Firstly, let me acknowledge that almost no one here cares about this. I’m going to post it anyway, because it’s an achievement that I’m happy about. Sometime last year while playing Magic: The Gathering Arena, I managed to rank up and hit Mythic. @tarotbyfergus has done this once or twice as well. I was recently talking to him about how Arena is the most toxic relationship in my life […more on that in a bit]. Well, I managed to do it again and it’s a win for me. Somehow, I feel like this overcomes the toxicity, but deep down, I’m fully aware that I’m the product and WOTC is playing me.
Here’s the problem. Arena, by all accounts, is a masterpiece! I mean, what the software company, UI and UX, and engineers have managed to do is astounding! The game plays near flawlessly on virtually any platform or console. Sadly, the fundamental flaw is the game itself. WOTC has allowed the dumbest, most over powered cards to remain in the game […especially Historic]. This is compounded by an intentionally busted shuffler and algorithm that forces losses to increase rage-driven engagement of the players.
I’ve been using several decks in Historic over the last few months. Mono white angels, mono black Liliana, but after a therapy session with @tarotbyfergus at @caffetto, he just shook his head and said, “…it’s gotta be mono red. That’s the only thing.”. He was right. I sat him down and built the same deck he uses. A couple of modifications, such as Den of the Bugbear and Tibalt, Rakish Instigator. The synergy is high, creating extra 1/1’s that do extra damage when they die in the case of the devils, and all of that multiplied once Torbran is out.
I used to do streams of Arena game play on @threespeak and now that I managed to hit Mythic, I feel like I can do a few more of those without the pressure. Maybe later this week. I’ve had a rough few days with the trip back from Texas while trying to settle back in to my Minneapolis routine. I’m going to enjoy this little victory. Are there any MTG players left here on Hive? I’d love to hear what others are playing, especially in Historic. Drop your Arena username in the comments so I can add you and grind a few games during these late nights!
