Dime a Dozen #20: Hindsight is 20/20

It feels really good to be writing the 20th installment of Dime a Dozen! This is the first Pauper column on the site to turn 20, and I’m hoping to one day eclipse that milestone (if we can even call it that). If you’ve been following the column since it began, or even if you’re a new reader, I want to express my gratitude for your support! Please continue to leave comments and promote the content.

So why celebrate 20 episodes of Dime a Dozen? 20 is a signature number for the game, since in most formats each player starts out with 20 life points. On top of that, why not celebrate 20 episodes? I’m not one to pass up an excuse to pat myself (and all of you great readers) on the back, so today will be spent reflecting on some of the good (and not so good) aspects of this column while trying to figure out where to go from here. Let’s go!

Set Reviews

The very first article I wrote for MTGO Academy was a set review for Magic 2013. I feel like set reviews in general represent a very exciting time for Magic players, full of possibilities and new variables. For Pauper, the possibilities are not as abundant as in other formats, but it’s usually not too hard to identify which cards will work out best as format role-players. For instance, I pinned down Archaeomancer and Electrickery as the best Pauper cards from their respective sets early on, and that has pretty much been proven in time (though a case for Ethereal Armor over Electrickery could be made). Cloudfin Raptor (my pick for the best Gatecrash Pauper card), however, has yet to really prove itself. Do I think this will change? Hell yes I do!

I feel like set reviews naturally equate to good content. They give me the opportunity (excuse?) to brew new decks and make adjustments to preexisting ones, and they allow us to discuss and speculate on upcoming cards. Set reviews also help us anticipate metagame transitions and point out cards that might otherwise go unnoticed or underappreciated.

How do you feel about the set reviews on this column? What do you like or dislike about them, and should I keep writing them? Who am I kidding?! I’ll probably keep writing them regardless. They’re fun!

Daily Event Videos

This is the style of content that will probably appear least often in the future. Perhaps I should clarify: pure video content by itself will likely not show up too much, simply because an added written component can be very beneficial (especially for those who don’t have the time or capability required to watch videos in their entirety). My most successful decks in this format have (unsurprisingly) been the “Bird Keepers” White Weenie variants, which I’ve piloted over numerous episodes (including this one covering various White Weenie innovations).

I have attempted to merge written content with gameplay videos to varying degrees of success. Finding the right balance is something I’ve rarely been able to pull off, but I think the variety and added depth can certainly make for an effective Pauper article. Having information that can be revisited and easily scrolled down to (as opposed to the clicking and fast-forwarding required for videos) can come in handy.

Of all the Daily Events I’ve recorded for the site, my favorite one is probably from this article. I say this because it was the first time I cashed with a control deck, and the first time I went 4-0 in a Pauper event! The 4th round in particular was pretty wild, since my opponent was someone I really wanted to beat, the matchup was considerably sketchy, and in the final game I mulliganed to five cards, keeping a no-lander!

In general, Daily Events are fun to participate in, and since something is actually on the line for the players involved, they really test my abilities and the strength of my decks. While Daily Event videos won’t be completely phased out from future articles, the “video only”-style of presentation will become much more rare.

Teachings a Lesson

I’d like to take a brief detour and revisit a deck that was built by MTGO Academy’s own JustSin. Let’s take a look at his list, shall we?

Teachings Control by JustSin

Creatures (16) 1 Archaeomancer 4 Mulldrifter 3 Ninja of the Deep Hours 4 Ravenous Rats 4 Sea Gate Oracle Other spells (20) 2 Agony Warp 3 Counterspell 2 Diabolic Edict 3 Disfigure 2 Dispel 2 Doom Blade 1 Echoing Decay 1 Ghostly Flicker 1 Grim Harvest 3 Mystical Teachings Lands (24) 1 Bojuka Bog 3 Dimir Aqueduct 4 Evolving Wilds 9 Island 7 Swamp Sideboard (15) 2 Diabolic Edict 4 Duress 3 Hydroblast 2 Innocent Blood 2 Negate 2 Steel Sabotage

Buy this Deck

So I’m not going to talk in-depth about how the deck works, because JustSin did quite a bit of that already in this article. I do need to state, however, that I made one minor adjustment to the land base, since I don’t own the requisite Karoo lands. The change I made went something like this:

-3 Dimir Aqueduct
+3 Dimir Guildgate

It’s never really wise to change a deck’s composition before trying it out for yourself. I may sound hypocritical here, but I would recommend playing his initial list as-is. In other words, do as I say, not as I do!

