
This week I look into Pick Two draft. Since its introduction it has become a popular variant of Magic, both because of how fast it is, how little it costs and a relatively OK payout structure. So what does it change in drafting and what does having 12 packs in the pod change in the resulting decks? I started offering coaching on Metafy! Go to my profile to see what's on offer! Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: 193
Sep 11
1 hr 11 min

The format has stabilised after 2 weeks of turmoil and now is the time to actually look for solutions. And to do it, you better know what cards make which types of decks and which cards fool you into playing them. I look at all the cards in the set and see what are the best homes for them and while we do it, we discover the rules governing the Hobbit draft. I started offering coaching on Metafy! Go to my profile to see what's on offer! Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: 192
Aug 26
3 hr 5 min

New set, new rules of engagement. How to use the early draft data to understand the latest Magic expansion limited format? General set stats, color power, what makes each color pair tick and what are the traps to avoid. I started offering coaching on Metafy! Go to my profile to see what's on offer! Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: 191
Aug 16
2 hr 1 min

Welcome to my eccentric, deck-centric set review. I look at some general stats for the new set, and fed with that information, set out to build functional draft deck and theory craft how the set might look like in the future. Am I right? Am I wrong - only time will tell. But I can guarantee you will get some nutritious food for thought in your own prep for the new format. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: 190
Aug 11
2 hr 6 min

Format is now well developed and the pick orders stopped evolving - so it is time to start solving a static environment. And what better way to do it that re-evaluation of every card in the set? I look at each card and see how it performs in every color combination where data is available. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #189
Jul 9
2 hr 52 min

New format, new opportunities. We can start discovering the secrets of the MSH set, but you've got to start somewhere - and where better than with the early 17Lands data? We look at set statistics, color power levels, best cards at each rarity, key cards and biggest traps in each color pair. This should prepare you for your LGS and get you ready to explore the more subtle interactions and niche builds later in the format - in the end you can't do that without some solid fundamentals. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #188You 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
Jun 29
2 hr 4 min

Few days before the new set releases on Arena - why not see our vision of draft format before starting to draft? Our eccentric, deck-centric set review is back. We look at format stats, design vision and then instead of grading individual cards we propose 40 card decks skeletons to showcase what we see in each color pair. This time we have Tresiohttps://x.com/Tresio/and Rosemary Teahttps://x.com/TheRosemaryTea/And we are in for an interesting discussion. MSH looks like a jazz improvisation set rather thn paint-by-numbers drafting prevalent in the last few sets and I am all in for it. It is also a polar opposite of SOS - a creature and permanent centered design after instant and sorcery themed SOS so expect to re-evaluate your evaluations. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #187You 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
Jun 21
3 hr 55 min

This week we are trying something new. A journal club. And the reason for it is very simple - there are not that many Magic-related scientific papers out there. But last week Jess Williams and Zev Goldhaber-Gordon released a very interesting paper on opening hands, land percentages, mulliganing and mana flood. I invited both authors to talk about their findings and what implications they have for Magic players. We will be talking about BO3 mulligan rates, links between player win rate and mulligan rate, causes for any trends in that. We will also look at a neat method of estimating optimal land composition, and impact of both mana screw and flood. Jess and Zev are both PhD students with impressive scientific pedigree, but also Magic players with notable successes under their belts, so they combine the rigour needed for those sorts of analyses with understanding of the game. You can follow them here:Jess Williams: https://x.com/mtg_jessZev Goldhaber-Gordon: https://bsky.app/profile/zergog.bsky.socialAnd - most importantly find the paper here in its simplified version (the link to the full paper can be found in there too):https://medium.com/@mtg_jess/opening-hand-evaluation-in-limited-executive-summary-8360a819e2e6Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #186You 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
Jun 15
1 hr 42 min

This week we say goodbye to SOS and sending it off through testing some new deck clustering approach. This time it is capable of distinguishing sub-color pair builds. And this opens new possibilities of analysing limited data. What happens when a color(pair) is not open? Can we see the symptoms of drfting based on the 1st picks? I think that we can. The method I used here is experimental but based on this pilot run, I will incorporate it (and much earlier in the format) for other sets. Key aspect of this episode is testing the novel approach so be generous with comments and suggestions!Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #185You 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
Jun 9
1 hr 48 min

Card win rates can be misleading if you don't look at them with some amount of granularity. Two color pairs have a very different base win rate? Card played in both can look middling. Card is only good in one color pair but is routinely played in many? Win rate can look bad. To start correctly assessing card power using data to add extra context is crucial. And if you do it well, you might discover some plans for each color pair that will otherwise remain hidden. Today you can see which card from SOS plays well in which of the colleges. But I will also show you how looking at the win rates of Strixhaven Skycoach and supplementing it with knowledge of the format can point you to less obvious conclusions related to the format. Ping me for coaching. Join the Discord, sign up for Patreon, and use this Linktree for everything else! Watch this episode on YT: Episode #184You 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
May 12
2 hr 15 min
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