mtgpulse research

[Vazdru]

just some random mtgpulse.com researchs

March, 17th 2012
"Tutors"

i wonder
if you find any pattern or have any findings rather conclusions if you have a look at the list or
if you think that such researchs are of no worth


there are bout 150 lists on mtgpulse online

Stoneforge Mystic: 91 hits
Green Sun's Zenith: 84 hits
Demonic Tutor : 76 hits
Eladamri's Call: 74 hits
Birthing Pod: 74 hits
Natural Order: 47 hits
Tainted Pact: 47 hits
Worldly Tutor: 35 hits
Tolaria West: 20 hits
Crop Rotation: 18 hits
Academy Rector 15 hits
Intuition: 14 hits
Personal Tutor: 11 hits
Tezzeret the Seeker 10 hits
Mystical Teachings 10 hits
Chord of Calling: 9 hits
Rhystic Tutor: 6 hits
Muddle the Mixture 5 hits
Fabricate: 3 hits
Lim-Dul's Vault: 2 hits
Summoner's Pact: 1 hit
Idyllic Tutor: 1 hit
Sterling Grove: 0


for comparision reasons

Lightning Bolt: 84 hits
Oblivion Ring: 82 hits
Sensei's Diving Top: 80 hits
Mana Drain: 67 hits
Wheel of Fortune: 5 hits
Mishra's Workshop: 5 hits
Moat: 2 hits

[PurlQg]

Dusturbing.........
I say Ban stoneforge asap. If stoneforge is played more then lightning bolt something must be wrong. :/
Green is quite dominant almost all the top cards on the list are green.
I am actually quite surprised that eladamri has 74 hits and worldy has less then half..

[Nastaboi]

Dusturbing.........
I say Ban stoneforge asap. If stoneforge is played more then lightning bolt something must be wrong. :/
Green is quite dominant almost all the top cards on the list are green.
I am actually quite surprised that eladamri has 74 hits and worldy has less then half..

I can't really follow you reasoning. Why Stoneforge should not be played more than Lightning Bolt as it's obviously more powerful card? The only thing that this comparison tells us is that there have been slightly more decks playing white than red.

Here's the pattern: The first five tutors give no card disadvantage or are otherwise heavily restricted. You play Stoneforge in every white deck, GSZ in every green deck, Eladamri's Call in every green and white deck, Demonic in every black deck and Pod in every deck with creatures. There is no cost adding them to any of those decks. The tutors below them require some build-around or need a very specific deck.

[PurlQg]

I follow what your saying. But where lightning bolt doesn't need to be build around stoneforge does (even though it I agree is to a lesser extend), ergo I feel that lightning bolt should be played more which of course isn't realistic. What the list really shows is that green almost is a auto include in every deck which isn't so surprising. But of course you are totally right and I do realize this - stoneforge mystic is a much more powerful card in Highlander.

You are obviously right there is no disadvantage what so ever. And most of these cards are featured in better colors deck construction wise in this format. This all makes for good arguments when talking about any future bannings and obviously shows why studies like this are usable.

Natural Order and Birthing Pod is obviously both in need of creatures I think what gives pod the nod over order is that the format is quite focused on lower CC creatures where as Order focuses on high CC creatures and most decks doesn't play creatures that are more then 5-6 CC. Natural Order and Bribery as well have become less powerful than they used to be in most decks.

[DarkLight]

First of all, great job Vazdru!
The research shows us that the most decks playing 3-5 tutor cards. The only surprising for me is that none list includes Mystical Teachings, Muddle the Mixture, Tezzeret the Seeker and Tolaria West (I list Muddle the Mixture and Tolaria West as tutors because they are mostly used for transmute) maybe because they are most played in Combo- Controldecks and they are not really much represented at the moment. In my opinion Academy Rector is a tutor and he is not listed in the research. A research of the top 10 or top 20 creatures or removal would be nice to see, too.

Dusturbing.........
I say Ban stoneforge asap. If stoneforge is played more then lightning bolt something must be wrong. :/
....

Funniest post since long time I read. RED is really much underrepresented in Highlander in these days, so it's no surprise for me that Lightning Bolt is lesser played than Stoneforge Mystic. For example there 14 Bant lists on MTGPulse which play all none Lightning Bolt but Stoneforge Mystic so in your words you would ban Stoneforge Mystic because of one deck Type? I don't think so that Bant is that strong to need especially bans to fix it.
Stifle, Shadow of Doubt, Aven Mindcensor these are some cards which going to get played a bit more because of Stoneforge Mystic and the other impressive tutor effects. In my opinion Stoneforge Mystic is an equipment-tutor with the possibility, if he get not killed or somethingelse, to make the equipment he searched uncounterable, the equipment is still destroyable.
Some people say ban Stoneforge Mystic because he is making some matchups stereotype, but there are some more cards which do this too, and they are not that hard under fire in banning discussions for example Jace, the Mindsculptor or Sensei's Devining Top.

[Vazdru]

The only surprising for me is that none list includes Mystical Teachings, Muddle the Mixture, Tezzeret the Seeker and Tolaria West.

There aren't all tutors listed obviously. Feel free do add a few more.

Tolaria West 20 hits
Academy Rector 15 hits
Tezzeret the Seeker 10 hits
Mystical Teachings 10 hits
Muddle the Mixture 5 hits

[PurlQg]

I realize my first post seems quite funny I must have been on another planet when I wrote it - at least i'm entertaining .
At the same time the ill thought answer did generate discussion.

