Type One Primer - introduction

[Matt The Great]

I've been working on and off at writing a Type One Primer - a sort of beginner's guide to the format - what cards, decks to expect to face, which to avoid, and so on. Here's section one, the introduction, up for review.

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Ah, Type One. Eldest and largest of formats, and also the most mysterious - many players have never seen a Mox or Ancestral Recall, or only heard of the enigmatic and prized 'Black Lotus'. This primer aims to serve as an introduction for those players otherwise completely unfamiliar with the format. To accomplish this, we will take a cursory overview of the format, looking at the cards, decks, and strategies that make up Magic's most powerful format.

A word of warning:
Many casual decks, if they had to be classified, would technically fall under the heading of "Type One" only by dint of their use of older cards. With the first Thallid you add to your deck, you cross that threshold into "Type One". However, this primer chooses to focus on competetive play - meaning, you're looking to win some tournaments.



What You Will Need To Know To Read Type One Literature

There exists a set of cards called the "Power Nine" that consists of Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, Black Lotus, and the five Moxen (Jet, Sapphire, Ruby, Pearl, and Emerald). These cards were early on recognized as some of the most powerful ever printed, were quickly restricted, and never reprinted past the Unlimited Edition. They today regularly command prices of over $100 apiece. This list is sometimes extended to the "Power Ten" by including Library of Alexandria. A subset of six cards - the Moxen and Black Lotus - are collectively referred to as 'The Jewelry'. Often in decklists you will see an entry of "7x SoLoMoxen" - this refers to Sol Ring,  Lotus, and the omnipresent five Moxen.



What Type One Is Not

Like many old people and things, Type One has garnered its share of myths and legends. Some are true; most are not. Here are the most common ones:

1. By far the most widely populated myth is that Type One is all about first-turn kills. This patently false. While Type One IS the only format where first-turn kills are worth considering, for virtually every deck they are impossible to achieve outside of Rosewater Puzzle-like situations. Even in combination ('combo') decks optimized for a turn one victory, actually pulling this feat off happens in less than five percent of all games.

2. The other widely-held belief among non-players is that Type One requires incredible amounts of money to be competetive.

This is partly true, but misleading. True, any deck is helped by the addition of the appropriate Moxen, and many decks rely on that speed burst. True, there are several older pre-The Dark cards that cost upwards of thirty dollars apiece. If you want to hang with the biggest boys around, serious cash will be required. However. For every deck for which a full set of the expensive Power cards are requisite, there exists a deck that can get by with budget replacements and still perform well.

That is not to mislead - Powered decks have and will have a definite advantage over unpowered ones. But it is important to remember that play skill and intelligent deckbuilding are far more influential in the outcome of a matchup than mere financial disparities.

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Section two will cover format-defining cards, section three the most common decks, and section four miscellaneous topics such as cards that look good but really aren't and a short guide on how to buy/sell/trade your way into competetive Type One.

Please leave your real name with any suggestions or correction you use so that I might properly credit you in the final version.\n\n

[Aahz]

Nice work. I'm curious as to what you are going to include in the format defining cards section. Is this going to be a run down of the restricted list + Mana Drain, FOW, Abyss, and Morphling (ala Keeper)?
Format defining as in expensive (like Nether Void, Gauntlet of Might, Illusionary Mask, Mishra's Workshop)?
or Just damn powerful for the mana cost (Sinkhole, Hymn to Tourach, Lightning Bolt)?

I am assuming that you will need to include a discussion of the restricted list (and each card on it) since you can hardly talk about Type One without it. But what are you going to consider format defining cards beyond that?

[Morphling]

Quote  True, any deck is helped by the addition of the appropriate Moxen...

A little nitpicky here, but I would change this to "...almost any deck...", as Stompy is NOT helped by the addition of Mox Emerald.

[Matt The Great]

Aahz - I've actually already finished that section but am waiting so that reviewers' efforts are not split between two sections.

As for the actual cards mentioned, what I mostly had in mind was the kinds of trials a new player will face - he or she (god willing!) needs to know that at any time, Balance could wreck their board position, they need to know that a deck with Swamps is going to mercilessly devour their hand and land, and so forth. However, everyone expects Lightning Bolt from a red deck.

So format-defining is essentially the most powerful cards, and the cards used to counteract them. Example: Moxen head the list, and thusly Null Rod also earns a sentence or two.

Yamo - Though you are correct, I'd rather leave it as is for simplicity's sake. What you mention is a relatively high-concept decision that is well outside the scope of this document, which is mainly intended just to get everyone on the same basic page. Similarly, I won't mention why Black Lotus has no place in Sligh - instead I hope to weed out the real trash, like Ironclaw Orcs and Mogg Flunkies. If a player needs to know more, he or she should read a specialized primer.\n\n

[spin13]

I'd think the issue of general theory being different should be somewhere in list of What T1 is Not.  Basically, the idea should be brought to the forefront that Type 1 strategy is vastly different from any other constructed format, even T1.5.  The ideas and theories that hold T2 together are under no obligation to hold true and rarely will.  It should be noted that the format itself, nor any of the common excuses about the format (namely the ones you listed: money and brokenness), is not inherently flawed from a game-playing perspective [though it may appear to be flawed from a T2 mindset].

