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TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 28 Jul 2015, 20:28
by Graham
Why just crack packs when you can use them to play a whole bunch of pack wars! James and Paul find out that, in this meta, Vryn Wingmare sucks and Prickleboar is way OP

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 03:07
by Lord Hosk
The opposing video positions was confusing.

IE Full frame close up of table Paul left James right, small "room" shot James left Paul right.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 03:32
by theycallmejokke
I have to second what Lord Hosk have written, but that said such a fun episode, I for one would love to see you guys go through the rest of that box.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 03:53
by Lord Hosk
Also I think the camera might be zoomed in a little tight on the play surface, it could stand to be maybe 15-20% larger area in view.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 05:16
by CommiePuddin
How was Boxnard529 not involved with the Crack-a-Box? /s

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 05:24
by korvys
I have to say, I wasn't a fan of this episode. It was too long, and unfocussed, for my taste, especially compared to the usual, very tight podcasts. It kinda felt like a stream, except the games themselves weren't that interesting (pack wars isn't exactly a skill intensive format), and there was no chat interaction to help.

I still think the AFK streaming would be really cool, but this was a miss for me.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 07:00
by Booster
I enjoyed this a lot, Paul and James need to do more stuff together (the Duels stream with those two was great as well). I'd love to see you do the rest of the box, but it might be better as like a once a set type of thing, I can see how not everyone would love this. But as for myself, even if you had done a 6 hour video going through the whole box I would put that straight in my eyeballs

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 07:02
by squisherton
My friends and I have started this new way of playing pack wars, and it takes the gameplay to a whole new level :!: First off, it's "no land" pack wars. You don't remove the land from the pack, just the token. You don't shuffle. Then you turn the whole pack face up. This way you should see a common. You play out the game knowing what your next card is going to be, but so does your opponent :shock: . Also, your cards are going to progressively (or hopefully) get stronger leading into uncommons and rares. The reason we started not taking out the land is because of the double-sided cards in Origins. We also play with pretty much the same rules regarding activated abilities and milling as you did in this video.

The gameplay is either very back and forth or very one sided. Either way, it goes fast! It is an interesting take on pack wars that we kinda brewed up and enjoy doing. Maybe you can do 3 packs this way and see how it goes?

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 07:13
by eldrin13
Love this TTC. I will also agree with Lord Hosk et al. and request the cams to have the same orientation.
My friends and I have been playing king of the hill pack wars for a while, where whichever pack wins stays around till its beaten. Unfortunately this can result in an amazing pack just sticking around so we started limiting the pack to 5 wins, then retire as champion eternal. Also, pack wars is fun as two headed giant and multiplayer free for all if you want to crack the packs faster.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 07:28
by 7SecondsLeft
I enjoyed that, even though my only experience playing Magic are the ipad apps. I also don't have an issue with it being nearly two hours, but I can see how someone with more experience of the set being opened might find it get boring quicker.

I also like the idea of playing through a game or two on a podcast instead of needing a big live streaming event - I don't know how much effort was involved setting this up, but it looked like the simple two camera system on the existing podcast set was effective enough that it might be repeatable with minimal effort. And this wouldn't even need to be a "once a week" thing, even a special TTC "game event" every couple of months would be a nice treat. And getting to see the banter on a friendly game like this is part of the fun that you just don't get in the MTGO streams :)

Silly question though - is it possible to to do a more normal style draft with only two players? I didn't know if pack wars only chosen because it went through the packs quicker, or if that's the only sensible way of playing it without a proper deck or more people?

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 09:31
by susu.exp
I just started watching, but I'll star by saying: Yay, for more live M:TG!

7secondleft mentions a more "normal" style draft and for 2 players there is Solomon draft - players alternate opening packs, then the player opening the pack divides it into two piles and the other player gets to pick one of the piles with the opening player getting the remaining cards. There's a video on YT where Patrick Chapin does this with somebody who challenged him to a game in the format of his choice and Chapin picked Solomon draft using Champions of Kamigawa, Time Spiral and Modern Masters (IIRC). That was fun to watch and I could see that as a format for Paul and James (also if the donated pack stack ever becomes too overwhelming, that's a way to go through 6 packs in an interesting way).

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 29 Jul 2015, 22:13
by Gravity Pike
As someone who is not super familiar with the cards, it was kind of hard for me to follow along with this TTC. The camera angle was good enough to distinguish the card-art, but I had a hard time keeping track of the board state without being able to read the power/toughness or abilities of the cards in play. Maybe a Gatherer-style preview-pane would have helped me keep track of cards as they were being played?

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 01 Aug 2015, 05:53
by BenMarc
Oh, please, the worst Magic card isn't Chimney Imp, it's Wood Elemental. Or Sorrow's Path

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 02 Aug 2015, 02:52
by susu.exp
Wood Elemental existed in Type 2 with Fastbond and Land tax to name just 2 cards that make it reasonable.

Re: TTC 96 - Origins Crack-a-Box

Posted: 04 Aug 2015, 20:23
by Skizz
I really enjoyed that and I have hardly played MtG. Paul and James work well together, casual and conversational.

More of this, please.

:twisted: