Lords of Limited

With the Arena Open this weekend, your hosts are here with a bonus episode to talk about all things Neon Dynasty Sealed. We take a look at some big picture truths about the format as well as some specific differences between draft and sealed to give you the best chance at making Day 2 on Sunday!

Sagas feel nearly as powerful in NEO as something like cycling in IKO and until the metagame shifts your hosts believe they're the best thing to do in the format. This week we're discussing how we're approaching NEO, what makes the Sagas so busted, and how their power level influences the drafts and gameplay in this format!Roundtable: https://www.17lands.com/draft/79476522bb624b4799d9bee69e985bca

After a weekend full of drafting Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, your hosts are here to share everything they've learned about the format so far. There's a lot to discuss in terms of synergies (large and small), individual cards, early 17lands.com data, and top commons re-ranked.

We are just a few days away from our first drafts of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, so it's time for a Crash Course in this incredibly complex set! We've got our usual mix of stats on creatures vs. removal, archetype support, mana sinks, fixing, card disagreements, and top commons/uncommons!Grading Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSNpszDe9T0UmmCG2YT0FEyixjNzOGqYRaJqyirvge-MXa9LBi4619YjTwQLV0pRzWH2o9xmlDUCBUF/pubhtml

Spoiler season for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is kicking off and we're here to look at as many commons and uncommons as we can before the whole set drops. We're diving in to the new and returning mechanics (with twists!), the various two-color pair themes, "great or garbage," and much more!

For our January Bonus Episode, we're doing a full draft log walkthrough from one of Ethan's drafts of the MTG Arena Cube. Hear what goes into each pick and how your hosts are navigating a complex format like Cube!Follow Along at home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSVggVeCvbQsbqiqXm1-fkUh8tQG-CkDxN1ckaKkDbZ5S5_SFV_kBHchv_Qe-s1Qeq7_XQqlPcqM-_I/pub

We're sending off Innistrad: Crimson Vow in classic Lords of Limited fashion with our 50 Takes episode! We're talking gold uncommon power rankings, powerful rares, color balance, The Golden Egg Award, and much, much more!

We're talking more things MTG Arena Cube this week while we wait for Neon Dynasty to come out in a few weeks. We take a look at the start of three different drafts as a springboard for discussion on what cards define certain archetypes, what cards have raw power, and what cards are replacement-level filler. Draft 1: https://www.17lands.com/draft/9332d89f0e9e4c9fb08fc0e5c432a782 Draft 2: https://www.17lands.com/draft/14739cadf3fd498bb0a2da45fb7fc049 Draft 3: https://www.17lands.com/draft/9449a490081549ffaec4e08c2985f2e8

The Decathlon Finals are over but there's still plenty of Arena Cube fun to be had! We're talking all things updated alchemy cards, digital only cards, color and archetype identities, what we've had the most success with, and more with the newest iteration of Arena Cube!

Do you find yourself waffling back and forth between archetypes too much when you draft or lock in your archetype after just a few picks? We got the tips and tricks to get you locking in your archetype like a pro. In this episode, Ben and special guest Carl, aka twoduckcubed, present a level-up episode to kick off 2022 about when to lock in your archetype as you draft!Round Table: https://www.17lands.com/draft/fa114244d9c54550908c55864b0c6ad1Carl's Podcast: https://mysticaldispute.com/Carl's Twitter: https://twitter.com/twoduckcubed

For our final episode of 2021, we're taking a look at the MTGA Decathlon event, a tricky VOW roundtable, and then answering questions from our twitch viewers and podcast listeners!Roundtable: https://imgur.com/a/pPzCHkc

It ain't easy being green in VOW, but that's not the whole picture of this last-but-certainly-not-least color. This week, we discuss why we think green is the worst color, what that means for drafting it, and how you can navigate yourself into a trophy winning green deck!Roundtable draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/bb78cedd6b1542f5b09901520734fb76

We're back with more Crimson Vow updates to get you primed for your next week of drafts! With black drying up the past couple weeks, your hosts look towards blue and what it offers while it's being severely underdrafted. Plus, we've got Arena Open Reports, Arena Decathlon discussions, and more!Roundtable: https://www.17lands.com/draft/b37ebc479fdc410c8a59eb10a9e414c0

This week we're looking at all 6 draft logs and decks from the Team Draft vs Team Resources and seeing what the flow around the table was like and if there was anything Team Lords + Chord could have done differently to secure the victory!Follow along at home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQDhiv61t9JKqJoC1SwMRpb3izxvIqyTqDrLRfYRoFDm3eMWeTusmY1ffetP3rpXpglRAWevKhx1xcb/pub

For our December Bonus Episode, Ethan is hosting a roundtable discussion with five of the most prolific drafters and winners in Innistrad: Crimson Vow. What are they winning with, how are the approaching the format, what adjustment are they making, and many more questions answered in this panel-style Q&A show! Alex Nikolic: twitch.tv/chord_o_calls, Limited Level-ups Podcast Chris Palmiotti: twitch.tv/floridamun, @DraftLab Podcast Jim Word: twitch.tv/gooseygoose88 Niilo Pernu: NCAA Jacob: BeersSC

