices, jittes, moxes, etc.) wouldn't cause an annoyance with Warchief. Dragon Stompy can regularly afford Arc-Slogger and Rakdos Pit Dragon because of Mox, SSG, Seething Song, and Blood Moons. The biggest annoyance would be playing a 2/2 hasted goblin for 3R and flipping Tomb, Mox, SSG, SSG.

[Illissius]

Well yeah, but my point was that I'd rather cut Vial to get Chalice in exchange than cut it for no good reason at all.

[URABAHN]

More feedback should be sent to outpost1@starcitygames.com

I've already asked them to stop publishing articles written by Anusien. Time and time again, he doesn't test whatever he's writing about and tells us so. Unlocking Legacy has been pretty weak for quite some time.

[Happy Gilmore]

You know what would be cool to read about? Write about how the metagame has changed and do a cycle of decks that used to be good (i.e. Red Death, Truffle Shuffle, Belcher, Solidarity, different Landstill variants, etc.), and explain how they could possibly be able to compete in the metagame. I would read that.

I really really love this idea. To Hi-val, Nightmare, and Machinus: Plz consider this for the furture.

[Whit3 Ghost]

I really really love this idea. To Hi-val, Nightmare, and Machinus: Plz consider this for the furture.

I'll third this.

[APriestOfGix]

I thought this article sucked. I'm not sure why SCG doesn't openly accept submissions anymore, and continue to post dreck like this, and like half the stuff written by their 'premium' writers.

+1

I wrote a WAY better artical than this, and was told, no, we don't want free good writing, we like paying people to post the same stale stuff week after week.

Please guys, lets not write for the sake of SCG's telling you to write, write because you have something to say. If you have no insights into the format, or anything really cool, give us a tournament report where you spend half the post talking about your buddies trying to hit on girls with ketchup on their nose...

This isn't ment as a flame, but seriously, lets get some good writing going here!

[Nihil Credo]

I wrote a WAY better artical than this

Forgive me for being skeptical.

[Tacosnape]

Forgive me for being skeptical.

Seconded. I can't even get through reading that post, much less an article.

Although, and I've said this before, what makes Anusien's articles so harmful to read is that they're vaguely hypnotic. They make you think doing something to a deck is a good idea much in the same way that a king cobra convinces its prey that watching it sway for a few minutes is a good idea.