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Magic Numbers

Magic Numbers is a podcast about Limited format in Magic: the Gathering. The idea is to use data to try to crack current format, or try to answer longstanding questions in Magic and by answering the questions making the listeners better at drafting, deckbuilding and general strategy. The target audience is intermediate to advanced players, but rest assured, determined beginners will also find useful information that will allow them to level up. The podcast is an audio version of my Twitch seminars, so if some parts are confusing, it was designed to be watched on YouTube or live on Twitch.

Latest Episodes:

#116 - Early Dive into OTJ data Apr 22, 2024

Show notes

Early data from a draft format should be treated with caution, but also gives us some essential information on how to approach the format. I am talking about color power rankings, color pairs in the set to give you a general impression of the power level of each of them. But the real fun begins as I dive into each color pair and give you the best card, the hidden gem and the trap for each of the pairs at common and uncommon. Hidden in that data is some information on what each color pair wants to be doing in order to win. And this is the part where you will find the most surprising findings.

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#115 - Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft Skeletons Stream with the Skeleton Crew Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

It is that time of the Magic calendar again. I meet with Jason Ye, Adam (DDAVP) and Zach Kagan to talk about our vision for the upcoming set. Which cards are spiking our interest? Which cards are confusing us? Why do we think some archetypes are going to be great and some are going to be rubbish? We discuss our impressions of the new set, and after a lengthy debate, present our draft "skeletons" - realistically built propositions of decks you might want to try out yourself. From Azorius "I don't wanna cast things on my turn" to "Sultai deck that just wants 12 copies of Murder" - we have quite a collection of solutions. Not surprising really, given the selection of my co-host from among the most unique thinkers in Limited magic. Find my guests here btw:

https://twitter.com/JasonILTG

https://twitter.com/adam_ddavp

https://twitter.com/zakagan

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd4Sqr94LlQ

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#114 - Q&A Apr 10, 2024

Show notes

This week I answered dozens of questions about data, how to analyse it, me, my pets, philosophy of analysing Magic, and more. Here are all the answers.

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/9xHqge6vMY4

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#113 - Playing multicolor in MKM draft Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

In the late stages of the season it is nice to keep things fresh. And drafting a unique multicolor pile of cards might be the new lookout on the format you need to rejuvenate your interest in MKM. But 5 color decks on average have one significant problem. They tend to win less. Today's episode will look at how to make sure your multicolor deck is good. Which cards are essential, how much mana fixing do you need - I look in some detail to all those questions. On top of that, I use this episode to try and answer some more general questions related to multicolor decks. Like what is a better strategy: having a balanced 5C deck with each colors represented evenly, or a lopsided deck - when one color is dominant and other colors act as a support.

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/XYAMUhMJcrA

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#112 - Revisiting MKM set review witch Chord_o_Calls Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

This week we look back at the... BUT WAIT, WHO IS IT behind me with the steel chair!!!! Yes, Alex Nikolic AKA Chord_o_Calls came to visit me all the way from Canada and we used that time to record our set rereview. Set reviews are fun - you can speculate about which cards and colors are good, gives you the opportunity to think about the upcoming format. But usually noone comes back to them. Not us. Our main driving force in playing Magic is continuous improvement. And what better way to improve at card evaluation than see where you got it wrong and wonder why? We look at the cards we missed in evaluation, but, perhaps more importantly, at more general trends - which colors did we underestimate consistently, which colors did we (ok, mainly me) grossly overestimate. I am looking at you black. But this is not only an excercise in card evaluation. MKM proved to be a really good format, and I still draft it regularly. Looking at it through the lens of our review you get a good summary of how our understanding of the set evolved and get some good tips in playing it in the late format. If you don't follow Alex - grave mistake. He is one of the best Limited (imho THE best) educators so check out his YT, Twitter and Podcast.

