Zendikar Rising Sunset Post

 

As we enter the spoiler season for the next Magic the Gathering set, Kaldheim, which is due out at the end of the month, its time to set aside Zendikar Rising and start hordeing gold and gems. 

Zendikar Rising (aka ZNR) was by far my most drafted format, with 51 total drafts compared to 24 for Ikoria. Part of that is due to a slightly better win rate and a much better trophy rate, and part of it is that I really enjoyed the tribal / party decks a lot and had a lot of fun trying to put them together.

This is also the first set I dipped my toe into Best of Three and while my success rate there was not so hot, I find I enjoyed the games there more as the variance monster's effect is lessened by the multiple chances to face an opponent. 

My slight improvement in wins and trophies I think can be acreditted to finally starting to see the signals in the draft and read the table better than I used to. I still can sometimes tunnel vision into a colour pair but I think overall I'm getting better at paying attention and finding my lane for my seat. The next step is to actually trying to evaluate the cards and keep the valuations in mind as I draft.

Courtesy of 17lands.com, my most drafted cards are: 

Grotag Bug Catcher? Makes sense, I loved red/X party decks in this format. Utility Knife? I didn't want it a lot, probably just left over a lot in packs.

Uncommons:

Types!!!!!

And rares:

My favourite deck archetype? I did like the BW Clerics and UB Rogues, but my favourite by far was RW warriors with Kor Blademaster, Grotag Bug Catcher, Goma Fada Vanguard, and friends. Four of my eight trophies were that deck.

With that we bid ZNR adieu, and look forward to shenanigans with Vikings next month!

I Am Not Dead

 Last post was Sept 4, wow. Time has flew. I thought that being back in the office would give me more time to blog but honestly I've been working extra hard lately on some new projects with new teams and finding the 20 minutes to write something down has been difficult.

But I've decided to ressurect the blog and try to get content out again. 

Gaming? I've been gaming for sure. Still doing the Magic the Gathering thing online with Arena, drafting as much as I can and the latest release Zendikar Rising is a blast, lots of different archetypes and directions to go, I'll have a post on my results in the last three formats coming up soon.

I've also been dipping my toe back into Heroes of the Storm as just a way to pass some time. Its a fun diversion and it makes me wonder about trying something with a larger playerbase like League of Legends, but as long as I'm having fun in HoS I don't see the point of learning a new game.

For a few weeks in September I was playing Into the Breach that I got in the Epic store for free. This is a smaller game like FTL where you go as far as you can with a team of mechs you upgrade as you fight the bug aliens, and then restart when you die with one mech pilot only. Its a lot of fun for a small game, highly reccommend it.

Like everyone else in the world I tried Among Us. Its ok just playing by yourself with random strangers, but the game is awesome with people you know. Going to be playing it tomorrow at lunch with friends. Its like Battlestar Galactica Lite with the cooperation and the traitor mechanic.

Until next time... watch out for the vents....