I decided to try this deck out because I wanted to take another shot at playing control. After just a few matches, I realized how smoothly the deck plays as a control deck, and was pleasantly surprised by how well thought-out each component actually is. What I love most about the list is that it’s dripping with card advantage. There’s potential here to go over the top of small creature decks with a superior late game, and “get there” in long attrition battles.

Ninja of the Deep Hours plays a unique role, since against beatdown it tempts them to leave something back on defense rather than committing all of its resources to pressuring us. Not only does the Ninja draw cards when it connects, it also lets us replay our bounced attacker to draw even more cards.

If you’re a fan of control decks, I think this list is a good place to start. I’ve had quite a bit of fun playing it thus far, and have been impressed with my results. Please let me know if you’d like to see some videos of this deck in the future, including a more thorough breakdown of its components and some suggested tweaks.

Well, that’s enough distraction for now. Let’s get back on track!

Theoretical Focus

There’ve only really been one or two articles in which I’ve focused solely on Magic theory. In this article, I took a crack at discussing a considerably deep concept, and I’m still not exactly sure how successful I was in doing so. There is definitely a chance that I’ll produce similar articles in the future, because I feel like a solid, time-testable theory article is pretty challenging to pull off.

While rummaging through some of the older Pauper content on MTGO Academy, I made an interesting discovery: another Pauper writer had already tackled the concept of the Fundamental Turn! A rather interesting theory writer named souljah632 came out with this piece in October of 2011. It’s quite an effective read, and holds up pretty well. In terms of approach and ambition, I truly feel like souljah632 can be considered my predecessor on the site (despite the fact that I was oblivious to his existence for quite some time). It’s a shame that he was only around for a short period.

Your input on theory-centric articles would be greatly appreciated, since I have little insight as to how much they actually benefit the average reader. If anything, these will show up once in a blue moon, since they really require a topic that I not only can explain, but also am passionate about.

Deck Analysis

Deck analysis is something that appears in a lot of Magic content, Pauper or otherwise. Not too long ago I dedicated an entire article to exploring the Elves aggro-combo strategy in Pauper. While this feature was written only, I had quite a good time putting it together. For future articles dedicated to analyzing a single deck, I can definitely see the merit of incorporating video coverage alongside the written material. The trick is choosing a deck that will be somewhat intriguing to most readers. Actually, I think that segues nicely into our next order of business!

…Wait a second. Before we can get around to enjoying the rest of this article, there is something I have to address.

Jason contra Mikey K

It’s time that Mikey K be called out. I almost don’t want to devote a portion of my 20th MTGO Academy article to mentioning this issue, but the fact that he continually brings up my name publicly merits a response. Not to give too much away, but I doubt this is going to be the only platform from which I’ll be addressing this issue. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Some of you might be wondering who Mikey K is, so I’ll summarize briefly: he is a disgruntled Pauper video maker, and co-host of Pauper to the People, a podcast that I’ve actively supported and stayed plugged into. In a recent episode, he went out of his way to bring up an article I wrote, and had this to say about it:

“Jason Moore’s new article on MTGO Academy…he’s talking about White Weenie again…he just won’t let it die.” (1:08:57)

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. If you don’t happen to like what I write about, cool. My disagreement with Mikey K has almost nothing to do with his opinion of White Weenie, because what I try to provide for the Pauper community is something bigger than any one deck or topic. Besides, continued attention to one deck in particular provides the opportunity to familiarize my audience with the deck more adequately than with a single Daily Event. It also shows how the deck evolves over the course of the metagame.

As an aside, I do question Mikey’s definition of a “dead” deck, or at least his subsumption of White Weenie under that category, since varied and sub-optimal builds of White Weenie still cash Dailies, and similarly performing decks such as Elves, Hexproof, MBC, and various rogues would (according to his criteria) also be “dead” by comparison. In this sense, Mikey is inconsistent regarding his stance on decks in the metagame. But let’s gloss over that.

What really upsets me is that around the same time Mikey K made this remark, he and I were chatting on Skype IM like regular peers. I was going out of my way to contact him and establish a rapport, and he never once brought up the fact that he took issue with my writing subjects, nor did he mention that he publicly criticized it on his show. Even when the subject of that exact article came up in our conversation, he wouldn’t tell me directly what he had said. I ended up finding out by hearing the show just like anyone else would. The reason this is a problem is because the Magic community ought to hold itself to higher standards of criticism. Pillars of the community, especially in sub-communities such as Pauper, should make every effort to communicate with one another with integrity.

