Tips and advice for a new player

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13

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  • TheDragonHermit
    TheDragonHermit Posts: 465 Mover and Shaker
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    Still chasing DH and NP, a lot harder to get them when their set isn't for sale.
  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    Which PWs are best for Cycling?
  • hawkyh1
    hawkyh1 Posts: 780 Critical Contributor
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    ElvaanStrider said:
    Which PWs are best for Cycling?

    imo kiora

    HH
  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    Wish I was confident before. I didn't play the Trial of Ambition the first day so in only 24 hours I finished 61st with 111 points. HATE that I missed the free booster :(


  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    hawkyh1 said:
    ElvaanStrider said:
    Which PWs are best for Cycling?

    imo kiora

    HH
    Is this why Kiora is highly recommended by everyone or are there other positives?
  • hawkyh1
    hawkyh1 Posts: 780 Critical Contributor
    edited October 2017
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    new perspectives, drake haven and shefet monitor
    are some of the best cards that support the use of
    cycling. those cards are both blue and green. the
    choice of blue and green is either kiora or nissa3.
    imo kiora should be slightly more flexible when
    playing cycling that can also hit event objectives.
    kiora is flexible + her colours suit cycling.

    HH
  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    I'm convinced my first dual-color PW should be Kiora, regardless if I can Cycle or not.
  • shteev
    shteev Posts: 2,031 Chairperson of the Boards
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    ElvaanStrider said:
    hawkyh1 said:
    ElvaanStrider said:
    Which PWs are best for Cycling?

    imo kiora

    HH
    Is this why Kiora is highly recommended by everyone or are there other positives?
    Kiora has the best color combination in the game; green provides fast mana, support removal, (and, if you're lucky enough, Gaea's Revenge, one of the best threats in the game); and blue provides everything else. Additionally, all three of Kiora's abilities are powerful and relevant to the game... and green's tendancy to create a lot of green matches also creates a lot of loyalty for you to use them.

    Much like paper magic, blue always seems to have the most broken cards, from Thopter Spy Network in Origins and Prism Array in BFZ, through to Baral in KLD and NewPs+Draven in AKH.

    Interestingly, when Tezzeret 2 came along, it looked like he'd knock Kiora off her top spot as best PW in the game, but the introduction of Standard knocked his power down a hell of a lot... which is not to say he's not still really powerful, just that, well, he's less powerful than when he's able to play both Behold the Beyond and Startled Awake. Without certain uber-power cards to push him over the edge, his failings became more obvious; his abilities are kinda weak, and he has no support removal.
  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
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    @ElvaanStrider If you want to see stat gains and other info, including max level loyalty skill check out @octal9's website.

    https://beta.mtgpq.info/planeswalker/ 

    Also, if you switch tabs you have the best resource available to MTGPQ players.  You can view all of the cards in the game, plenty of sorting and searching features including standard format.   

    Can't believe I didn't think to mention this site before. I go there at least 2-3 times per day. (Sorry for the lite usage of recent Octal9!)


  • Mainloop25
    Mainloop25 Posts: 1,934 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Nissa, Steward of the Elements. Her abilities are  tailored to take advantage of cycling, but Kiora's abilities are more evergreen. 
  • babar3355
    babar3355 Posts: 1,128 Chairperson of the Boards
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    If you are prioritizing planewalkers I would go:

    Kiora, Saheeli Rai, Nahiri (or Adjani 1), Dovin Bane, and probably Ob Nixilis.  This would get you a very versatile group with coverage of the wheel.  This will allow you to compete in PvE and all of the PvP events.

    But that's a LOT of crystals.  Regardless, I would buy either Kiora or Nissa, Steward of elements first and then not bother leveling Nissa 1 or Jace 1.  These are 2 of the weakest starter walkers and not worthy of your runes =)

  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    I'm leveling Jace1 and Nissa1 to 26 for their abilities and that's all.

    On a side note, almost beat Jace in the hard challenge at the far end of the Story page with my level 22 Chandra. Would have won, but ran out of damage Spells :(
  • Mainloop25
    Mainloop25 Posts: 1,934 Chairperson of the Boards
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    I'd say in the early stage, it's better to chase the planeswalkers that fit your collection the best until you are able to grow your collection easier. For example, if you can score New Perspectives, i would definitely advise you to buy planeswalkers who can take advantage of it, such as Kiora, N3, Tezz2, Jace2 etc. 
  • hawkyh1
    hawkyh1 Posts: 780 Critical Contributor
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    enshrouding mists is really good fun when used
    in a gideon battle forged defend deck.

