Today we are going to drop some decklists and discussion about what Kaladesh has done to Magic Duels. I know you netdeckers out there want some great builds to ladder with, and that Deck Wizard can only do so much. I am not going to drop records on you, because they are misleading. Only games against other strong players with unlocked collections and Black Lotus sleeves actually help you determine...
Yes, for sure, we all want to bust out and play with the new cards, and who can blame us? There are some great cards in this set, and I am far more excited about these cards than I was about more Eldrazi with names that are not Emrakul. So yes, starting sometime tonight for East Coast USA types like me, I will be trying to spike it up with...
Aggro has been getting its teeth kicked in for a format or two on Duels. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t unplayable as the Steam Showdown’s recent results show, and it will crush decks that become too slow by focusing on midrange and control matchups too much. In general though, running your grizzly bears into planeswalkers and sweepers has been a recipe for a pain sandwich. There are signs that...
For my last article, I talked about the EMN decks that I still play with when I am feeling like a spikey spike. Today I want to talk about the cards for Kaladesh that I am considering for these decks. If you missed the first post, check it out!https://www.hauntedflower.com/blogs/duels-diaries/the-emn-swan-song-final-lists-for-the-decks-i-play-mostFirst deck on the list, and likely still at the top of everyone’s hit list, Superfriends.https://www.magicduelshelper.com/decklist/details/9ceffa45-6837-4e35-a43d-d98cdaddad68One of the good things, or bad...
Can you feel it? The excitement that surrounds a new Magic set is contagious. Whether watching Twitch or Youtube, whether reading articles or blogs, nothing brings people back to the game like new stories, mechanics, and of course, NEW CARDS! Magically, those who can’t make time for writing suddenly find a way ;)As we wind down the Eldritch Moon season, I want to say a few words about the meta...
Just a quick post to try to give some closure to any readers who desire it. The blog is taking a vacation due to a change in the overall focus of my life. I am trying to get an exciting and time-devouring business venture off the ground, the time has to come from somewhere and the blog is a prime target. While I have been fortunate and able to give...
Let’s try this again, Man, life is so much different than a year ago. I don’t want to turn this into a crybaby post, but I also want to get out there what is keeping me on the rails, I feel like some of my readers want to know. Anyone who has tried to follow my Twitch stream knows that it crashes. About 33% of the time the stream will...
One Deck at a Time - Dimir Zombie Control Watch me play this deck at - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTuIWeoSoR0 If you watched my EMN release party you know I dislike playing zombies. I find the tribe completely underwhelming and weak compared to what current Duels is doing. If you want to command the armies of the dead, play Deadwalkers in 2014 (which you can still do on iOS I recently learned). I recently...
I have found it daunting to attempt to write about the meta, the state of Duels, the outcomes and results of tournaments and similar subjects. I often don’t know where to begin, and when I attempt to write I hate my work and end up deleting it. So today, a different approach. I am going to attempt to write about just one deck. The deck I have been playing the...
Hi! First, I haven’t quit Magic or Duels, and I don’t hate everyone from NGA. I have quite the distaste for some people, but I didn’t disappear out of rage. I’ll tell a brief version of what the hell happened to me, but first I want to say that I am planning an Eldritch Moon release stream tonight and I hope you, all of my awesome readers, will come join...
Hello Duelers, At the moment I write this, round two is about half done between Steam and XB1. It has been fun, and I’ve enjoyed watching and breaking down the games. Sadly, I have to step far away from my computer for a while, and the coverage for the next few weeks will not be nearly as in depth, but I still plan to check in from time to time...
The Steam Showdown 2.0 and XB1 Fight Club are deep into round one (fight!), and there are only a few outstanding matches. It is as good a time as any to start checking out the results and trying to figure out this nutty meta. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13d1hv_OhT2jl9L65-h7VyqPbN4Qa1RNXj4ZWBU6Ywag/edit?usp=sharing The major archetypes are all in a deadlock near the 50% win/loss ratio. Abzan, Superfriends, Esper and Bant, Tutelage, White Aggro and Ramp all hover...
