Casting Time Walk In The Arena Cube

Is Oracle of the Alpha really just a fun card? This was my 1st time seeing the Arena Cube, and my first impression was that Oracle seemed better than how it was portrayed.

To compare, Oracle seems too slow without an immediate impact in the MTGO Vintage Cube, but I think it would be a slightly above average card in the throwback Vintage Cube. So my thought process is this: if it is slightly above average in the throwback Vintage Cube, then its gotta be pretty good in a non-powered cube. But once again, I'm not familiar with the Arena Cube; so if it has all the powerful threats (Ocelot Pride, Gut, Bombardiers, Minsc, etc.) from MTGO Vintage Cube but without the power, then I can see why it isn't great since the power level of the threats from MTGO Vintage Cube is insanely high. The tier 1 threats are cheap and if left un-checked can single-handedly win a game.

Luis is right, this iteration of Arena cube feels like a Modern cube

We need more complicated cards with more text on it. Im talking lawyer style documents in latin fineprint where you need to scroll down and read twice to fully understand wtf is going on. No one likes concise and clearcut cards with one word abilities like first strike or trample. 😊

"I can play one fewer black source" cuts a mountain, leaves the swamp in

This is a masterclass of drafting and playing… pls don’t stop ever to produce this masterpiece content

did you have fun? HELL YEAH!

i hate this format so much

Your consistency in uploading is insane! I don't even play mtg anymore but your videos help me wind down most days, thanks man

psychic frog must be a skill testing card, I can't win w it :(

Love your videos! Could you make your video box a smidge smaller or lower so we can read new cards on the stack?

So LSV is just straight up drafting my historic deck huh?

I appreciate the willingness to pick fun cards like Oracle of the Alpha over what's strictly the most powerful thing to do. These games were a blast to watch!

Rip Jbro

not taking lutri after saying he has plenty of playables

Is Razor Demon really that bad? I've found it very useful in low to the ground black decks that aim to end the game quickly, it frequently costs the opponent two or even three cards to deal with it, and it's a reasonable target for Reanimate as well, since Reanimating it skips the potential of the opponent taking value. I can see why it would be actively bad if your deck didn't generate pressure from the get-go, but I find it ties together 2 colour aggro/midrange decks quite nicely.

When they timetwistered the second game i was dying laughing

I managed to get 7 fetches in a draft. 😂

I feel I have to say that Intrude on the Mind is not just a FoF that makes a thopter. You choose size of the piles and opponent chooses which one you get. If they attack you with a 3-3, you can split cards 4 to 1, and then they either give you 4 cards or give you 1 card and lose their 3-3. It's a very powerful and flexible card and I'm huge fan of this design.

TIL that I value Lutri way to high

Man LSV is such a pro, to know when to pass a late(ish) Lutri like that is a real skill. I can’t see myself ever passing it there, great to hear your thought process.

No respect for the Three Tree Battalion!

I drafted a very similar deck but included Pantasmal image and mockingbird to copy my siphoner and cast time walk like 4 times in a row. Also lutri copied it in at least 3 games lol

Why would you play cards if you can discard them to the frog instead?

"And just to be max insulting it was going to be Censor just so we're clear." Got a good laugh, mostly because I would have done exactly the same 😂

The timetwister opponent OMG! As soon as he cast it he should've scooped. holy moly

Man imagine picking the Sheoldred instead of Magda with all these twisters, oppo just takes 14 from a wheel

Another opponent snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!

Hey LSV! I was your R1 opponent. It’s always a fun time when the oracle hits the board on both sides. GG

First picking Oracle and then not taking Snapcaster is sheer madness.

Strangle over Lutri is crazy when we have Time Walk and Ancestral in our deck! (and we end up cutting removal anyway) GGs

is there a reason you dont play the bo3 arena cube??

stop with the blue please.

Finally opened power....

Arena Zoomers don’t know how to properly use a Brainstorm

Not taking the Lutri is wild. Its an 8 card in youre hand!

Spinning the wheels.dec

Smh LSV sits here and says he never opens power and then makes a deck with Black Lotus, all 5 mox, Time Walk, Timetwister and Ancestral 🙄

For real though, sick deck <3

Love me some Oracle. Been having a lot of fun on arena lately with an oracle, ephemerate, howling mine deck.

Idea for a challenge; try to get 300 cards in your deck

Sitting there every turn mentally noting "-2" not attacking with Steamcore Scholar. Vigilance! ;)

I love watching guys like LSV draft in the Arena Cube because they draft like they're drafting with similarly great players and instead they're drafting with dolts like me so they are shocked when great cards wheel.

I think in that first game, you started playing too quickly when you drew ancestral into time walk. It seemed like you had already assumed a win and didn't think enough about your sequencing. I think what made the most sense is to not play restless spire or Magda. Neither are all that useful on board with a 3/4 on your opponent's side: more +1/+1 counters for the frog so you can cleanly kill Tamiyo is just better. This would also translate into more fuel for the dig you drew, which is much better to cast than discard if you can. It didn't make sense to cycle xander's lounge IMO. At that point, you may as well just discard it to frog and spend that 3 mana towards casting dig.

I say this with utmost respect for your accomplishments and skill in MTG and game design, but you probably do just need to slow down and think through your plays more. When you were playing magic 24/7 competitively, just going by instinct and playing quickly works great, because you have the reps to make all those calculations near-instantaneously. It works less great when you have family and work obligations biting into the pie of your cognitive resources. Of course, you already realize this as you've spoken about it, so me pointing it out isn't likely to be too helpful.

This may sound strange, but maybe some mindfulness practice could be beneficial? I think you've mentioned you live in Northern California, so you probably already have a bunch of annoying people telling you to meditate, but it's worth considering. My experience is that kind observation of the emotional tendencies we have can be really helpful for giving us more agency when those emotions are activated, to respond rather than react. Mindfulness can help to develop equanimity and reduce clinging/grasping to outcomes, which helps us enjoy magic more (win or lose) and also frees up processing power for the game itself as opposed to having our lizard brain activated by the swings. Just my two cents, thanks as always for the content.

mulldrifter in the board breaks my heart what have we come to haha

LSV ya need your BK sidekick to slow you down so you actually think through the turn before jamming. XD I find your long turns are a result of you having to think yourself out of a tough situation caused by misplaying due to playing too fast.

thousand moons smithy is good with oracle, the double white mythic artifactoften wheels

This is sweet!!

Stoic Stinks!!! 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