Magic Numbers (Sierkovitz)
Explore every episode of Magic Numbers
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Jun 2023 | #79 - How to improve your draft using 17Lands data? | 01:44:14 | |
Limited is a hard format. It is not easy to start winning reliably. Today I look at several ways to quickly improve your Limited draft and deck building skills using the 17Lands.com data. I analyze why beginners can have problems with winning reliably, but most importantly, I try to give actionable advice on how to solve the problems I identify. This video is primarily aimed at beginner to intermediate players, at least I tried to make it so. After watching it, you should be able to: - identify bad cards in the format - identify good cards in the format - know how to check for good and bad cards specific for a given color pair - know how to recognise a plan of a deck and how to draft in a way that enhances that plan rather than undermining it - learn the importance of using community support as a learning tool Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loFjD_ual2U Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 14 Oct 2023 | #92 - Exploring new 17Lands.com features with the site creator | 01:16:57 | |
This week I have a very special guest: Rob Conroy, AKA Viralmisnomer - Mr 17Lands himself. And there is a great reason for that. 17Lands has a whole bunch of new patron-only features and Rob and I will show you why you should seriously consider getting them not only to support the site we all love and cherish, but also in your own interest. From a great card evaluation tool, through personal data up to a tool that lets you improve your mana-base building skills - all the new toys make me excited to get my paws on the final results of them! And hopefully after watching this, you will get excited too! Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF6pYSmwE9g Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 06 Aug 2024 | #128 - Early Bloomburrow Draft Data | 01:40:39 | |
Early data for every format is a bit of a minefield. On one hand it provides valuable information, on the other, can be misleading as it is largely based on the decks where players were still finding their footing in the new format. Join me in trying to decipher the data and find some cards that are obviously good or bad and some that may still be flying under the radar. I look at color and color pair power rankings and look at top, hidden gem and trap cards in each archetype.
Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/pD7La6IbEUM This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 22 Apr 2022 | #32 - The Skeleton Crew | 02:32:39 | |
This week we preview the Streets of New Capenna. Traditionally before each set release we meet at SLKerstens twitch channel to discuss the format in our pre-release set review. But instead of looking at each card, we build our versions of each deck, based on pure theory crafting. This time SLKerstens, JasonILTG, Tajoordan and me talk about our hopes and expectations o the new set, cards to watch, cards that may fly under the radar for the first weeks, etc. The episode is also available on youtube and the slides can be accessed. See the slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10C-DIgOxZzm6gqw7ygduUuFDfuyv-LBFz3aG3yCg_qU/edit Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CQA3_K3OjM Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 16 Sep 2022 | #51 - Multicolor Decks in DMU Draft | 01:17:22 | |
Dominaria United is a draft format like we didn't see in a long time. Formats supporting 2 color, 3 color and multicolor strategies with little win rate penalty was something Wizards were avoiding in their recent design. But that is not the case in DMU. One in 16 decks is a 4 color or more concoction. That is 2 times more than any other format since ZNR. Almost 50% of all decks have 3 or more main colors. And, as a result, only 1/5 is pure 2 colors. So which multicolor decks are the best? Which cards are important to make them win? And, perhaps equally importantly - are there traps 17Lands users routinely fall into? I use data to try to answer those and many other questions about the nature of multicolor decks in Dominaria United. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/HLpfOVWW2dw Find all things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 12 Sep 2023 | #90 - First look at Wilds of Eldraine Draft | 01:52:23 | |
New format is upon us and time to look at what can early data tell us about it. Which cards are key, which ones are traps, what do decks want to be doing and what do other Arena drafters leave open for the cunning grinders to abuse.
Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAiaA6M25_o Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 22 Apr 2024 | #116 - Early Dive into OTJ data | 02:08:44 | |
Early data from a draft format should be treated with caution, but also gives us some essential information on how to approach the format. I am talking about color power rankings, color pairs in the set to give you a general impression of the power level of each of them. But the real fun begins as I dive into each color pair and give you the best card, the hidden gem and the trap for each of the pairs at common and uncommon. Hidden in that data is some information on what each color pair wants to be doing in order to win. And this is the part where you will find the most surprising findings. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/hgW-Yu2IbuY Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 17 Aug 2023 | #86 - Evolution of the Format | 01:19:42 | |
This week I look at how LTR drafts changed over time. Which cards, color pairs fell in and out of favour with the Arena users. And how did the player win rate impact those preferences. But doing just a retrospective of one format can be a bit boring - what universal trends can we draw from LTR evolution? Can some color pairs be more resilient to metagame shifts and if so - why? Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBOExMmzLY Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 23 Mar 2023 | #69 - Archetypist, ONE Edition | 01:17:31 | |
Time to look at the draft deck composition data and look at the secret successful sub builds in ONE. In this episode I look at the ONE decks in each color pair and cluster them based on how similar they are. After doing that, I calculate the win rate of each deck and its closest relatives. Based on that I can find clusters of successful sub-builds in each color pair. Using the archetypist tool I developed with Pekka Pulli, you can explore that data set on your own. Some sub builds are logical and intuitive: there is a WB toxic deck, RG oil deck. But some will raise a few eyebrows, because not many know RW Toxic is a thing - but it does exist, is successful, even if you will only have it open in your pod every 50 drafts or so. Enjoy the seminar, but if you want to explore the tool, visit https://archetypist.netlify.app/ Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtube.com/watch?v=v747a-JxcQY Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 20 Jun 2022 | #38 - Best of Three | 01:12:03 | |
What does the data tell us about Best of Three drafts in Streets of New Capenna? Best of Three is different from Best of One in multiple aspects. There is no hand smoother, which leads to worse curve-outs, more mulliganning, which damages deck consistency. There is also sideboarding between the games, which makes some cards unplayable in BO1 valid choices for games 2 and 3 once you have seen some key cards from opponents deck. I look at, which colors do well in BO3, which cards perform differently in BO3 than in BO1 drafts. One hypothesis is that draft pods in BO3 are populated by, on average, stronger players. I test this hypothesis using the format data. I also look at mulligan stats, and at the cards that are used as sideboard cards and evaluate their utility as such. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the you tube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/0nFpc71hbts Find all things Sierkovitz: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 17 May 2024 | #118 - Drafting OTJ | 01:39:28 | |
This episode we look at the pack composition of OTJ play boosters. How many rares are there acually? What is the common frequency and how often do you get the cards from each of the many bonus sheets? On top of that - How should we approach pack one? Is sticking to one color a sustainable strategy? Should you diversify? And we look at the most attractive wheel targets, which also sheds some light on the most underdrafted archetypes. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s76bxbfC2I Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 01 Apr 2025 | #149: Tarkir: Dragonstorm Draft Skeletons with the Skeleton Crew | 03:37:32 | |
Yet again our ever changing lineup of limited virtuosos takes on out unique deck-centric and excentric take on a set review. What to expect from the new set, what are we going to be playing, trying to draft, avoiding and dreaming of assembling. You can find my guests on Bsky:https://bsky.app/profile/jasoniltg.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/r-condon.bsky.socialor Elon Musks X.com platform:https://x.com/Tresio Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #149 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount!If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 26 Jan 2025 | #144: Testing Heuristics in Limited | 01:14:57 | |
We hear the wisdom from experienced players: Always play your two drops, Spend all your mana, and many more. But how do the numbers back those old truths? Do they stand scrutiny of testing them through data? Are they universal? Or are there corner cases? I test several Limited heuristics and hopefully you get to level up your game play through it! Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #144 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 08 Mar 2024 | #110 - The Secrets of ALSA (and MKM draft data) | 01:05:01 | |
ALSA is a term that gets thrown around a lot in data-adjacent content about Limited. But what exactly is ALSA? And what is the full meaning of the number that hides itself behind those four letters? I take a deeper dive on that metric, looking to answer what it really is. And the first 17Lands data is publicly available so it is time to dive into draft data. Which cards go later in pack 3? What are the best 1st picks? And which cards can you wheel reliably - all that in the episode. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5SFxNrsvXU Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | #71 - Shadows over Innistrad Remastered Draft Data | 01:14:29 | |
First dive into the data of the new-old format. What is peculiar about SIR packs, which colors are the strongest, most open and underdrafted. Which color pairs do best and what cards allow them to do so. I look at the best cards in each color / color pair, at the hidden gems that have high win rate but Arena users are not drafting them highly. At least not yet. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/C8e_K98o8Lc Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 03 Jan 2025 | #143: Birthday Q & A | 01:21:36 | |
In this episode, I answer a variety of question about Magic, life, cooking and stuff. Mainly MAgic though, so don't worry - you can still get something useful out of it, I am not turning into a lifestyle content creator. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #143 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 22 Nov 2022 | #57 - Draft Primer and First Look at the data | 01:44:48 | |
I take a look at removal stats of the Brothers' War set and try to convince you on how to use the self-milling cycle of creatures. On top of that, I dive into early format data: what makes each color tick and which colors do tick so far which ones still need some work from our side to be figured out. Sponsored by mtgazone.com. Check out my articles at https://mtgazone.com/authors/sierkovitz Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/mafrQcp7T3g Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 10 Feb 2022 | #22 - Kamigawa Neon Dynasty Limited Archetype Skeletons | 02:54:56 | |
A bonus episode: audio of the Kamigawa Neon Dynasty skeleton discussion between myself, SLKerstens and JasonILTG. Cards to watch, combinations to test and a good general overview of what NEO has to offer. And it seems it has to offer a lot. VOD of the stream can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6et5lk3Mr0&feature=youtu.be You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 12 Sep 2023 | #89 - Wilds of Eldraine Draft Primer | 02:07:04 | |
Before we dive into the new format - I look from theory point of view at the set design. What looks as if it is possible, how do the set mechanics intertwine, what to look out for in the first days, and what sweet build-arounds does the set have to offer. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/rA4mBJdYCiY Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 06 Aug 2022 | #46 - Return to Kamigawa | 01:29:36 | |
A refresher course in Kamigawa limited. But not only. I also look at the differences between the first run of the format and the flashbacks Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/jZH06lH_Xok Find all things Sierkovitz: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 21 Feb 2022 | #24 - The Sagas Begin; First Dive in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Limited Data | 01:33:17 | |
Today we look into the early data from Kamigawa BO1 drafts. I try to explain how Ninjas can sneakily influence win rates of other cards and how to see just how naughty they have been with the data (spoiler: the effect is not that big but can lead you to thinking some cards are a bit better than they really are). I also look at which color pairs are open and speculate a bit on which colors can improve in the future. I also talk about each color pair, their MVPs and cards that have surprisingly high win rates. As always, all the data is courtesy of 17Lands.com Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeVw5PSGO84 You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 19 Feb 2024 | #108 - Early Dive into MKM Draft Data | 02:00:16 | |
New format is pretty complicated and it may be tricky to find your footing in the first days. But fear not - the data is here to help us and I dive deep into card win rate to test what makes each color pair tick, which cards over-perform, and which are traps you should avoid. We look at the general picture of the format, speculate on what can the next few weeks bring and explore archetypes and what do the y want to be doing in the context of MKM. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/-UbCRz2Faf0 Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 31 May 2024 | #119 - Figuring game plans using data | 01:21:05 | |
Some draft archetypes are relatively straightforward. This will naturally mean that the data related to those archetypes will be of high quality as people are playing right cards in those decks. But some color pairs turn out to be more elusive for Arena users. And this means that a lot of the data related to those archetypes is based on badly built decks, which will underestimate the color pair's power in the generic datasets, leading to players undervaluing the color pair. This is an exploit you can use to gain some edge in the late season by evaluating the power of color pairs correctly. And data can help. Here I use data to figure out the plans for each color pair and then use it to identify cards essential for few undervalued color pairs. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5OzX00hMn0 Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 06 Jul 2022 | #40 - Archetypist, SNC edition | 01:18:12 | |
What builds for each draft archetype in SNC are the most successful? Which cards are essential for success and which themes win more than others? To answer those questions I look at the similarities between decks and use some fancy maths to cluster the decks together and find clusters that win more than the others. A side benefit of this episode is a tool that lets you explore each archetype and see for yourself what made each color combination tick. Feel free to explore the tool here: https://archetypist.netlify.app/ This episode would not be possible without the help of Pekka Pulli, the developer of the archetypist tool. Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsiWMPq_Pac Find all things Sierkovitz: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 23 Mar 2023 | #70 - Sideboarding in Draft | 01:11:53 | |
This episode looks at a relatively understudied aspect of limited: sideboarding. I look at general trends in sideboarding - when people do it, when they don't and how much sideboarding is a good thing. I also dive into recent few years of limited formats to find the star cards in terms of sideboarding. The ones who are almost exclusively sideboard cards, the ones that are the most effective as sideboard cards and the ones that are potentially sideboarding traps. Based on those cards I also try to speculate on the general idea of what makes a good sideboard card. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbv0-w6gYGw Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 05 Nov 2024 | #135 - Duskmourn Draft: Putting right cards in right decks | 01:56:54 | |
One of the traps of looking at card win rates is simplifying a complex problem. Yes, a card can have a decent win rate but this may meaan many things. It can be universally good, but it can also be very good in some decks and not so in others. 17Lands.com users often will intuit it, play that card in good decks and skew the data towards a hight win rate. Today's episode loooks at each common and uncommon in DSK and tries to see which caard is good where, at least at the color pair level. Hopefully this helps you finding your footing in the format by adding a lot of context to DSK drafts. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/b2JkWu0AHiY This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 27 Jun 2023 | #82 - Early dive into LTR draft data | 01:47:06 | |
New set, new possibilities! This week I give a general overview of which colors are good, what cards fuel them and which cards are essential in every archetype. And which cards absolutely are not - I looked through biggest traps too, so you don't have to. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsmRuFCDmok Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 12 Sep 2022 | #50 - Dominaria Untied, First look at 17Lands draft data | 01:44:54 | |