While it might be difficult to bring this fact to the forefront without possibly belittling comments of the time and energy it might take to learn such differences, the fact that such differences exist must be apparent.

I would suggest phrasing it thusly:

What Type 1 is Not:
Competitve Type 1 is not any other constructed format.  Though this would seem blatanly obvious simply from its distinct nomenclaiture, it is a fact that seems to be lost in the shuffle often.  The ideas that govern other sanctioned formats have little or no rule in the world of Type 1.  While the game itself carries the same rules, regulations, and mechanics, the theory behind play and deckbuilding is vastly different.  Though the common theory of the format is as easily broken here as in any other format (yes, this does imply an evolving and sometimes forgiving environment), one must approach the format with a mindset detuned from the commonalities of another constructed event.  You cannot win at Chess by the rules of Checkers.  The expectation that Type 1 will be like anything else you have experienced must be discarded: you can only hope to be pleasantly surprised when and where formats collide because often it is merely an occurance of chance.

{page break where appropriate, etc}

 -Eric

[dandan]

Common Type I abbreviations / writer lazyness

CoB - City of Brass
FoF - Fact or Fiction
Drain - Mana Drain
Force / FoW - Force of Will
Superman - Morphling
Walk - Time Walk
Ancestral - Ancestral Recall
Will - Yawgmoth's Will
Keg - Powder Keg
Bolt - Lightning Bolt (sometimes bolt is used to mean any of X red direct damage spells)
Hymn - Hymn to Tourach
Sink - Sinkhole
Ritual - Dark Ritual
Plough / Swords- Swords to Ploughshares
Sylvan - Sylvan Library
Library - Library of Alexandria
Academy - Tolarian Academy
Strip - Stripmine (sometimes 5 strips=Stripmine plus 4 wastelands)
EOT - End of turn

Funnily enough it also doubles as a reasonable list of definining cards (what edition was EOT in?  )

[Matt The Great]

@dandan:
Heh...I make sure to only use those abbreviations when I've mentioned the full name not too far back. I'll definitely use that list, probably as an appendix.

@spin13:
I don't know...is that actually the case? I don't think Type One is so very different from other formats. Any format with Moat and/or Mana Drain would discourage the use of big creatures, for example. Hell, Invasion/Odyssey Type Two discouraged large casting costs via tons of bounce (Repulse, Æther Burst, Upheaval). Ideas such as metagaming, sideboard hate, mana curve, the inherent advantage to running threats over answers, time advantage, tempo, and card advantage all still apply.

Some other people, please weigh in on this.\n\n

[dandan]

I think I'm between spin and Matt on the difference between Type I and other formats. I agree that a lot of the fundamentals still apply but there are a number of cards out there that change the way you need to construct decks / play in order to be successful, for example Balance, Mana Drain. Keg, draw 7s, strips, tutors.

To highlight this imagine the type II player who thinks that Keeper is unlikely to draw Balance and so overextends or someone who plays a Ball Lightning when staring at UU untapped. It's like a pogo contest in a minefield.

[MolotDET]

Quote What Type One Is Not

Like many old people and things, Type One has garnered its share of myths and legends. Some are true; most are not. Here are the most common ones:

1. By far the most widely populated myth is that Type One is all about first-turn kills. This patently false. While Type One IS the only format where first-turn kills are worth considering, for virtually every deck they are impossible to achieve outside of Rosewater Puzzle-like situations. Even in combination ('combo') decks optimized for a turn one victory, actually pulling this feat off happens in less than five percent of all games.

     Perhaps you should add something here about the fact that T1 games do tend to be paced faster and that many decks can win in about the same amount of time that it takes decks from other formats to set up.  Just giving them a lillte insight into the turn clock.  Also this might lend to being pointed back at later, when you are explaining why many high casting cost cards are not played because of mana drain and the turn clock.

     I'm sure there could be more said but I hesatate to add it because i think it might be better added in some other area of the primer.

[Big Blue]

I support Morphling's addition. IMO it is important to note that Moxen are not necessarily good per se. Stompy does not need the Emerald (and some claim it is even worse with it), and Sligh works fine without Ruby (true, it seems to work a bit better with it, but that's almost negligible IMO). Also Sui works quite well without the Jet (although again, it works better with it), since 4 Rituals provide quite some acceleration (and they are cheap).

Also, I would point out that mono-coloured decks have several advantages over (more expensive) multi-coloured decks: immunity to Wasteland, B2B, Dwarven Miner, etc.

And careful observation of the metagame, as always, is far more important than acquiring power cards.

