Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Color Balance Evaluation

I just completed rating the cards, and hopefully the ratings are not too biased. The criteria I used was:

1 - We rarely want these in our decks, usually left in a sideboard. (Muddle the Mixture, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Goblin Balloon Brigade)
2 - Some decks want this, but it's usually a late pick. (Aven Mindcensor, Pilgrim's Eye, Doomed Necromancer)
3 - Decent, we can't complain about having this is our decks. (Sleep, Essence Warden, Sejiri Refuge)
4 - Good card, early pick. Rarely left in a sideboard unless it's not in the player's colors. (Jackal Pup, Luminarch Ascension, Crystal Ball)
5 - Great card, one should have a good reason not to pick this. (Vigor, Celestial Colonnade, Siege-Gang Commander)

The averages I got were:

Artifact - 2.89
Land - 2.89
Multicolor - 3.06
Black - 3.07
White - 3.10
Red - 3.10
Blue - 3.17
Green - 3.19

I guess that either reflects my taste for UG or explains why it's such a popular combination. Probably a bit of each though. The point is, blue and green seem to be on one level and the rest on another. I was already expecting lower rates for land and artifact, but I'm sure some months ago these figures would've been much worse.

Black seems to be indeed the worst color, but not too far from white and red. I'll focus on these three colors for the next singles I order. They seem to be the obvious place to improve the cube. I'll also try to get good artifacts and lands, as I've always been.

4 comments:

  1. Inquisition of Kozilek sobre dark ritual é zuera neh?

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  2. In cube, few black decks actually want to play Dark Ritual. Only those more beatdown oriented, and even then not all of them. At least that's what I could infer from my memories of decks running Dark Ritual.

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  3. Frontier guide is no good and will never see gameplay. Suggestions:

    (all are 1G)

    - Elvish Visionary
    - Wall of roots (wall that adds mana)
    - Werebear
    - Lotus cobra (any color mana, and 2/1)
    - Tarmogoyf

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  4. I'd like a Lotus Cobra or Tarmogoyf, but they are way too expensive (USDwise). I don't think the Visionary and the Werebear would be good, and Wall of Roots would sort of overlap with Wall of Blossoms. I'm thinking something like Albino Troll for that slot.

    ReplyDelete