First dive into 17Lands data for the new set, Dominaria United. This is a set where data analyses should be done very carefully as it is a set we unlike anything we had before. What about it is so unique? Which colors are the best, which color combinations work best and, perhaps most importantly, how many colors should you play? All those questions will be answered in this episode. But wait! There's more! I look at 5 most winning two color pairs and most winning three color combinations and see which cards make them tick and which should be avoided. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. Find all things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 30 Mar 2022 | #28 - NEO Forms, or how to use the Archetypist tool | 01:11:09 | |
This episode is all about the ecology of the deck and Archetypist: a tool developed by Pekka Pulli and me that lets you visualise deck similarity and a localised win rate of similar decks. This allows to show clusters of particularly successful builds for each archetype. I look at clusters of each each archetype and try to figure out what makes those decks tick, what is missing from the less successful builds, etc. You can explore the data yourself at https://archetypist.netlify.app/ using a simple set of parameters you can manipulate. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 23 Jan 2024 | #105 - LSV^3: Talking Arena Cube with Luis Scott-Vargas | 01:20:15 | |
My guest this week needs no introduction (he still gets one, though), being one of the game's all-time greatest players. But apart from his pro player credentials, LSV is a cube fanatic, and I tap into his vast expertise to look through the latest edition of Arena Cube and see which cards and which strategies I, a cube rookie, should focus on over the following days. A side effect of that - you might learn something too. We look at some data from previous cube iterations and at the changes that were made to try and figure out what is going to improve and what is nerfed this time. You can find LSV and his vintage cube exploits on his popular YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LSVargas Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/O4Ka3nGvW0c This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 09 Nov 2022 | #56 - Magic: the Gatoring, Personal data of Florida Mun | 01:11:45 | |
Time to say goodbye to DMU draft data, and what better way than to look at the vast personal data of the all-time 17Lands.com trophy leader, Floridamun? We look at 175 drafts Chris played over the duration of the format in quest to find out what makes him such a good player. How does he manage to keep up such an impressive win rate across so many games. We look at his draft habits, pick preferences, card win rates and much more. Check out Chris's Twitch (twitch.tv/FloridaMun) and podcast The Draft Lab Sponsored by mtgazone.com. Check out my articles at https://mtgazone.com/authors/sierkovitz Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/0ykqh6Mtfq8 Find all things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 04 Feb 2023 | Bonus Episode - Skeleton Crew, ONE Edition | 02:02:37 | |
This episode me, SLKerstens, JasonILTG and TaJoordan talk about our pre pre-release impressions of ONE and how we would build simple deck skeletons from each color pair. You can find my co hosts at: twitter.com/SLKerstens twitter.com/JasonILTG twitter.com/TaJoordan This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6P9l6y3iAY Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 14 Sep 2024 | #132 - BLB set re-review with Chord_o_Calls | 01:22:28 | |
We say goodbye to BLB with revisiting our set review. This is an excercise in card evaluation and a farewell to all the critters in BLB. We look at what we got wrong before the set was released. Individual cards, color biases, what did we not get based on pure card evaluations. Chord_o_Calls is a limited streamer, coach, podcaster. You can find more of his excellent content at https://www.twitter.com/chord_o_calls. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/mE5nMC7iY9I This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 10 Apr 2024 | #114 - Q&A | 01:44:52 | |
This week I answered dozens of questions about data, how to analyse it, me, my pets, philosophy of analysing Magic, and more. Here are all the answers. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/9xHqge6vMY4 Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 10 Jul 2024 | #125 - How to optimize lands in MH3 draft decks | 01:05:46 | |
MH3 has the most complicated land system in ages. A whooping 1/8th of all the cards you see during draft will be lands and that means they play an important role in the deck building process. Today I talk about how to make sure you have the right number of landscapes and what is the best way of sneaking Modal Double-Faced Cards (spells with land at the back of the card) into decks: should you replace a spell or another land with them. Plus some data on format speed and how to use rarely mentioned metrics from 17Lands.com. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/MsFMWW3nVfo Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 19 Jan 2022 | #19 - The Hand Smoother | 00:42:59 | |
How does BO1 hand smoothing work? Based on +500k first hands from 17Lands.com, I could decipher what is going on. And knowing what it does and how it differs from paper/BO3 will help your deckbuilding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8ijQCd55hI You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 22 Jan 2024 | #104 - Prince or Pauper | 00:47:35 | |
This episode I am looking into what does it mean for a set to be prince or pauper and how do recent sets align with different definitions of that term. Because there are plenty definitions. Some will focus more on the power of rare cards, some on the power (or lack thereof) of the commons and uncommons. A data exploration episode - most useful if you want to spend some time thinking on how rarity shapes limited formats. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/bVMUfPwCIi4 This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 25 Jul 2024 | #127 - Draft archetype analysis for Bloomburrow with the Skeleton Crew | 02:39:13 | |
My traditional set review. Which is also a star-studded panel discussion. But instead of looking at individual cards, we look at the decks. How do we see decks in the upcoming format, what cards are we hopeful and what synergies excited about. My guests are: Jason Ye, a Pro Tour star and one of the brains behind the Slogurk decks. But we all know that in reality, Jason only wants is to develop quirky draft build-arounds. And you are in for a treat here! https://x.com/JasonILTG Adam (aka Ddavp) - don't get fooled by his joviality, there is a sharp and competitive mind behind the cordial exterior. And jokes that would make many-a-dad blush. https://twitter.com/adam_ddavp Springbok7 - a second time guest and already an integral part of the team. The level-headed member of the skeleton crew, internally tutting at our shenanigans. You can find them streaming on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/springbok7 Mike, AKA Tresio, this editions newcomer, but entering with a bang. Just showing how becoming a patron and putting some effort can connect you with the creator. Tresio started by asking me question for Magic Numbers episodes and now advanced to co-hosting the show. And pulled their weight fearlessly with some excellent takes! Follow them on https://x.com/tresio Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/MsFMWW3nVfo Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 16 Feb 2025 | #146: Aetherdrift: Early 17Lands.com draft data | 02:14:16 | |
New set and this time the rules of engagement changed. And early data tells that story very well. Avoid the traps and start winning by being ahead of the curve. Might come in handy - either on Arena, your LGS or, dare I say, upcoming PT. I go through all the colors, color pairs, highlighting key cards and adding some context and describing the game plans that seem to give good results. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #146 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount!If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 31 May 2024 | #120 - OTJ set re-review with Chord_o_Calls | 01:14:57 | |
This week me and Alex, AKA Chord_o_Calls, come back to our prerelease predictions of the OTJ set. We evaluated every card then - but how did our predictions pan out? This review is not design to pat ourselves on the back - we focus on mistakes and try to figure out why we made them. Do we have one-off issue or is there some systematic bias in how we assess the cards. This episode is key if you want to improve in card evaluation - might be useful with MH3 on the horizon. Yes. I went there. Alex is one of the leading limited brains on this planet. If you don't follow him or his podcast - Limited Level-Ups - you are missing out. Check out his YT to learn more!
Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw_7BqDU9sc Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 01 May 2023 | #76 - Learning from the best? | 01:47:53 | |
This episode I look at the data of different win rate user tiers on 17Lands.com. In 17L data you can look specific at top win rate players group, a bunch that has a ~60% win rate across multiple formats. What do those players do differently? What color pairs, cards are they high on compared to the rest of the users? How do they use battles compared to the rest? But aside from looking at the top users I am asking: is it always worth to try and copy best players and the way they draft? And my conclusion is: not necessarily. Some cards will play amazingly in the hands of a seasoned grinder, but players who are still learning can actually harm their win rate by trying to replicate best players' strategies. And data can point us to which cards can be trickier to use and which strategies are more accommodating to beginner level drafters. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/aY9fAt8GKO4 Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 10 Jan 2022 | #18 - The Art of Forcing | 00:59:35 | |
I look at Evidence Based Forcing: When and how to force decks, plus how to use data to do it in an organised fashion. Drafting the hard way is hard, but actually proper forcing is not easy either. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26QC8Vzgw9Y You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 05 Jul 2023 | #83 - Learning to Draft Lord of the Rings from Top Players | 01:29:13 | |
There are multiple good reasons why top players win more. A lot of it has to do with game play, but not everything. Learning how to navigate draft and evaluate cards is an easier way of boosting your win rate and drafting best cards and being able to pick the right lane will aid you also in improving your game play later. Here are some lessons from top 17Lands.com user data that will help you become a better limited player. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/L4h4dGahSWc Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 01 Mar 2025 | #147: Right homes for Aetherdrift cards in draft | 01:49:12 | |
Some cards are just great. They have it all - they fit like a glove to any deck you drafted. But some are amazing in one place, but a detriment elsewhere. The generic Win Rate metsrics for those cards can be misleading because they will be impacted by the cards bad performance in some decks so you won't see it is actually good in a more niche home.This week I look for those cards that have one home where they are great. Or decent. So you can start including them where they belong. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #147 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount!If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 22 Aug 2024 | #130 - Causal Magic with Shivam Bhatt | 01:19:23 | |
Today, a different episode. I started offering coaching, and to give you the insight into my method, I invited a Commander legend, Shivam. He told me he was struggling a bit with BLB draft (aren't we all) and wanted a second pair of eyes on his drafting. We go through his draft and try to identify where the potential problems lay. As it is Shivam, plenty of anecdotes in between, but eventually we identify some problems with his lane and hopefully - his next drafts will be better for it. You can find Shivam 24.7 on twitter - and it is a joy. A true oasis of positivity in the bitter world of Magic content creation. https://x.com/ghirapurigears If you are interested in coaching - ping me a message. On Discord. On Twitter. You can find my socials on https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbviD8zbFaU This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 05 Feb 2025 | #145: Aetherdrift Draft Skeletons with the Skeleton Crew | 02:48:03 | |
The Skeleton Crew is back!!! Me, Jason Ye, Zach Kagan and Jake Browne look at Aetherdrift and try to figure out what are the key themes / synergies and cards in the new set. This is our unique take on a set review where more attention is put on within-set synergies rather than individual card power. We go through all the colorpairs and try to see how we envision decks in those color pairs, what will be important for them and where we expect hits and misses. Watch it to get ready for your prerelease and when the set hits arena and receive the insight into our questionable sense of humor as a "bonus". And I am using the word "bonus " very loosely here. My guests are an exceptional bunch. Worth following them and here is where you can do it: Jason: https://bsky.app/profile/jasoniltg.bsky.social Zach: https://bsky.app/profile/zakagan.bsky.social Jake: https://bsky.app/profile/jakebrowne.com Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #145 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 04 Feb 2022 | #21 - When Two Become One | 01:35:54 | |
This week I look at the numbers behind Double Feature drafts on Arena based on 17Lands data. Which colour pairs do best, why splashing sometimes matters, what cards over and underperform, what are the top commons and uncommons for each colour and why. I also look at each colour pair and talk about best signpost, best cards and overachievers worth mentioning for (almost) each of them. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRLDgbY95RM You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 21 Aug 2023 | #86.5 - Arena Cube with Jean-Emmanuel Depraz | 02:38:25 | |
This episode was originally recorded in December 2022 but never appeared in the podcast feed. Now you can use it before the Arena Open this week as a unique window into the mind of one of the best (or looking at 17Lands.com data - the best) cube players in the world. Apart from iteration-specific arguments lots of general theory surrounding this format with someone who is a true expert theorist of the game and an all round nice person. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KeYwaMLuNU Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 16 May 2023 | #77 - Battle of the Battles | 01:04:26 | |
This episode I look at the data on the new card type. How many Battles should you play in your draft deck? Which ones are over and underperformers? What is the impact of the number of battles you have in your deck? And does it vary with color pair you are playing? And if so - why? Plenty to unpack but on top of everything I also had to somehow do this while my cat and my dog were, very aptly, fighting a battle against each other. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEEmCWTzt0s Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 06 Jun 2023 | #77 - Playing 5C in MOM Draft | 01:48:41 | |
5C strategies in Limited are undoubtedly fun. But they are also tricky to execute, hard to master and laden with mana issues, which lower your win rate. This episode I look at the 17Lands data of 4 and 5 color decks in MOM to try and figure out, what makes a 5C strategy tick. Key cards, how much fixing is enough, reasons to go 5C and traps associated with this approach. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyAednqwXVA Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 04 Apr 2023 | #72 - Lords in Limited | 01:03:48 | |
This week I look at the impact lords, creatures giving power and/or toughness bonuses to a tribe, give to the archetypes they are printed in. But that is not all, we look into week 2 of SIR and have a reverse engineering approach on the MOM spoilers. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMLfuhSIfY Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 11 Jan 2023 | #60 - Archetypist, BRO edition | 01:29:46 | |
This episode I look at the builds within each color pair. To do so a bit of maths was needed. I converted decks into numbers and plotted them based on what cards are inside. After that we look at the clusters of similar decks that win a bunch - this way by checking what is inside them we can figure out what makes them tick. Some color pairs have a one type of successful build, but some have multiple sub-archetypes that are very distinct from each other. Archetypist tool lets you figure that out on your own. The tool, made by Pekka Pulli, is available here: https://archetypist.netlify.app/ This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuerL0VL-7o Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 17 Jun 2024 | #122 - Personal Data with Paul Cheon | 01:59:10 | |
This week I have an immense pleasure of hosting a real legend and, if Magic were a country, a national treasure, Paul Cheon.
We look through the data of Paul to try to figure out what was essential to Paul's incredible win rate in OTJ. But wait, there's more. Anecdotes, stories, general insights, some thoughts on the upcoming format and many more.
I had fun recording, but after that I realised - while having fun and making silly guess games, we actually managed to create some pretty in-depth episode that, despite looking at OTJ specific, is very useful for your draft strategy independent of the format. With some universal thoughts on how to become better at limited in the unique but successful way that Paul's approach offers.
If you don't know Paul and his content, it is high time you got acquainted.