What’s worse is that in a later episode Mikey K implored members of his show’s message board to be more active and participatory, and in the same breath said this:

“I saw somebody brought up the White Weenie primer again, was that necessary…you couldn’t let the deck die?” (43:40)

If Mikey K is wondering why people aren’t posting on his forum, it might have something to do with the fact that he calls them out in front of his other listeners for having a genuine interest in something Pauper-related. Here’s a pro tip: don’t do that. Forums are supposed to be places for open discussion, and members should feel comfortable talking about whatever they like as long as it isn’t off-topic, hateful, or offensive. While I won’t cite particulars here, I believe Mikey K has also been hostile in his replies to other members of his own forums.

Now let’s examine some more things Mikey has said about me on his show:

“He’s literally begging people now to not let the deck die, that’s his problem. And I’ve told Jason that!” (ibid.)

First of all, there’s a big difference between sharing my enthusiasm about the game by encouraging readers and “literally begging” them. Secondly, he has not once told me any of this directly. Ever! I have the text conversation history on Skype to prove it. What’s more, it’s laughable for me to even picture him saying to my (webcam?) face that he thinks I beg my supporters or that I have a “problem.” I’m going to say this as plainly as I can so that everyone gets it: Mikey K has never expressed any criticism towards me when we’ve spoken directly. He only seems to get fresh when my back is turned. Why? I don’t know.

Here’s one more quote for the road:

“The [White Weenie] deck should die…I bet halfway through when Gabochido was writing the primer he was like ‘damn this deck sucks’…we love you Gab.” (ibid.)

For any readers who don’t know, Gabochido is a former co- host of the Pauper podcast that I now helm on my own. Because the primer Mikey’s referring to is a year old, it’s pretty clear that he’s been a hater of White Weenie for quite some time. At this point Mikey sounds like a broken record. Say whatever you want about a deck, but don’t include myself or Gabochido in your discussions just because we’ve promoted said deck in the past.

Now, as the editor of a podcast myself, it sounds to me like portions of the above discussion were cut out at this point. I wonder what else Mikey may have said that didn’t make the final cut. Perhaps nothing; it’s hard to speculate. But as far as what wasn’t removed, Mikey has implied that a year ago, Gabochido would’ve taken his (i.e., Mikey’s) viewpoint over mine, when I’m fairly certain that he wouldn’t side with Mikey over me in just about any scenario that could be drawn up. Of course, there’s no reason to involve Gabochido in any of this.

I’ll be sending Mikey K the link to this article so that he knows up front what I publicly have to say about him. That’s more courtesy than he’s given me, but it’s also how someone genuine should behave toward one of their peers when they’re being publicly criticized.

…And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Arena

The Arena has a lot of potential. I’m quite a fan of the concept, and I think that it will provide some very beneficial information for fans of Pauper. Standard matchup breakdowns are often showcased on sites like ChannelFireball and StarCityGames, but a devoted Pauper iteration seems like just what the doctor ordered.

This is the series for Pauper players to get involved with and develop. Have a matchup that confuses or frustrates you? Want to know how well positioned a certain deck is in the metagame? Leave a comment and request a matchup! I created The Arena for you guys! If enough people want to see something, or if someone makes a convincing enough argument, the matchup you request will be featured.

What I’m ideally trying to achieve here is the pinnacle of written-plus-video content for Pauper strategy. With The Arena you’re getting pre-game analysis, post-game analysis, decklists, sideboarding, comprehensive gameplay and actual results. I think it’s a very exciting prospect. Please let me know if you agree or disagree.

If you’d like to check out the first episode of The Arena, simply click here.

End Step

If I haven’t said it enough already, I’d like to make sure you all know how awesome you’ve been in supporting Dime a Dozen through these first 20 installments. The positive and informative comments have been thorough, meaningful, and generally superb. You probably know by now that I love comments, so please leave some below! Where do you want Dime a Dozen to go from here? What do you think are the best and worst things about the series? What do you want me to cover? You know, all the usual stuff. Until next time (and as always), thanks for reading, and please comment!

You can find Jason
hosting the Pauper’s Cage podcast
on MTGO as BambooRush
on Twitter @dimecollectorsc
and on Youtube at youtube.com/dimecollectorsc