The new meta starts now. Anyone can share what they ran into on ladder, and that itself is dictated by many things. Did that player run Fevered Visions/Tutelage because they just wanted a laugh? Is four color walkers a deck you play for fun or a deck you grind to 40 with? Are your opponents trying to win or just playing cards they like? The question takes a different context...
It needs to be a fast one today, maybe I’ll do a longer post tomorrow depending on how much I get done. Any married guy knows when the in-laws come to town unexpectedly, your plans for the day no longer matter. A glimpse into my Magic Dojo. I get up on Monday morning and head to the computer. I don’t check email, or sales for my company, or anything else....
Your Tournament Primer- Magic Duels tournament season is upon us! In the coming weeks there will be tournaments for all three of the Magic Duels platforms. XB1 - http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=14505&sid=7affcab92f8631769220a2c551ce2bc9 Steam - http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=14448&sid=7affcab92f8631769220a2c551ce2bc9 iOS - http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=14093&sid=7affcab92f8631769220a2c551ce2bc9 For a spiky try-hard like me, there is nothing that gets my blood pumping like a good tournament. It lets me put all these hours of trying to make great decks to good use. But...
To be honest, I don’t feel like I have a handle on this format. The last format was pretty clear pretty quickly, I knew I had to get the right build of RG Ramp. Red Aggro had several builds, each only marginally different and not clearly better than the others. I did find some of the oddities of the format as well, namely Jund Crats, rather quickly, and from there...
This part is tough. Nothing puts a sour taste in a player’s mouth more than changes that seem completely unnecessary and make the game harder to play. When the Shadows update dropped, one of the first things that I noticed about the gameplay was that priority no longer holds for instant-speed effects. My first game on my Twitch stream was likely lost due to being unable to cast Mage-Ring Bully...
YES! We got the new cards, which is all I could ever ask for, and we got them on the big day in question. Hallelujah! OK, deep breath, where to start? I have so many things to write about I have to break them into multiple posts, and this post will probably still run long. That’s what happens when you give me new cards to play with! I both love...
Just a quick post to let you know what I have been up to - I have been playing Magic Duels! I have almost forty hours of streaming in this week, my voice is almost gone, my eyes are twitching, I am rarely happier. I'll be getting down with the blogging again on Sunday and Monday at the latest, but if you want to see me fumble through my first...
If you would like to check out my Twitch interview with Hakeem, here are some links - https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/v/58943309 https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/v/58943431 <3 CGB The End Credits - Bookmark - http://www.hauntedflower.com/blogs/duels-diaries Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/profile Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/danno029 Twitter - https://twitter.com/danno029 Magic Duels Wiki - magicduels.wikia.com About Duels Diaries - http://tinyurl.com/jdxz5x6 Competitive Results Tracking Spreadsheet - http://tinyurl.com/hxegre5 CGB’s Deckbox - http://tinyurl.com/zr8ke6w
Hang on guys, this is my last rambling blog post about Shadows and Oath without having played Shadows and Oath. Sometime in the late afternoon or early evening, we are scheduled to get a long overdue Duels update with new cards, a new look, hopefully some new music, and a whole new meta. This little post will discuss some of the big questions I will try to answer about the...
PeepySqueeps aka TibaltTown95 and I got together last night and ran a marathon of sorts - we reviewed every single card from the upcoming Duels expansion on Twitch. Interested? Oath of the Gatewatch - https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/v/58785416 Shadows Over Innistrad - https://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/v/58785288 <3 CGB The End Credits - Bookmark - http://www.hauntedflower.com/blogs/duels-diaries Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/covertgoblue/profile Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/danno029 Twitter - https://twitter.com/danno029 Magic Duels Wiki - magicduels.wikia.com About Duels Diaries - http://tinyurl.com/jdxz5x6 Competitive Results Tracking Spreadsheet -...
Should I talk about this? Will I really talk about this? Yeah, I am going to... I have plenty of love for No Goblins Allowed. It introduced me to a great community, and it remains a hub of that community. My blog started as a weekly post on their site, and thankfully nobody marked it as spam. Lately there has been a lot of debate over there about the decklist...
