wickeddarkman

THERIGHTBOI:
For several years I've been using mtgtop8 as a % measure of topdecks when supporting a friends attempt to beat modern (He's an oldschool champion, still winning 1st places in denmark and once in sweeden)

They outline the % well there, and traditionally 1 deck would have 13-14% while a couple of others would be at 9-12%
At this moment ardent phoenix is the topdeck with 12%

It will go up to 13-14% when the meta has regained it's stability.

You usually cannot doge a rocket launcher, heh!
(A meme play on dodge and that lovely shiatzu-doge)

20% of the meta is quite a bit, most of the time a popular deck stays around 13-14% so it must have been huge.
I do remember the days when eldrazi were at 40% of the meta, and wotc just removed eye of ugin, so removing krak-clan ironworks is a bit over the top in my oppinion.

The deck must really have grown since hatred didn't fix it :D

I'm usually a "masterhater" using obscure hatred cards, and back when I met the deck last time I didn't consider it much of a threat.

I've looked at some decklists, and is still wondering why it's so hard to beat :D The modern meta must really have changed :D

Whoa, I must have been away from modern for too long a time :D
When did they ban it? I never considered the krark-clan ironworks deck to become too much of a threat. Do you know of any articles related to it ?

I have had great fun with glint-nest crane in one of my own decks (Phenax mill)
If you follow DEDWARDS advice to include krak-klan ironworks, you will have more artifacts to include glint-nest crane. It will work as an early blocker against the type of aggro that finishes you at turn 3 if you haven't gotten your combo, and will buy you a turn more while increasing your odds of drawing the combo.

Thanx. I used to collect lots of articles on magic back then. It's actually a fluke of luck that this one survived, because I've lately thrown more than a 100 KG of magic papers out to clear up my home :D

WOW !!!
I did not expect to find the article, but I did, and it was actually pretty difficult to get to it.
many sites just referred to it because it has become one of those "lore" articles that everyone referrences to.

In one case it was a photocopy of the article put on e-bay for sale by scruppolus people.
REALLY!!! Come on give us some slack you greedy bastards and stop hogging the web.

Considering that the article was from area where premodern deck originates, it is surprisingly detailed with instructions on how to evaluate cards following a specific value system, and it even lists a lot of cards considered to fit into aggro at that period of time. (it does have an amount of cards from darksteel which is not legal in premodern, but that only means it was pretty up to date on scourge and the cards before that)

it even has some statistics on the odds of your own combo choices.

In other words, this article is GOLD for anyone getting involved in the whole "premodern" affair :D

When you click on cards you want to read, a "wayback machine" message pops up. Wait about 10 seconds to let it find and show the card.

Enjoy reading it...

Here's the link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151106070603/http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~kel/MTG/

I'll post a link later today :D

I have compiled a list of decks that were present during the old days from memory alone, and it got 150+ decks in it, so I guess I have a nice memory :D

I actually have a print of the article that might be behind the major design of your soldier-deck, and if you want it I can possibly find the link to it (if the article still exists) It was a detailed guide to build an aggro-deck just at the "end" of the premodern era, and had guidelines on how to evalute cards on several aspects.

Your deck needs to deal with anarchy, because goblins is one of the most played decks listed at premodern lists in TC decks... They have 2 in sideboard. May i suggest scapegoat ?

No problem :D
I was once pretty close to win a tournament with a deck like this :D

Your welcome :D

Thanx for the credits :D
If you have some good friends and a lot of sparetime you should try out to use my work on "paperstrips" which i started using at a time where my computer broke down, and continued to use them ever since because they worked better than a computer.
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/simple-use-of-paperstrips/

You can use the basic concept to finetune any decktype very fast, and if you use some of my more advanced versions of paperstripping you can use evolution to build a deck from scrap and tune it into something able to beat the meta within 2 month's (Again having good friends and lots of time will speed it up)
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/the-paperstrip-method-v2/

Here's an example of what evolution built for me:
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/phenax-god-of-mill/

And if you want to go really really advanced (producing a deck beating the meta within close to a month)
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/deckbuild-with-paperstrips-v3/

You can safely remove 2 mountains to add 2 non-tapping attacklands (blinkmoth or mutavault or something), or you could go 12 mountain and 4 cavern of souls because enough of your creatures share some types
(The ultimate lower limit is 12 lands of any 1 color, but 14 is a more safe number to use)

Here's a related project where I tried to find the absolutely perfect manabase for any 1 colored deck (modern)
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/project-highlander/

And my own haste version using most of that mana:
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/a-hastemare-before-christmas/

I'm toying a lot with cycling these days, so I have a focus on cycling.

if you can add some beasts with cycling you can always cycle them if you haven't gotten the mana, and cycle into cheaper beasts or the lands to cast other beasts.

Welcome to the wonderfull world of Pre-modern :)
I'm adding you to my list of premodern designers on the following link:
https://www.mtgvault.com/wickeddarkman/decks/premodern-format/

Please spread the word about this format so we can group together.
You'll find me and two other supporters in the link as well as links to our decks :D

To anyone else, my link also has links to what the format is about, and once you've read them, make a deck with the 'tags' "premodern" or "pre modern" and I will find you and add you.

Do try to visit the other guys/girls and like their decks so this format will pop up more frequently.

WD out...

Ah, so your deck is based on original blocks, thougth you were into standard :D

The algorithm was based on vanilla creatures, where each creature just have a power equal to it's castingcost and has no special abilities, so it's up to you to find the perfect cards to fill out the numbers it provides.

The project was based on being as simple as possible and to provide the fastest of the solutions, but things got complicated. No matter how I built the simulation it never made a perfect build, and I was competing with three other programmers when I discovered that the manasolutions my program made had it's own sort of rock/scissors/paper environment where some solutions won more frequently by being more stable while other solutions won by being faster but unstable. It all got pretty hardcore and ended when someone hacked my account to distort my data just to get better results.

TC decks have begun to list pro-decks :D
http://www.tcdecks.net/format.php?format=Premodern

TC decks have begun to list pro-decks :D
http://www.tcdecks.net/format.php?format=Premodern

There's also dark ritual + 3 unholy strength, though that isn't an instant.
Unstable mutation is also worth a shot, and adding blue will give acces to stuff like force spike.

PUSCHKIN:
The rate at which you can cast kird, flying and scrybs is beaten by kobolds. You will be able to attack with 2-3 kobolds AND pump them before the three stables can be pumped. You win by having excess mana to use at pump. If the kird-player blocks you boost the kobold being blocked ridding him of a creature while still being able to cast more creatures and boost the next turn. The weak part of the kobolds is that you need to produce one more damage with pump for every kobold you play to stay ahead, so it runs out of steam much faster than steroids, but can compete against it speedwise for a little while :D The secret to kobolds is to exploit that you get attackers for free and as a result can use that mana with boost.
Try to remember the impact ornithopter actually had back then (Now that I've mentioned it, it does fit well into a kobolddeck).
Especially with countersupport like forcespike and counterspells. Back then I played dark ritual+unholy strength myself with ornithopters, which was nice because path to exile didn't exist by then, so swords to plowshares were only present if the opponent got lucky :D

Since the block should have 4 sets by now, you just wait until it has more 1cc's. After all there will be 2 more sets to fill the block for a short while.

Maybe you can use the 16 18 18 04 04 meanwhile ?

I do have some lower ranking curves as well where there might be a more "even" distribution, though they will be at 6.5 at average turns.