Paul's YT: https://www.youtube.com/@haumph Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pahfhcA52k Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 19 Mar 2022 | #27 - Marrying Your First Pick | 01:02:01 | |
Today I will be looking at differences between how late you will see cards in Pack 1 and Pack 3 of the draft. We will look at the 17Lands ALSA measure to find those differences. What is ALSA you might ask? Well I will describe it in detail and even visualize it. Looking at differences between P1 and P3 may seem unnecessarily deep, but there are big differences between how we draft pack 1 and pack 3 and knowing how it works could give you a nice edge. Which cards are almost ungettable in P1 but will travel further in P3? Which cards are relatively easy to get in P1 but get trickier to get in P3? I also look at the impact of playing your first pick. Do you get a boost from playing it or not? Spoiler: the boost is tiny, which means that all the advantages of sticking to your first pick are eaten by the drawbacks of forcing the 1st pick when you should pivot. I will also look at the anatomy of draft decks. Do trophy decks differ from others in terms of playing the first picks? Maybe they play more later picks? Well, only one way to find out. Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MVvuwXsNz6I Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 19 Sep 2024 | #133 - Duskmourn draft deck skeletons with the Skeleton Crew | 03:00:44 | |
Draft decks, not cards, they say. Why do we review cards before the set release then? Our unique take on reviewing a new sets is to talk about the big picture and based on those thoughts and discussions, we just build decks. Sometimes to show what designers want us to do, sometimes to show we can defy their goals and build something more off-piste. And what a "we" do we have. Jason and Ryan are qualified for the worlds and renowned limited specialists that managed to convert their draft skills to beat on puny constructed players. Springbok7 is a draft grinder extraaordinaire, Tresio rose through the ranks of my patrons to a staple of the skeleton crew. And me, without data, so mainly for comedic purposes and the 6-pack. You get a 3h extract of our take on the upcoming format - find neat synergies, discuss plans, point to key cards. All in time to prep you for the prereleases. Watch the episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/WUzbX_eoZgs You can find my panel here: https://www.twitch.tv/springbok7 And work of many others behind the scenes shouldn't go unnoticed This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 30 Aug 2023 | #87 - LTR Set Re-review with Trumpetman | 00:56:53 | |
In my opinion the most interesting part of set review is not the review itself, but returning to it after the format has passed and reevaluating your grades in order to see where did you miss, where did you hit and try to answer why this happened. This is why our set reviews with Trumpetman are designed in such a way as to easily reanalyse them after the format is done. They are linked to 17Lands.com win rates so we can see how large was our miss for each card. Today we look at our review performance for the LTR looking what trends do we observe - did our misses link to bad evaluation of one color, which cards are we most likely to miss on and why - all those questions will be answered. You can follow Trumpetman at https://twitter.com/Trumpetman__ Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbA8bw3ecVw Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 13 Mar 2024 | #111 - How to train a Pro Player in draft with Eduardo Sajgalik | 02:19:29 | |
This week I have a guest - a Pro Player, caster, Magic theorist Eduardo Sajgalik, AKA Walaoumpa and we talk about his role as the Limited coach for the Pro Tour team Worldly Counsel. What differences and similarities are there in coaching the cream of the crop of Magic players? How can you use their strategies in self improvement - all in the context of MKM draft. Plus a completely unscripted bonus part with some chat questions and analysis of the current format which is imho an amazing depth insight into the format. Give Eduardo a follow at https://twitter.com/Walaoumpa Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAm0eF9azXc Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 25 Nov 2024 | #140: Finding right homes for cards in FDN draft | 01:20:03 | |
There are some cards that are just great in Limited. You can jam them into any deck and be happy about it. Filling your whole deck with those must be nice. In reality, to find 23 playables we need to compromise a bit. Some cards will be below par. But with some knowledge you can make the most of that. Some cards can be great in one of the color pairs in the format but mediocre in others. Knowing that will help you in putting them only in the right home and thus maximising on their power. Other cards are the opposite - great in most color pairs, but significantly weaker in one. Imagine if W is aggressive in a format apart from WU decks which tend to be controlling. You can imagine cards that will be great in all W decks apart from WU and cards that are specifically great in WU. This is the plan for today's episode - sifting through all the common and uncommon cards in the set to find the ones that need a particular home. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/fz372F0oTzI This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 12 Sep 2024 | #131 - Personal data with Ekil | 01:58:23 | |
This week we are going to look at BLB draft through the lens of Ekil, a prolific limited streamer specialising in BO3 drafts. What does he do differently that the rest to win 73% of his games and all that while playing exclusively on stream? We go through his draft habits, look at color preferences and try to figure out what makes him successful. You can find Ekil on Twitter and Twitch: https://x.com/ekiltv https://www.twitch.tv/ekiltv Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Coaching is now available - reach out through any of those channels. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/JXRjzBZxM0k This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 08 Apr 2025 | #150: How to navigate 17Lands data in the early format? | 00:54:11 | |
Some meta stuff today. How to read data. What traps to avoid and what does data tell us about reading data. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: Episode #150 vid This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount!If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. | |||
| 10 Feb 2023 | #65 - Time to look at the very early ONE draft data from 17lands.com | 01:27:02 | |
I look at the speed of the format: is it lightning fast and what may be the reasons for it. I also look at color pair win rates and the rate they are played at. Are some color combinations hidden gems? Are the most played ones successful? On top of that I look at best commons and uncommons in each color and in each color pair. To be able to relentlessly mock myself (with a couple of taps on the back for good measure) I compare the current top 5 cards in the format with the top 3 lists I made before the release and speculate - why was I wrong in case of some cards I picked and why some cards did perform better than I predicted. I use the top cards so far to also try and figure out what do they have in common looking at potential mana curves you want to have in your deck and themes connecting top cards in the format. REMINDER: Early data is not perfect. Format didn't stabilise yet, and players don't always fully know how to build decks, early day opposition can be softer than the one later in the format, good cards go later than normal. All this impacts the data and introduces biases. Use early data as a tool to ask more questions, not as a source of absolute answers. Early data can prepare you to solve the format later, but it is by far not a solution itself. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8DdVmT0Ag Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 10 Mar 2022 | #26 - Aggro, Midrange, Control | 01:21:26 | |
Today I look at the early evolution of the Kamigawa draft format. How did Arena users' evaluations change over the first two weeks? What does it mean to your drafting? I also try a new method of quantifying if a deck is aggro, midrange or controlling and look at the colour combinations from that perspective to see what do they "want" to achieve. And I shed some light on the Neon Dynasty worst-kept secret. Look at that clickbait. Ok, it is about the numbers behind Kami of Terrible Secrets, I can't bait. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqjTgIhPYnc Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 28 Jun 2024 | #124 - Learning to draft according to your level | 01:39:11 | |
In all areas of life we know that learning process is a progression. You start with simpler tasks and as you get better, take on more complicated ones building on your growing skillset. But Magic often has universal advice to all players without taking the individual level characteristics into account. Todays episode will try to at least identify some trends between different win rate groups of players and find cards that are evaluated differently between then and cards that are having different win rates across those groups. Obviously all based on 17Lands.com and using Modern Horizons 3 as the dataset. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHWGPxfdjk Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 08 May 2024 | #117 - Learning to draft OTJ from top players | 01:52:22 | |
Some strategies in draft are easier to reproduce at any skill level than others. In this episode I look at the cards, color pairs and strategies that top 17Lands.com users mastered but the general population still struggles with. What are the secrets of the best players? How do they build the decks others struggle with? Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZhbzd_R4Aw Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 05 Mar 2022 | #25 - Breaking the Sealed | 01:15:24 | |
This week I look at the differences between NEO Draft and Sealed - which cards do differently, which cards to consider more carefully while building your pool. Apart from that, I look at the Artifact-Enchantment spectrum within the format. What are the optimal numbers of those two types in your deck, are there any trends in relation to the number of cards of those types you play? Based on that I also look at some of the interesting cards in Kamigawa and try to provide numbers that will help you decide whether you should play them or not. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeOO8Lb8ukU Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 01 Sep 2022 | Bonus Episode: Skeleton Crew, Dominaria United Edition | 03:41:03 | |
In this Episode me, SLKerstens, JasonILTG and Tajoordan discuss the DMU draft format before the release. We share our initial thoughts and draft deck archetypes we want to play with in the early days of the format. See the slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13xJrmt9KtlyIxxNhpDO8QHGDOfuYvLR5Fg-cjEoVjyE/edit?usp=sharing Find all things Serkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 01 Oct 2024 | #134 - Early 17Lands draft data for Duskmourn | 02:00:25 | |
New format, new learning curve, new possibilities. Today I look at the early data for DSK to try to figure out which cards are surprisingly good or worse than anticipated to give you that small edge in the new format. We go through some color pair data, looking at best commons, uncommons, cards that are sneakily good and cards that trap players into playing them when they probably shouldn't. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/s-s-3MdNJv4 This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business.
Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 18 Jun 2023 | #80 - MOM set review with Trumpetman revisited | 01:09:19 | |
Set reviews are tricky bits of content. Based on limited information, prone to errors and quickly out of date. This is exactly why me and Trumpetman designed out set review structure in such a way that we can easily confront our predictions with the reality. Since we predicted the win rate of cards, we can match our guesses with the end of the format results. This way we know exactly where were our biggest misses and where we were bang on. This episode is looking at our successes and failures and based on those we are trying to see what aspects of card evaluation we got wrong, how to improve the next time. The episode is particularly valuable for those of you who want to improve your card evaluation skills and understand how sets pan out. Trumpetman is a host of 40 Card College podcast (a must-hear content for all the Limited fans out there). You can follow him at https://twitter.com/Trumpetman__ Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loFjD_ual2U Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 10 Mar 2023 | #68 - Fast format, Furious players: Analysing the speed of ONE draft | 01:01:07 | |
Lot has been said about the unique speed of ONE draft format. But is there a good basis to vilify this format as something that is extremely fast? I look deep into format game length data and try to unravel what is driving the speed of ONE and how does it compare with other formats. I also look at the cards that allow you playing long games and what can be useful in making control decks in ONE limited. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p5BKxDVPco Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 30 Aug 2022 | #48 - Personal Data with Jamie Topples | 01:19:05 | |
This week we look at the personal data from BO3 HBG drafts of a streamer, podcast host and a limited grinder, Jamie Topples. With a tough season behind her, we are trying to see if the personal data explains her trials and tribulations in the Baldurs Gate. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/myMLJ69a_88 | |||
| 21 Jun 2022 | #39 - Theros Beyond Death Resurrected | 01:47:56 | |
Theros Beyond Death will soon be back to Premier Draft queues. What is the format about, what are the archetypes about and what does the data say about the winning strategies? Speed of the format, best cards in draft and how to avoid pitfalls of THB draft. All in a manageable 2 hour chunk. Check the YouTube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWorMx1f4wo Find all things Sierkovitz: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 21 Nov 2023 | #98 - Early Draft Data for Lost Caverns of Ixalan | 01:43:42 | |
This episode we look into the early draft data of the new format. Which colors started off strongly, which cards make each archetype tick. I look into each color pair and talk about best common and uncommon, hidden gems in each archetype (cards that surprised me or cards that still go late in the draft but perform very well), and traps (cards that look like they should fit in but data suggests they don't). Based on those I try to analyse what makes each color pair tick and what doesn't to give you an early boost in LCI drafts. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCjv0VQZBcI Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 25 Jul 2024 | #126 - MH3 set re-review with Chord_o_Calls | 01:32:12 | |
As with every set, at the end of the format me and Chord_o_Calls come back to the grades we gave each card in the format and see how far off were the grades from the card's actual performance. Did we nail our pre-release predictions? If not - where were the most mistakes? Were there any trends in colors, rarity? And with that information we try to speculate - what went wrong and what were right, so we can improve our card evaluation for the next time. Alex is one of the leading limited brains on this planet. If you don't follow him or his podcast - Limited Level-Ups - you are missing out. Check out his YT to learn more! Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/MsFMWW3nVfo Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332
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| 15 Dec 2023 | #100 - Khans of Tarkir with Ben Seck | 02:29:05 | |
This week we look at the new set on Arena: Khans of Tarkir. Is it new though? Released in 2014, Khans is considered to be an all-time best draft set by many Limited experts. But 2014 is the time I was happily retired from Magic, so in order to get some valuable information and correct me where I am wrong in my evaluations, I invited a multi-Limmie award winning magic historian and pro player, Ben Seck. Yes. THE Ben Seck. You may and even should know him from being a regular guest in Limited Resources, the episodes where they talk about older sets. The result is a 2h talk on KTK, Limited in general, differences in set design over the years, mechanics, predictions and many more. I couldn't have wished for a better way to celebrate my 100th episode. You can find Ben on Twitter: twitter.com/TBSdash Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbfX_QNrvEE This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Discord: https://discord.gg/druhnK8yXn Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 14 Nov 2023 | #97 - Draft Primer for Lost Caverns of Ixalan | 01:41:03 | |
This week we look at the upcoming set: how will the synergies play out, what do I consider good and bad before we dive into proper drafting. Where can you find some synergies and how to theory craft a Caves deck. Plus a couple of cute two card combos you might be interested in! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. There is a companion article to this primer that talks about all the removal in the set - make sure to visit it: Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCjv0VQZBcI Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 11 Apr 2022 | #30 - Drafting the Chord way with Alex Nikolic | 02:20:38 | |
This week I have a special guest, Alex Nikolic, AKA Chord_o_Calls. A streamer, podcaster, great limited player and, imho the best card evaluator in the game. I got all his 17Lands data, analysed them and this episode is a great reveal. I show Alex what I learned from his data, we compare self-perception to numbers, and explore the uncharted world of personal M:tG data. We look at the totality of limited data range, from color preferences before the draft starts, through 1st pick preferences, pick orders, deck staples and cards never played, up to mulliganning trends and individual card personal win rates of Alex. I had a blast and Alex was on fire, which makes for a great episode, something I will rarely say about my own creations. If you are interested in potential of personal data - this is what you were looking for. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxEhRoefHXg Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 28 Jan 2023 | #62 - Black Magic: Exploring the personal data of Sam Black | 01:13:12 | |
This week I look at the personal data of the one and only Sam Black. we look at Brother's War through his drafts. What was his approach towards the format, what cards made it possible. Sam possibly discovers a new type of deck by thinking about his BRO draft decks - mid-term. A deck that can't win early, loses longer games but is excellent in winning the games in the middle stages due to being powerful enough to deal with controls and out-resourcing aggro (which makes it different from mid-range, which can switch between aggressive and controlling strategies and has both early and late game. Tapping into Sam's expertise is a roller-coaster but with a rational train of thought. It is also a good way of reflecting on your BRO season and on what went well and maybe less well for you. You can find Sam at: twitch.tv/samuelhblack and twitter.com/samuelhblack This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZrVR12fs_c Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 13 Aug 2024 | #129 - Why top Limited players win more? Bloomburrow Edition | 01:49:13 | |
Some players win more consistently. Surely there is more to that than pure luck? I look at the data of the top 17Lands.com users from Bloomburrow BO1 draft to try to see - what cards do they prioritise and what cards do they win more with. And try to speculate why that might be so. But wait, there's more! Some cards are generically good and will make the vast majority of decks they are in better. Some cards are more niche. Bloomburrow being a typal synergy decks has some not-so-secret gold cards - cards that work in only one archetype, but not another. But it is not alway obvious. There are "false friends" among us. Some Racoons secretly want to be played with Mice. Some Bats are Lizards in disguise. I go through most commons and uncommons and using data try to figure out best homes from them. And worst homes for what it is worth. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/MvR7clSuFIg This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 16 Jun 2024 | #121 - Modern Horizon Draft Archetype Skeletons | 03:07:32 | |
New set preview time. Me, Jason Ye and a newcomer Springbok7 look at the MH3 and try to predict how each color combination would look like. Instead of traditional card review, we look at the set's fundamentals and build a skeleton of a deck using realistic assumptions (some rares, some uncommons, lots of commons) for each color pair. Plus many bonuses that include:
And yet still thanks to the sheer quality of my guests this remains one of the defining pieces of content before the release of any set. You can find my guests online elsewhere and you would be well-advised to do so. Jason: https://www.experimentalsynthesizer.b/... Springbok: https://twitch.tv/springbok7 Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at https://www.bulkbox.co.uk/store/ if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pahfhcA52k Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 26 Mar 2024 | #113 - Playing multicolor in MKM draft | 02:00:18 | |
In the late stages of the season it is nice to keep things fresh. And drafting a unique multicolor pile of cards might be the new lookout on the format you need to rejuvenate your interest in MKM. But 5 color decks on average have one significant problem. They tend to win less. Today's episode will look at how to make sure your multicolor deck is good. Which cards are essential, how much mana fixing do you need - I look in some detail to all those questions. On top of that, I use this episode to try and answer some more general questions related to multicolor decks. Like what is a better strategy: having a balanced 5C deck with each colors represented evenly, or a lopsided deck - when one color is dominant and other colors act as a support. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/XYAMUhMJcrA Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 02 Aug 2023 | #85 - Figuring out draft game plans using data | 01:25:29 | |
The biggest level up from a decent drafter to a great one is realising that drafting good cards is not enough to become an exceptional player. Truly great drafters are able to sacrifice power for synergy and know exactly when to do it and when not to. This ability lets you get more out of the cards in your decks and win games because of those synergistic interactions and consistent goals and plans across every card in your deck. But easier said than done. Today I look at the ways to use game data from 17Lands.com in order to figure out, what are the plans for different archetypes and how to use that data to improve your understanding of different archetypes and individual cards. This episode is particularly data-heavy, so if you want to look through the graphs, I made the slides accessible to all, find them here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/slides-for-magic-86086797 Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzM0Ehn7p7w Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 06 Nov 2023 | #95 - WOE set re-review with Trumpetman | 01:06:46 | |
Going back to original set review and re-evaluating it based on how the set played out is an under-appreciated activity. Me and Trumpetman come back to our pre-release evaluations and try to look at cards we got wrong, and speculate why. Which cards are harder to predict, which ones are easy and why - we try to answer those questions based on our successes and failures from WOE. Just in time to draw some lessons on card evaluation for the LCI set coming out on Friday.
Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://youtu.be/2KOn_SOr1Qs Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 18 Oct 2023 | #93 - Navigating WOE drafts | 01:16:42 | |
Players focus a lot on how to build a deck, but i think most improvement in win rate for starter/intermediate players that is easy to achieve comes through good draft navigation. This week I give some (hopefully) useful tips on how picks differ depending on the pack number, which picks will make your deck more frequently. I also talk about learning how to wheel specific cards - how to select the card as your pick 1 in such a way, that you give yourself a good chance of getting another decent card as your pick 9 from the same pack. We also answer some Patron questions! Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF6pYSmwE9g Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 15 Apr 2022 | #31 - Why do we want to be on the play? | 00:51:11 | |
This week I look at the advantage of being on the play. Why do we win more when on the play, why starting gives you the advantage in later game and how does this advantage look like depending on the game length. Choosing to be on the play is a good heuristic, but I also look at when would it be theoretically good to choose to go second. And try to use 17Lands data to find decks that would, at least in theory, be better off going second. What types of cards are leading to those types of deck? What is the density of those types of cards that would prompt you to go second? In the end I show a simple model that lets you decide exactly that. Still in majority of cases you should chose to go first, but roughly 13% of decks are at least as good on the draw as on the play. In Best-of-3 this means you can get an extra edge as your opponent would typically choose to be on the play. This means you will always end up starting the game in a privileged position. I also look at the specific analysis of Azusa's Many Journeys, the card that inspired me to do this analysis. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fImR8FDq7BQ Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 11 Feb 2024 | #107 - Cooking Limited Decks at Karlov Manor | 01:12:52 | |
Magic has surprisingly lot of similarities to cooking and today, we are moving to haute cuisine. Deck-building theory-crafting. While waiting for the new set to be released I spend an amount of time I can't really excuse thinking about build-arounds in this formats. All those thoughts can't go to waste so this week we are looking at how I imagine some potentially fun off-piste decks in this format. Lot of it is theoretical, but aside from this, I lay out a framework for anyone on how to approach limited theory crafting. A great excercise to improve your Limited skills without spending a single gem. I look at three separate builds. One centered around Insidious Roots, Golgari enchantment that generates Plant tokens and grows them as creatures leave your graveyard. The second one is trying to turn Case File Auditor and Case of the Shattered Pact from a 5 color dream to a 5 color reality. Thirdly I look at how to make UR artifact sacrifice built around a powerful combo of the Case of the Filched Falcon and Gleaming Geardrake that lets you attack for 5 in the air on turn 3. But how to make that deck resilient when you don't draw the combo? We also talk a bit about Arena Economy, but following my philosophy of learning from the best - why not look at this article I mentioned in the seminar that dives deep into how to make Arena cheaper to play: https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Magic/Insight/Articles/inside-the-new-arena-economy Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/71ekmv-eRlM Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 15 Jan 2024 | #103 - Revisiting LCI set review with Chord_O_Calls | 01:05:26 | |
This week I am joined by Limited content behemoth, Chord_O_Calls AKA Alex Nikolic to talk about out set reviews for LCI from the perspective of an almost finished format. I was always thorn about set reviews. On the one hand, they are useful to get accustomed to cards before the format starts, but on the other, they are frequently based on wild speculations and - to my knowledge - rarely scrutinized for their accuracy. To change that, my set reviews are reversed. I invite a guest and review the set with them but do not release it. Instead of that, our grades wait locked up for the format to end. Then we can see what we got wrong and right. Where are the typical mistakes and how can we avoid them in the future. And who to do it better than one of the best card evaluators in the business? See how we did and what we missed in LCI. Also - this is a sort of a send off of the format - in wait for the previews to hit. You can find Alex on Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTR35T-8rdU This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 04 Mar 2024 | #109 - Learning to draft MKM from the top players through data | 01:28:25 | |
Limited is hard. You need to be at a decent level of playing, know what is going on in the format, be able to build a coherent deck. Starting to draft can be a scary process. You get so much advice that is unintuitive, conflicting, confusing. A part of that is: advice is usually targeted at a particular group of players, but that group is rarely specified. Not today though. I look at the data from different win rate groups of players and try to tailor the advice to people whose win rate is slightly lower than the groups I talk about. You win ~50% of your games? No problem - look at what people winning 55% do differently from you. Winning 55% of the games already? Take a peek at the differences between your cohort and people winning 60% of their games. Winning 60%? No worries - look at some details of what your peers do and try to find your weakness. Hopefully seeing what types of cards better players prefer and thinking about why do they prefer them will aid you in your development as a drafter and make the process of learning to play Limited less scary. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAm0eF9azXc Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 03 Dec 2022 | #58 - Navigating new format data in limited | 01:22:39 | |
Early format is the best time for hot takes and sweeping statements. Keeping that in mind I dedicate this episode to show what are the dangers of hot takes and sweeping statements and how to look at the early format in a more granular, subtle way. In the second part I look at the data from all the 10 color pairs. Which cards are the stars, which ones are traps, are there any hidden gems you should consider drafting higher. Lots of hot takes and absolute statements so you can later copy them with conviction! Sponsored by mtgazone.com. Check out my articles at https://mtgazone.com/authors/sierkovitz Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/eRWfEQjqpdg Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 11 Apr 2023 | #73 - Personal Data with Numot the Nummy | 01:22:42 | |
This week I had a great pleasure to have a very special guest: Numot the Nummy. A streamer extraordinaire, with Pro Tour credentials and most importantly, a limited specialist. We looked at Numot's ONE data - a format he didn't like and performed somewhat under par for his standard (still an insane win rate of over 60%, but some people have higher standards than that). Which cards did he overdraft, which cards did he value too low, which cards proved successful in his builds? All of that available in the seminar. We also learned that Numot is a true "drafting the hard way" drafter - unlike my many previous guests, and applies that approach to a great success, so if you think you, like me, use preferences in draft a little bit too much, it is worth looking at this episode and following Numot to see how he does it. You can find him at https://www.twitch.tv/numotthenummy or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NumotTheNummy And if you still don't, I highly recommend it. He was an awesome, well informed and generous guest, and his streams are among the best in business. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/4rYDlC5Qf8U Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 07 Apr 2022 | #29 - I contain multitudes: Win rates and copy numbers | 01:31:53 | |
This episode I am talking about the effect a copy number of a card has on its win rate. All based on 17Lands data for Kamigawa Neon Dynasty. Which cards are best as one-offs, which ones you want as many as you can and everything in between. But the episode is not only NEO-specific. I am trying to see which types of cards (e.g combat tricks, graveyard recursion) fall predominantly to a certain category, so that in future sets you can try and apply those findings directly, before enough data is collected. On top of that I looked at all the data related to Okiba Salvage - my pet bad card of the set. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww_6Z466lfw Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 18 Nov 2024 | #139: Early 17Lands.com draft data for Foundations | 01:29:19 | |