I was on a flight from Orlando to Detroit, and when I switch my iPad to Airplane Mode it happened, and I still don’t know how. When I entered my deckbuilder I had the option to increase the number of any non-Starter Box card to 6 copies. Not 4, six! I wonder how/why that is built in. Regardless, I am a Magic purist at heart and I stuck to four...
Its for real! First posted on Magic Duels Facebook - HERE
You’ll have to forgive me if today’s post doesn’t get particularly in depth. You see, I have a lot going on. It is a huge week for Duels, with two new expansions set to hit on Wednesday. My super awesome plan is to get all my work done today, Monday, and tomorrow so that I can do nothing but battle and brew, tune and test when the update drops. It...
This first thing I feel like I need to tell you is that Mobius is a hugger. Really. Our encounter starts in a movie theater, to be more specific it is the AMC IMAX located at the entrance to the Universal City Walk, a variety of tightly packed food and clothing stores located outside the entrance to Universal Studios, Orlando Florida. My wife and I have just finished watching Batman...
“Meet the old boss, same as the old boss” - The Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or will they? Will our beloved Magic Duels and the meta of that game fall into such cliches? Wizards is removing Acid-Moss from the Duels platform, thus taking some of the frustration and sting out of the Ramp decks. That is a good...
Sorry about last week. I honestly had the entire post ready, and it was scheduled to go up on Monday morning. When I checked on it on Wednesday, I was disappointed to see I posted it in the Haunted Flower News Blog, not in the Duels Diaries blog. There is literally nothing in the News blog. So I moved it over, by the time I did much of the information...
Call it Magic March Madness... Today’s Duels Diaries will focus on the results of the ongoing tournaments on iOS, XB1 and Steam. The iOS tourney has its first finalist, the finals for the XB1 Double Elim event are set, and the Steam Showdown is entering the final swiss round to determine the top eight. There is plenty to talk about and I am on a time crunch! As I write...
Today I continue the early-bird Duels testing with paper Magic cards, and the decks I picked out today are Green Wastes and Izzet Eldrazi. Let’s jump right in - Green Wastes 3 x Jaddi Offshoot 4 x Elvish Visionary 4 x Pulse of Murasa 4 x Natural Connection 1 x Titan's Presence 1 x Nissa, Vastwood Seer 2 x Thought-Knot Seer 4 x Explosive Vegetation 2 x From Beyond 2...
This might be the final deckbox entry before our game gets a makeover. I am spending next week in Florida, and hopefully around the time I come back we will get a massive update. Even if we don’t, I will likely spend some time on paper Magic as Shadows Over Innistrad drops. So where has all the battling and playtesting led us? Gruul Ramp - 3 x Jaddi Offshoot 3...
So I wanted to create a visual spoiler, in the spirit of Mythic Spoiler, that included all the cards from the April Oath and Shadows update that have been confirmed to be in Magic Duels. By confirmed, I mean they have been seen in Duels gameplay screenshots or videos, or a Wizards employee has stated they will be in the game. Just like with Battle for Zendikar, and Bring to...
More Shadows Over Innistrad cards are being spoiled every single day, and as the set begins to take shape we can start making guesses at what we will see in Duels. Now we all know that the rarity restrictions keep epic Mythic cards from having a huge effect on the game (unless of course they come with tutors like From Beyond), and we know that the real action for Duels...
This is where I share links to my favorite Duels videos from this week. https://youtu.be/SWBRpbNNrQs Abzan Ramp vs Temur Midrange While game one is flood city, game two is interesting and teaches the lesson that every point counts. As you watch game two, try to see how many points of damage Nighthawk could have gained by playing more aggressively. https://youtu.be/DwRXvAI8mmg Sultai Control vs Orzhov Control Control mages will like watching...
Play lots of Green this week, because it is an awesome color, and because you don’t want to get pinched! Happy St. Paddy’s Day, early, right on time or belated depending when you read this. Everyone go out and have a good time. Me, I think I will spend the evening having a Green-themed St. Paddy’s Twitch stream. The world of Duels has been rocked recently. Clearly the big news...
