The Duel Color Crisis
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Aug. 25, 2014, 12:50 a.m. by Oww99
Hey guys, my name is Oww99, and this is a speculation/rant I feel like I need to send out into the internets at 10 o'clock for some odd reason. So as we all know Magic is in an akward wait period right now. The new core set has come out and we're all enjoy our foil Ensoul Artifact s and we're anxiously awaiting for Khans of Tarkir to come out. Now, I know that core sets are supposed to draw in new players, get old ones back in, and to establish a base for the meta game to evolve around. I understand thay there are not supposed to be many duel colored cards and such as this is just a basis (I was personally destroyed by there not being one Gruul card), but here is what Im fearful of. If you get new players used to putting these mixed matched puzzle peices together into a multi-colored deck or used to picking a single color, then how will they react to being thrown into the wedges. I personally have very little experiance beyond running two-colors, and this is intimidating for me. I have a love for magic, but for a new player all the new possibilites with 40 promos, and a focus on wedges, and all thouse sorts of things could really damage the turnout for Khans of Tarkir. I am worried for how duel color decks will run, and if they'll be viable with the coming of Khans. So here is the questions I have for all of you.
What do you feel will be the future of duel color deck's with Khan's focus on wedges?
How do you feel new players will react to being thrown into this more complex meta-game?
How will you try to cope with using a tri-colored deck to keep up with the meta-game if you are not used to it, like me?
Where should threads like this actually go? At first I felt speculation was correct, now Im not 100% sure.
I apologise if this is in the wrong place, and please don't hate for my limited knowledge on some things. Lastly, excuse my spelling, im on mobile. :3
GreatSword says... #3
The flavor of Standard is designed to change year-to-year. Don't be intimidated by the fact that you might have to run one more color; embrace it. Think about the cool stuff you could add to your Gruul. The mana system in Magic is designed so that the more colors you have access to, the more powerful your spells can be. That's why gold cards are often best in the set.
Don't hang on to the past of Standard; you legally can't anyway. Everyone plays with the same card pool. Everyone can learn at the same pace.
August 25, 2014 1:11 a.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #4
the thing about core sets is they are meant to represent the color pie as best as possible, hence the lack of multicolored cards. furthermore, the only way to get more experience is to play. run a three color deck and see what works and what doesn't. also, there is no rule saying you have to run a three color deck just because a set is based on it. there will be monocolored cards, and you can make a successful 1 or 2 color deck. the best advice I can give you is to relax. don't freak out about it and you will do fine.
August 25, 2014 2:20 a.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #5
Speaking of the prerelease (because you mentioned the prerelease cards), the wedges will be made easier to build by two things. One, the clan identity will make a player feel more confident. Sounds unimportant, but a player gravitates more towards alien colour combinations if they have a distinct flavour identity; why else do you think guilds are so popular?
Secondly, like with the last two blocks' wroth of prerelease, you'll be getting a seed pack to help play the colours you pick for your box. So perhaps even if you don't quite see why as a beginner, you are likely to make a Sealed Pool with those colours. This includes the prerelease card so you'll definitely have a rare or mythic to build around. That helps give a new player a focus to build around.
In Sealed events like these, it doesn't hurt to ask for help or advice if you are intimidated by the set or struggling over card choices. Trust your gut first, but don't be worried to ask for assistance.
JWiley129 says... #2
First, there is a distinct difference between Duel (I'LL FIGHT YOU IRL) and Dual (Two sides). But if you were on mobile I could see why one word got chosen over the other.
Secondly, being able to run 3+ colors really depends on the mana base available to us. Shocklands are great for 3-color decks, and the scrylands are really only good for 3-color control. We've already seen that there will be tri-lands in Nomad Outpost and Mystic Monastery , but they won't be indicative of the rest of the mana fixing in Khans. We'll have to wait and see how much fixing we'll actually get.
If you're worried about a 3-color meta, remember that Red Deck Wins will ALWAYS be a viable deck. And remember that at the beginning of any meta, aggro is always a good strategy. That's just my 2-cents as someone who ran Bant hexproof, junk hexproof, and Jeskai control in the last Standard with little-to-no mana issues.
August 25, 2014 12:58 a.m.