1

(5 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Man, I really hate to report this, but not only has this been done, it's been done as a web version!

Haha, at least I have something to use as a precedent now.

http://deckstats.net/

Either way, thanks for the input folks.

Edit: Actually at first glance that web app is wrong. They simply multiply the odds together, they don't actually use the equations necessary for genuine probability. My project continues!

2

(5 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I would love to see a web version

Yeah a web version would be ideal, but unfortunately the only language I know is C++. Once I get this thing up and running as a standalone program I'll take on a web-based language and see what I can do.

something like wahts on tapped out click a deck click card odds and get

That system is a fine example of what drove me to make this thing in the first place. Those odds really have nothing to do with anything. Those are the odds of drawing those cards in isolation, regardless of the hand, which is really misleading. The odds of drawing a Rift Bolt might be 39.9%, and the odds of drawing a lighting bolt might be the same, but that doesn't tell you anything about completing combos. The odds of drawing those cards in your opening hand are actually around 14.25%.... give or take, I'm still bug checking this thing. And I imagine there are some people that depend on combinations not only of specific cards, but specific conditions. Like what good is card X without some junk creature to sacrifice? Or what are the odds that I'll get a 1-drop, 2-drop, and 3-drop, along with 3 lands in my first 8 cards?

Thanks a lot for the input, I'm getting more ideas already.

3

(5 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I've been learning computer programming over the last year, and one of my pet projects has been developing an MTG combo calculator. Basically it will let you enter in a combination of cards or parameters, and it'll tell you the likelihood of drawing that combo in X number of cards. For example, let's say you have 4 Royal Assassins, 3 Trip Nooses (Neese? Noosi?), and 2 Swiftfoot Boots' in your deck, and you want to know what the odds are that they'll all be in your opening hand. My calculator will give you those odds. You could also enter parameters like: what are the odds of drawing card X, with a card that has a converted mana cost of 3 or less, and 2 land cards. The number of cards will be variable too, so it will tell you the odds of getting that combo in 7 cards (opening hand), or 8 cards (your first draw), and so on. Right now it works with the csv file type that exports from deckbox, so you can build your deck here, export the file, and my program will read all the information from it.

The thing I love most about MTG are the combos, and the thing I really love about games in general is the meta element of crunching numbers to help make decisions. So I'm just wondering, would any one else be interested in using something like this? From the searches I've done, it doesn't seem like any of the online tools have this kind of functionality. Right now everything runs through a linux command line, and I have absolutely no user interface because to be honest I haven't learned that stuff yet. But if anyone thinks this might be useful I'd be willing to port it to windows and take a stab at an extremely basic GUI. Even better, does anyone have any suggestions on what features they might like to see?

Feel free to answer the poll, or just let me know what you think. Any input is much appreciated.

4

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

gumgodMTG wrote:
Eindacor_DS wrote:

Haha, it's a work in progress! I've been building decks by adding everything that could be relevant and narrowing it down. I don't know the cards well enough to pick them off the top of my head, so the process of elimination is all I got.

I do the same thing.  Usually I keep it at 60 cards as I'm building though, and put the things I'm considering on the sideboard. It makes it easier for me to cut it down by moving one thing in that's superior to something that's in the deck, and moving that thing out (to the sideboard).  This way I can cut cards without forgetting about them completely until I actually start sleeving cards up.  At that point I start deleting the ones I don't want to acquire or turned out to be sub-par.

That's a good idea. To be honest I didn't even know what the sideboard was until a day or two ago.

5

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Haha, it's a work in progress! I've been building decks by adding everything that could be relevant and narrowing it down. I don't know the cards well enough to pick them off the top of my head, so the process of elimination is all I got.

6

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Man, the depth and variety of all these mechanics and combinations is staggering and fantastic. Thanks for the advice, can't wait to playtest all of the above. I might even cave at some point and buy a few of the cards mentioned rather than relying strictly on boosters.

7

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

This is what I'm working with so far, I think it's sort of along the lines of what you said. Any specific suggestions on what I've picked?

http://deckbox.org/sets/520627

I don't trade much and would rather not buy specific cards (I'm a completely casual player), so I'm more or less only working with what I have.

Also, what do you mean when you say "green is your ramp color?" Do you mean I should use as many green cards that provide land as possible?

8

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Thanks for the feedback, this is exactly what I was looking for.

I have no intention on playing competitively, so I'll probably keep pursuing this deck just for fun with friends, but now I at least know more about how fragile and unreliable the combo is. Just for kicks I'd still like to see how it combines with Warstorm Surge, a few creatures on the board and Blasphemous Act.

Great info though, gives me a little more perspective about playing in general. Much appreciated.

9

(14 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I'm just getting back into Magic after many years of not playing. My favorite part about card/video games is coming up with unconventional ways of playing, and something about Gutter Grime really appealed to me. I started making a deck combining that with a bunch of Undying cards, cards that require sacrifice, and 2 Warstorm Surge's.

I was looking around on a few forums and noticed this card gets a lot of hate, and was just wondering what the major drawbacks were. It seems a lot of people say it's easy to wipe the battlefield because all the opponent would need is something to destroy an enchantment. What are the best ways to prevent that? Is there anything else I'm missing that I'd only learn after getting my ass kicked a few times?

Thanks in advance