With all the meta shake-up approaching in April, I find it helpful to get a head start and try out some of the cards that I am confident will be in the Oath of the Gatewatch set when it finally releases in April. Today I used my paper card collection to build Thopters and Ramp, adding popular and probable Oath cards to each, and I played five games with them,...
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Jagged-Scar Archers, Perilous Myr and Foundry Street Denizen get the BAN HAMMER! http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/magic-duels-starter-box-changes-2016-03-11 As these cards are part of the starter box, we didn’t actually pay any earned gold for them, so Wizards can make swaps here without any argument from us - we didn’t earn these cards, they were gifts for downloading the game. I am personally very excited to see...
I get messages on NGA and emails all the time to ask me questions, share decklists or just banter about Duels. You've all been warned, if I feel like it I will post them on my blog! -Start Message- Mowie666 - Hi Covert,I've watched/commented on some of your youtube stuff. Just a question, I watched a lot of your Crats footage yesterday (didn't get through the whole 6 hours though...
As the releases of both the Oath of the Gatewatch and Shadows over Innistrad expansions creeps ever closer, day by day, minute by minute, second by second, one can only speculate what new toys Wizards will see fit to bestow upon us. With no certain certainties, I can still fill a few pages and a lunch break with some speculation about what I would do with some fancy new Shadows...
I keep my deck box pretty lean, I hate to have over ten decks at any one time. It reminds me to work with and on what I feel is the best. CGB’s deck box is for the readers and viewers who want decklists, decklists and more decklists. Keep in mind that I change cards often, and I’ll try to update this series once a week. Izzet Prowess A viewer...
Today I want to discuss some of the cards that have been “confirmed” in the Oath of the Gatewatch Duels expansion and what effect they could have on our relatively stale-at-the-moment Ramp meta. In particular, do any of these cards solve the Moss problem and help us knock Gruul and Blue Ramp off their pedestal? Confirmed has air-quotes because, as we learned in B4Z with Bring to Light, just because...
Hello Duelers, I watch a ton of Duels content on Twitch and YouTube. This hasn’t always been easy. As recently as last September I had a horrible time finding Duels content to watch. I would search YouTube for new videos every single day, and it would be like Christmas if Legenvd or Hakeem928 graced us with a new decklist and a fun video. Today the Duels content world is getting...
Hello Duelers, While I haven’t been able to follow the XB1 double elimination tourney or the Steam Showdown as closely as I would like, I have been having a good time compiling the stats from the events, and I have been shocked by some of the results! The iOS event has completed the dark rounds, and now decklists are public. Each deck had to play twenty-one games of round robin,...
Hello Duelers, It’s CGB, and I’m back with more Magic Duels commentary, strategy and deck dissection for your entertainment. Today we will cover some notable matches from the Steam Showdown, the XB1 Double Elimination, we’ll dump some stats on you from the tournaments, and I’ll spout off about some new control lists I’ve been brewing up. There’s only so many words I can physically type in a day, so let's...
The End of the Hakumite, the start of the Showdown. Lots of spoilers to come, so if you haven’t watched spoiler-free and want to go to these links and do it now! Don’t scroll, don’t read another word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-387TS8w-Ko - Hakeem vs CGB http://www.twitch.tv/tibalttown95/v/48385119 - Peepy vs Barney http://www.twitch.tv/hakeem928/v/48416030 - Finals Ready? Let’s go, I want to be able to tell you that I am the Hakumite champion. Magic is...
Hello Duelers, I should start with some insight into my own life, and the reason is that I want to assure all my readers/viewers that I am not going anywhere or disappearing. You see, for the last week I received a lot of messages through a lot of places (Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, gMail) from a lot of people who feared I was dead or something. I’m not! There are a...
Hello Duelers, Right after I said Diaries would post on Mondays, I am posting on a Sunday again because I’ll be very busy for the next few days. This will also be a pretty abbreviated post, without as many insights. More a vomiting of information. As I have been doing for the past month or so, I’ll kick it off with coverage of the Hakumite, and I’ll kick off the...