On to the topic:
3 of the 4 tutors mentioned by withfullforce (the transmuters and tezz) are quite clunky compared to every card mentioned on the list. That could explain why they arent there. Paying 3 for a specific card or 5 for tezz without major focus on artifacts in the deck arent nearly as strong as any of the tutors from the list. The last one have a high cc and doesn't build your bord as pod and natural order. Same arguments could be said about the rector he demands a lot of building about whereas the list are all quite easy to throw in any deck.

[LasH]

I think this list is no surprise. We did that for the last tournaments too and had equal lists for the top8. Nothing changed. In my opinion eladamri's call is a problem tutor, because of its instant speed + solution with body for everything and birhting pod, but that's said plenty of times.

It also show's that creatures dominate the meta, because the top 10 tutor's seems to be for creatures.

Nearly no fabricate, no idyllic tutor, no slyvan scrying. I think thats the only thing to worry about for discussions in the future.

[Dreamer]

Surprise there's a bunch of creature tutors: Most good oneshot spell/noncreature tutors have gotten the banhammer.

With Stoneforge and Pod likely joining the banned list I can't help but wonder what the correct course of action is. Tutors in some ways promote homogenity, but they also allow decks with a plan (or multiple ones) to exist in the format alongside the goodstuff piles due to the redunancy they provide.
They also allow for more interesting games insofar that you can build non-singleminded decks that can alter the course of their game by choosing what gameplan to follow. I've been playing Pattern for months on end and my favourite thing about the deck is just all the things it can do. I can go for a T3 combo kill one game, and in the next be working my way towards the win in a slow, methodical manner using hard to answer threats. The next game I spot an opening and slam a hardcast Grave Titan that was possible due to the ramp effects in the deck. It never gets boring because you always feel in control due to the massive amount of tools the deck has and the amount of control the tutors give over them. You at least stand a chance in most matchups, even if they're hard, because you can do what you want to. The rest is just good play and deck construction, as it should be.

And seriously, Shadow of Doubt and Aven Mindcensor should basically be autoincludes in decks that can even remotely support them. Those things are so brutal it's not even funny.

[Nastaboi]

I did a search for dual lands:

savannah 81
tropical 70
taiga 67
tundra 66
plateau 62
bayou 58
scrubland 54
volcanic 51
ug sea 49
badlands 41

Gives pretty good idea which colors and color combinatios are more played than others. Green duals score on top three followed by white ones. Islands and Mountains are split evenly with other colors Island being always one step above Mountain. Black duals fill the bottom half. Here are basics for comparison:

forest 98
plains 87
island 76
mountain 56
swamp 51

On the other top hits, arguably the best white card ever (Swords) beat Mystic by one hit. Both Birds and Noble beat Zenith by a margin, Birds getting the same number of hits as Mystic. Tarmogoyf lost to Zenith by one hit.

[so_not]

Not really a surprise but Wasteland 140 hits.

[DarkLight]

I think this list is no surprise. We did that for the last tournaments too and had equal lists for the top8. Nothing changed. In my opinion eladamri's call is a problem tutor, because of its instant speed + solution with body for everything and birhting pod, but that's said plenty of times.

It also show's that creatures dominate the meta, because the top 10 tutor's seems to be for creatures.

Nearly no fabricate, no idyllic tutor, no slyvan scrying. I think thats the only thing to worry about for discussions in the future.

Well I don't think that a creature dominated meta is a problem in Highlander, because we have a 60 minute timelimit at tournaments. My expierience is that the most Highlander Controldecks have a problem to play 2-3 games at this time (timeout), so they are not really effective to WIN a tournament, so the good players who want to win a tournament most pick a creature based deck. The policity to ban Combodecks out of the format like Hulk/Flash or Painter/Grindstone is the right way. So still creature beased decks left.

[LasH]

I think this list is no surprise. We did that for the last tournaments too and had equal lists for the top8. Nothing changed. In my opinion eladamri's call is a problem tutor, because of its instant speed + solution with body for everything and birhting pod, but that's said plenty of times.

It also show's that creatures dominate the meta, because the top 10 tutor's seems to be for creatures.

Nearly no fabricate, no idyllic tutor, no slyvan scrying. I think thats the only thing to worry about for discussions in the future.

Well I don't think that a creature dominated meta is a problem in Highlander, because we have a 60 minute timelimit at tournaments. My expierience is that the most Highlander Controldecks have a problem to play 2-3 games at this time (timeout), so they are not really effective to WIN a tournament, so the good players who want to win a tournament most pick a creature based deck. The policity to ban Combodecks out of the format like Hulk/Flash or Painter/Grindstone is the right way. So still creature beased decks left.

Well i think if u just play to WIN a tournament you just pick the best deck. I really dont think the time issue is actually the problem for control decks

[Nastaboi]

I play Landstill in Legacy and seldom go to timed rounds. The deck has no other win conditions but Factory beatdown and Jace ultimatum. Draw, play land, take two, go doesn't take many seconds. Pure control is much easier to play than aggro and you have not many time consuming decisions to make. You can always spin Top for hours but that's another subject. Like LasH said, just pick the best deck for a tournament.

By the way, Shadow of Doubt is an awful card. Counters are not very hot right now, and situational counter is much worse even if it cantrips.