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmPFetpCAww

#111 - How to train a Pro Player in draft with Eduardo Sajgalik Mar 13, 2024

Show notes

This week I have a guest - a Pro Player, caster, Magic theorist Eduardo Sajgalik, AKA Walaoumpa and we talk about his role as the Limited coach for the Pro Tour team Worldly Counsel. What differences and similarities are there in coaching the cream of the crop of Magic players? How can you use their strategies in self improvement - all in the context of MKM draft.

Plus a completely unscripted bonus part with some chat questions and analysis of the current format which is imho an amazing depth insight into the format. Give Eduardo a follow at https://twitter.com/Walaoumpa

Watch this episode and see the slides: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAm0eF9azXc⁠

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#110 - The Secrets of ALSA (and MKM draft data) Mar 08, 2024

Show notes

ALSA is a term that gets thrown around a lot in data-adjacent content about Limited. But what exactly is ALSA? And what is the full meaning of the number that hides itself behind those four letters? I take a deeper dive on that metric, looking to answer what it really is. And the first 17Lands data is publicly available so it is time to dive into draft data. Which cards go later in pack 3? What are the best 1st picks? And which cards can you wheel reliably - all that in the episode.

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5SFxNrsvXU

#109 - Learning to draft MKM from the top players through data Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

Limited is hard. You need to be at a decent level of playing, know what is going on in the format, be able to build a coherent deck. Starting to draft can be a scary process. You get so much advice that is unintuitive, conflicting, confusing. A part of that is: advice is usually targeted at a particular group of players, but that group is rarely specified.

Not today though.

I look at the data from different win rate groups of players and try to tailor the advice to people whose win rate is slightly lower than the groups I talk about. You win ~50% of your games? No problem - look at what people winning 55% do differently from you. Winning 55% of the games already? Take a peek at the differences between your cohort and people winning 60% of their games. Winning 60%? No worries - look at some details of what your peers do and try to find your weakness.

Hopefully seeing what types of cards better players prefer and thinking about why do they prefer them will aid you in your development as a drafter and make the process of learning to play Limited less scary.

Watch this episode and see the slides: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAm0eF9azXc

Theme song: You Do You, Mana Junkie by essesq (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/essesq/61332

#108 - Early Dive into MKM Draft Data Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

New format is pretty complicated and it may be tricky to find your footing in the first days. But fear not - the data is here to help us and I dive deep into card win rate to test what makes each color pair tick, which cards over-perform, and which are traps you should avoid. We look at the general picture of the format, speculate on what can the next few weeks bring and explore archetypes and what do the y want to be doing in the context of MKM.

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/-UbCRz2Faf0

#107 - Cooking Limited Decks at Karlov Manor Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

Magic has surprisingly lot of similarities to cooking and today, we are moving to haute cuisine. Deck-building theory-crafting. While waiting for the new set to be released I spend an amount of time I can't really excuse thinking about build-arounds in this formats. All those thoughts can't go to waste so this week we are looking at how I imagine some potentially fun off-piste decks in this format. Lot of it is theoretical, but aside from this, I lay out a framework for anyone on how to approach limited theory crafting. A great excercise to improve your Limited skills without spending a single gem. I look at three separate builds. One centered around Insidious Roots, Golgari enchantment that generates Plant tokens and grows them as creatures leave your graveyard. The second one is trying to turn Case File Auditor and Case of the Shattered Pact from a 5 color dream to a 5 color reality. Thirdly I look at how to make UR artifact sacrifice built around a powerful combo of the Case of the Filched Falcon and Gleaming Geardrake that lets you attack for 5 in the air on turn 3. But how to make that deck resilient when you don't draw the combo? We also talk a bit about Arena Economy, but following my philosophy of learning from the best - why not look at this article I mentioned in the seminar that dives deep into how to make Arena cheaper to play: https://www.cardmarket.com/en/Magic/Insight/Articles/inside-the-new-arena-economy

Watch this episode and see the slides: https://youtu.be/71ekmv-eRlM

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