    HH
  • madwren
    madwren Posts: 2,227 Chairperson of the Boards
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    shteev said:
    ElvaanStrider said:
    hawkyh1 said:
    ElvaanStrider said:
    Which PWs are best for Cycling?

    imo kiora

    HH
    Is this why Kiora is highly recommended by everyone or are there other positives?
    Kiora has the best color combination in the game; green provides fast mana, support removal, (and, if you're lucky enough, Gaea's Revenge, one of the best threats in the game); and blue provides everything else. Additionally, all three of Kiora's abilities are powerful and relevant to the game... and green's tendancy to create a lot of green matches also creates a lot of loyalty for you to use them.

    Much like paper magic, blue always seems to have the most broken cards, from Thopter Spy Network in Origins and Prism Array in BFZ, through to Baral in KLD and NewPs+Draven in AKH.

    Interestingly, when Tezzeret 2 came along, it looked like he'd knock Kiora off her top spot as best PW in the game, but the introduction of Standard knocked his power down a hell of a lot... which is not to say he's not still really powerful, just that, well, he's less powerful than when he's able to play both Behold the Beyond and Startled Awake. Without certain uber-power cards to push him over the edge, his failings became more obvious; his abilities are kinda weak, and he has no support removal.

    All of this is pretty dead on.  

    Kiora's ability to control a match is second to none. By combining the overpoweredness of blue with easy mana acceleration and three incredible abilities, Kiora has a history of breaking the game.  Nissa3 is probably better specifically for cycling, but she lacks the post-cycling relevance of Kiora.  

  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    madwren said:

    Nissa3 is probably better specifically for cycling, but she lacks the post-cycling relevance of Kiora.  

    I'm not one for putting all my hopes into one strategy, if the Cycle gets broken I'd rather have Kiora's abilities than Nissa3's
  • Mainloop25
    Mainloop25 Posts: 1,934 Chairperson of the Boards
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    Both Kiora and Nissa3 are such an improvement over the basic green and blue pw's that you can't go wrong with either. I say go with whoever is in the vault first after you save enough crystals. But just get both if you can, and you won't have to worry about blue or green nodes again. I pretty much use those two exclusively for those nodes. 
  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    Either way, I'll be borderline ready to tier up to Silver when I buy a new PW. I'm already winning every match that I can (massive AI cascades and/or drawing 6+ Spells/Supports in a row are 90% of my losses).
  • span_argoman
    span_argoman Posts: 751 Critical Contributor
    edited October 2017
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    ElvaanStrider said:
    Gilesclone said:
    Skip Trial of the Planes until you hit platinum. The other events are all good experience. 
    Even though you get a pack with a single win? 

    I did the White event yesterday, got my pack and thought I "broke even".

    Hey ElvaanStrider, welcome to MtGPQ. Looks like I'm late to the party. I see @Sarahschmara has linked you up with my guide for new players. Let me know if you want clarifications on any of the information in there.

    Many of the players have given good advice on planeswalkers, how to progress and how best to spend Crystals. I'd say focus more on Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation packs as these will stay Standard-legal for longer than the other packs.

    The Weekly Bundle is currently not available in the Vault due to the developer handover, so Premium Packs are the best option for spending Crystals at this point.

    If you want a more in-depth explanation on why you shouldn't be taking part in Trial of the Planes as yet, do take a look at this guide.

    Also just a note that the jump from Bronze to Silver seems to require the biggest adjustment for most players. You can go from easily winning in Bronze to struggling to win in Silver in Training Grounds if you lack a decently wide base of cards to deal with the tricks you'll face in Silver.

    Silver to Gold still takes some adjusting to but Gold to Platinum is mostly just getting better rewards if you were already doing well in Gold.

    All in all, hope you enjoy your time here!
  • ElvaanStride
    ElvaanStride Posts: 62 Match Maker
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    Thank you for the response @span_argoman, you seem to be one of the knowledge-keepers here by your reputation.

    I'm getting the hang of everything quite well, have a solid plan going forward and now just need to accumulate cards and Crystals. 
    --------
    My Plan (in no particular order):

    Level my PWs to 26, Chandra to 27
    Accumulate 695 Crystals to get Kiora
    Login bonus and get 4 wins in Training Ground DAILY
    Participate in Events to the best of my ability and aim for booster reward levels
    Accumulate at least 500 cards and have a viable Cycle deck before tiering to Silver

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