Because otherwise when reading a new player will get the following impression: "Ummm... ok, power is not important but all decks work better with power? so i have to play suboptimal decks or spend $$$?   ", and this line of reasoning is something we do NOT want to induce, I believe.

Maybe some of these issues are more suitable for section two of your primer, but the $$$ issue should be presented a bit different, IMO. Maybe just add a sentence to 2. like
"In addition, there are highly competitive decks which do not need any power like Stompy (mono-G with lots of cheap creatures, link to Stompy mini-primer) and Sligh (mono-R with cheap creatures and burn, link to Sligh mini-primer). Moreover, the cheaper mono-coloured decks have several advantages over multi-coloured decks (see section 2)."

[Matt The Great]

If you'll reread the section in question, notice that I do say that there are playable unpowered decks, just that they are perfected with the addition of the appropriate moxen. The moxen ARE "necessrily good per se," except in the VERY abberant and singular case of Stompy. So for the sake of simplicity I'm going to leave it as is - note that I don't say Lotus is good in every deck.

However, this is apparently not clear enough, so I will revise it to specifically point out that many decks are good powerless, but without that Mox, they are not optimal.

Quote Because otherwise when reading a new player will get the following impression: "Ummm... ok, power is not important but all decks work better with power? so i have to play suboptimal decks or spend $$$?"

Yes, you DO have to play suboptimal decks if you don't have the appropriate Power. Please check the definition of "optimal."\n\n

[Gothmog]

Matt, I think you can solve everyone's issue about the Moxen by adding "almost" to the appropriate sentence.  Personally, I like it the way it is, but...

As for the rest, I think you should keep it.  Face it, if you want to build lots of different decks in Type I and be as competitive as possible, its going to cost you some cash.  This should be disclosed up front.  I think the way you phrased Myth #2 and the explanation of it was very appropriate.

Everyone claims metagame is an appropriate consideration when building/choosing decks (and of course it is).  What if your metagame has never seen Mox Monkey or Null Rod?  I assure you having access to Moxen in this metagame would be a major advantage.  If you don't have them, you can't be as competitive when building a deck.

Your Section II needs to emphasize speed and game-swinging cards.  In other formats 4-6cc spells are on the edge of being too expensive because of Counterspell and cheap removal.  Intellectually, it seems with all the mana acceleration it should be easier to cast those spells.  Of course, we know otherwise...

[Abra_Volta]

Looks like a good start Matt.

I don't know where it would exactly fit but one of the main points i've always defended is that no matter what, the ability to know your deck inside and out is very beneficial.

Maybe it would fit in the area where you talk about play skills.

Familiarity breeds Confidence.

Confidence breeds better Play skills.

Play skills breed winning.

[BigChuck]

Good start, but I definitely think there should be a section about stuff that people commonly play, but really aren't that good. Not like why arcane is bad, but more along the lines of why certain things are played over it. I guess that could fall under the explanations of the commonly played cards, but I think a section about why some cards aren't played would be really helpful to a beginner.

[Freddie]

I think that this is agreatidea... but the catch is just getting newer/ less educated players to:

a) know of the exsistance of the primers/ intro

b) getting them to stay focused long enough to actually read and understand.

Most of the time I think that newbies are still gonna just click add reply and ask stupid questions, or simply make assumptions with little to no basis.

Keep up the good work Matt...

-Freddie

[Matt The Great]

@ Big Chuck: As I said, that will be covered in section four.
@ Abra_Volta: That's really just a general play guide, it applies to every format. If I was writing a guide on how to play Magic, this thing would quickly become immense. Instead I'm going to focus on Type One-specific things. I intended this to be geared towards player new to type one, not new to Magic in general.
@ Freddie: getting the word out is something I'll leave up to others. I'm hoping that Zherbus will post the final version in the Content section of this site and get Ferret on Starcity to link to it, I think this is a good plan.\n\n

[Forbiddian]

Quote (Morphling @ Sep. 09 2002,17:27)

Quote  True, any deck is helped by the addition of the appropriate Moxen...

A little nitpicky here, but I would change this to "...almost any deck...", as Stompy is NOT helped by the addition of Mox Emerald.

Mox Emerald helps stompy a bunch. It is better than elvish spirit guide. (Okay, it gets eaten by monkeys.... but most decks will side out the monkeys anyway). The emerald can start broken plays (just like a spirit guide) except it can also finish them. First turn land, mox, quirion ranger, skyshroud elite/ridgeback go. next turn: rancor, rancor, bounce land attack, giant growth (10 next turn: bounty/giant growth, game). A god hand yes, but not an impossible hand.... That's what power does for you. If that were an ESG, you wouldn't have been able to giant growth. Pushing everything to the point where they have two lands (mana drain, mana leak etc.). Pray that they don't mox mox mox, island, powder keg, timewalk add counter, phid (2 mana left). But then again.... those are two god hands in one game.... and the other is an anti-stompie god hand. Life sucks for stompie when that happens.