New set, new data. How to position yourself well in a new format? Get the best available card evaluations as early as possible. And that is the aim of this episode. I will look at each color pair through the lens of the key card - surprising hits, reliable performars and shocking duds. Plenty of cards in each category will be discussed throughout the episode. Hopefully with this information you will be ready to trophy more and outplay those who rely on guesswork and intuition. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/aWoTNGMbq7E This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 08 May 2022 | #34 - Halo World | 01:35:17 | |
This time we look at the new limited format of the Streets of New Capenna. Which color combinations are the most successful? Which color combinations are the most open? How to build a good mana base for the 3 color decks popular in the format? Which cards are the format all stars, and which ones over-perform in a particular color combination. All answered by exploring the data from ~23 000 drafts and nearly 150k games. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz5SQXIZoFE Find all things Sierkovitz: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 26 Oct 2023 | #94 - Personal Data of Pasta Pirate | 01:26:29 | |
This week we look at the data of the most drafting person in 17Lands - which almost certainly means, most drafting person on Arena, period. Pasta Pirate does an average of 9-10 drafts a day. What can we learn from his data? What can he learn from it himself? Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKGtbn2PEGw Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 21 Apr 2023 | #75 - First Look at MOM draft data | 01:40:11 | |
New format is upon us and first day data, even if based on smaller sample sizes is an excellent way of getting an edge over less invested players by identifying best colors, color pairs, cards that surprised and disappointed us in the first few days. And guess what? That is exactly what I will be talking about today. Get your edge against the people who ignore the draft data. But pretty please - do not fall into a trap of thinking that early data means the format is solved. Those are excellent indications but if you don't approach them flexibly, you may fall into a trap of not evolving with the format as a player. Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format. https://youtu.be/8fp2oRrfk08 Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 05 Nov 2024 | #137 - Advanced DSK drafting | 01:04:33 | |
So, you have your Boros aggro and UW Eerie decks nailed to a fine detail? But perhaps recently the wins are not coming as easy as they did early season? Don't worry - I got you covered there. We will loook at the data of top 17Lands.com users and try to figure out what do they do differently to sustain a solid win rate throughout the format. And what strategies do they lean onto as the well with the best decks dries out because the knowledge of their strength becomes universal. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/s-s-3MdNJv4 This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 01 Feb 2024 | #106 - Murders at Karlov Manor Draft Skeletrons | 02:15:10 | |
Me, JasonILTG, Tajoordan and DDAVP look at the upcoming set and try to figure out how would we want a deck in each color pair to look like. To do so we first explore the format synergies and the cards we like and later assemble them in simple limited deck with some reasonable limitations (1-2 rares, 6-8 uncommons and rest just commons). Check this out if you are prepping for the prerelease and want to exercise your brain before the format hits Arena. My esteemed guests are all accomplished limited players: JasonILTG - https://twitter.com/jasoniltg Check out their site with some great articles: experimentalsynthesizer.blog/articles Adam AKA DDAVP - https://twitter.com/adam_ddavp And Tajoordan: They all stream so check their links in their Twitter bios. Slides for this episode are available for everyone at https://www.patreon.com/posts/slides-for-106-97522251 so you can look through our builds in your own time, or even modify them Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 03 Nov 2022 | #54 - Data? Tada! | 01:03:39 | |
Dominaria United full data hit a bit late in the season but still it is interesting to look at the data even late in the season as they show a format so different from any other. This episode I look at the new tutoring data from 17lands.com, rank the kicker spells - which ones don't need to be kicked, should be kicked and work best when you can reliably kick it every time, preferably in a 2 color deck? I also look at how important being 5 color it was for each domain card. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP8RV-k2DGw Sponsored by mtgazone.com so please give them a visit! Find all things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie | |||
| 11 Nov 2024 | #138: DSK Set Re-review with Chord_O_Calls | 01:20:34 | |
Set reviews are fun but what exasctly do they bring to the table? We grade cards, we speculate wildly and life moves on. This set review is different. We graded the cards before the set was released, and are coming back to our initial grading after the dust has settled. Me, and Alex, AKA Chord_o_Calls use this re-review to learn - what typpes of cards do we miss on? What trends we had during the grading? How can we use our failures to improve the next time? Card evaluation is a skill that can be worked on and it yields results. Hope this episode will help you improving your grading skills. You can find Alex on twitter: twitter.com/Chord_O_Calls Or listen to his excellent podcast, Limited Level-Ups, which you can find on your podcast app or on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@limitedlevel-ups Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/s-s-3MdNJv4 This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. You can get the BulkBox at if you are in the UK. Remember to use SIERKO10 code for a 10% discount! If you are outside of UK, you can find your local distributor on the BulkBox website. Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||
| 20 Jul 2023 | #84 - Reading Signals in Draft | 01:35:31 | |
Drafts are hard. There is plenty going on and to navigate it well, you need to think not only of your own deck, but about what are other people doing. In limited content you will often hear that something is a signal - but what are signals exactly? And how can you read and interpret them? And perhaps more importantly - do signals mean anything and can you draw some actionable conclusions from reading them? I immersed myself in 17Lands.com data for 2 weeks trying to answer those questions and here is a summary of what I found. This episode is particularly data-heavy, so if you want to look through the graphs, I made the slides accessible to all, find them here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/slides-for-magic-86086797 Patreon: https://patreon.com/sierkovitz to get extra access, perks and the good feeling of supporting my work. This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Reminder: This podcast is a recording of a stream, which relies heavily on graphics. Check the youtube recording of it to see any graphs that are hard to imagine in the audio-only format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkT96MOgYU Find all other things Sierkovitz here: https://linktr.ee/sierkovitz Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 Ft: Mana Junkie
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| 19 Mar 2024 | #112 - Revisiting MKM set review witch Chord_o_Calls | 01:39:11 | |
This week we look back at the... BUT WAIT, WHO IS IT behind me with the steel chair!!!! Yes, Alex Nikolic AKA Chord_o_Calls came to visit me all the way from Canada and we used that time to record our set rereview. Set reviews are fun - you can speculate about which cards and colors are good, gives you the opportunity to think about the upcoming format. But usually noone comes back to them. Not us. Our main driving force in playing Magic is continuous improvement. And what better way to improve at card evaluation than see where you got it wrong and wonder why? We look at the cards we missed in evaluation, but, perhaps more importantly, at more general trends - which colors did we underestimate consistently, which colors did we (ok, mainly me) grossly overestimate. I am looking at you black. But this is not only an excercise in card evaluation. MKM proved to be a really good format, and I still draft it regularly. Looking at it through the lens of our review you get a good summary of how our understanding of the set evolved and get some good tips in playing it in the late format. If you don't follow Alex - grave mistake. He is one of the best Limited (imho THE best) educators so check out his YT, Twitter and Podcast. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! This podcast is sponsored by mtgazone.com - get your reading fix from the best and brightest Magic writers in the business. Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmPFetpCAww Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332 | |||