The Eternal Spotlight: Cabal Therapy Session

[Islandswamp]

http://puremtgo.com/articles/eternal-spotlight-cabal-therapy-session T.E.S. 7/24/15 

This week, I bring you a deck that plays Cabal Therapy, and I discuss some interesting and highly impactful impending changes to MTGO Constructed Events! Don't miss this one folks!

Above is the teaser that I wrote for the front page of MTGOTraders.com, the site that sponsors my writing (and all of puremtgo). I know that many of you do not play Magic Online, or you've cashed out of it due to the recent announcements regarding "play points".

The first portion of the article talks about my Grixis Delver deck. I also included some videos. The second portion talks about the changes to MTGO constructed events.

Since I wrote this article and emailed Lee Sharpe, some action has been taken to "fix" the problem. One of the things that I wrote to Lee was that the price hike would stop new players from joining DE's, as they would likely be losing twelve tickets in the first two rounds. 

There solution, which is also being discussed in the community issues forum, was to make our Dailies only require 8 players. They are basically 8 player queues, but they're scheduled. This is not a good solution, and I am appalled.

I love Magic. I love Vintage. I love that Magic Online has given me an opportunity that I never had before, an opportunity to play high-level Vintage Magic. Hell, I've faced Olle Rade, Andy Probasco, and even last year's Vintage Champion on Magic Online, I'd never have had that opportunity living in a small town in rural Vermont.

Now, people are quitting, Daily Events have already started to fail to fire, and marquee players have sold out or are considering it.  It's very sad.

I don't spend 6-8+ hours a week writing Vintage articles because it makes me rich. It's paid for my decks, but it isn't as much as I'd get just working hours at my job. I write these things because I love doing it, the community has by in large welcomed and supported me, and there isn't much content or support from the Ivory Tower Wizards. Still, I find myself wondering if I've wasted my time. At least some passionate people have enjoyed this series, so that's what I'll concentrate on. 

[TheMonadNomad]

I definitely don't consider it a waste of time - like others I greatly enjoyed your articles.  Personally I never got into MTGO - I play real-world Vintage, but for the most part what you write is applicable to both mediums.  It's a shame that MTGO seems to be getting worse, not better...

[Islandswamp]

I definitely don't consider it a waste of time - like others I greatly enjoyed your articles.  Personally I never got into MTGO - I play real-world Vintage, but for the most part what you write is applicable to both mediums.  It's a shame that MTGO seems to be getting worse, not better...

Thanks man. That was me just venting. To me, Vintage on MTGO was a culmination of a life-long dream: Playing Vintage with cards that I "own". I don't want to sell them, having them in my collection is more valuable than the cash I'd get.

Thanks for reading, I'm glad you like them. Next week, there will be some talk about the Grixis Therapy deck. I know that they're similar, but I cashed two Dailies with a list designed by Rich Shay, and I'm really stoked about that deck now! You can find the list in his post on Myriad Games Vintage Tournament in the Tournament section of this site. It's a sweet list. 

[TheMonadNomad]

Sure - I can certainly understand the need to vent regarding MTGO...

How good has Pulverize been coming in VS shops?  Do you still even have it in the board??

[Islandswamp]

I won the match against Shops every time I resolved it. I just play uncracked fetches as long as I can. I will only counter or ingot chewer stuff if it would stop me from playing Pulverize the following turn (if needed).

For instance, a few times I could have cast Pulverize, but my life total was high enough I allowed some more turn of Revoker beats just to hope they overextend. You can't just jam Pulverize immediately, it's too important and the deck I played only had 4 Volcanic Islands and one Mountain.

If you Ingot Chewer something, they likely don't suspect Pulverize, so it's ok to play just one Chewer to live a couple more turns before you pull the Trigger and Pulverize their dreams.

[TheMonadNomad]

Nice    Thanks for the breakdown!