It's no secret that there are a ton of bombs in Crimson VOW. But what does that mean in terms of your approach to drafting the format? Your hosts are here this week to look at the different ways to navigate drafts in VOW and what concessions you should or shouldn't be making based on whether or not you start with a bomb!Draft 1: https://www.17lands.com/draft/fc4d6176e18d4dc2ba2c03b291f744c0 Draft 2: https://www.17lands.com/draft/ef2622e6762048c6b344a54151d48039Draft 3: https://www.17lands.com/draft/753f8ba078714421b85abf24f16f2ef5

For our November Bonus Episode, we're pleased to welcome 2014-2015 Player of the Year Mike Sigrist to Lords of Limited! Mike his thoughts on Crimson Vow, his unique drafting philosophy, updates to the Great Lunarch Veteran Debate, and more! Find Siggy on twitter @msigrist83 95mtg Articles: https://articles.95mtg.com/author/siggy/

We feel like we've just barely scratched the surface of the best strategies in Crimson Vow, so we're back with lots of thoughts on this format! We're looking at a lot of 17lands data, reranking the top commons, and talking more big picture/little picture draft, gameplay, and card evaluation decisions. Plus, two draft log roundtables!Ethan's Draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/91371b6d879e44f6bf178d1774af758e Ben's Draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/6e6b35cfddb244dba1aa19a0cd7fdf95

Fresh off the first weekend full of Crimson Vow Drafts, your hosts are here to give you as much up-to-date information on this new format as possible. We've got big picture takeaways, individual cards that have surprised us, common re-rankings, and what to do about the bombs in the format! Carl "TwoDuckCubed" Data Seminar: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1204553605

A new set is upon is and with that comes our Crash Course episode chock full everything you need to be prepared for your first drafts of this new format! Creatures vs. removal, blood tokens, tribal synergies, and more! Plus, we reveal our top 3 commons and top 2 uncommons for each color!Grading Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRSG24DA86ZseZLCc97T7GiKENwbYydYmtbQ2QbKfpfNao5ohO2ogwjNqiYRT1sWkfUvv_wtHt3jbgP/pubhtml

We're about halfway through preview season for Innistrad: Crimson Vow and there are a lot of commons and uncommons to talk about! We also look at the new and returning mechanics, the new twist on Disturb, return to "Great or Garbage," and much more!

We're sending off MID the only way we know how with 50 takes in 50 minutes! What were the highs and the lows of this format? How did the gold uncommons match up against each other? What made the gameplay so intricate? Plus, some rare Ethan salt stories from the Draft Challenge on Arena!

This week we're returning to Ben's concept of Synergy Theory and looking at MID limited under that lens! Drafting "decks not cards" is harder than it sounds, so we're here to help by looking at cards interacting with mechanics, their own color, other colors, and their strategy compatibility. Original Episode: https://www.lordsoflimited.com/episodes/synergy-theory-episode-174 Ethan's Survivor Podcast: https://comeoninsurvivors.libsyn.com/

High stakes limited play is back with the opening day drafts at the World Championship! Ben & Ethan break down the two featured drafters, PVDDR and Seth Manfield, and go pick by pick in their two difficult seats! PVDDR: https://magicprotools.com/draft/show?id=sN9NGcXduyr6zNYUKWrOIf9uH-w Seth: https://magicprotools.com/draft/show?id=yRCun5IyEgAk_OPecwKQjSeffiQ Between Packs: https://imgur.com/a/HekvYlC

For the October Bonus Episode, your hosts are diving into the MID Team Draft vs Team Resources, where they went right, where they went wrong, and what the takeaways are for next time! Drafts and Decks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRlU_HNo44kWEMx0EyTWNXKUWuBRY3XoLXgGwwmVC_dC31FN9wxyNIHNS4eevhM7wMDYL_gX5biZSWj/pub

This week we're exploring all that MID's most misunderstood color has to offer. Even though Red is the worst color, it's nowhere near Blue in AFR, and actually has a lot of play to it if you unlock its secrets. Shout out to Ryan Saxe for his help with this episode! Draft Log 1: https://www.17lands.com/draft/c3d93a02bb6b43f6a03cbd89df0494f3 Draft Log 2: https://www.17lands.com/draft/18816aa58e6f4c47b9c855bf1a3e6067

Ethan's return to the podcast has him trying his best to catch-up on the format and pick Ben's brain with a lot of questions. We then discuss a general approach to navigating drafts in MID and put that into practice with a couple of roundtable deep dives! Draft Log 1: https://www.17lands.com/draft/e065cca5d4bf40b6b807f704941c9145 Draft Log 2: https://www.17lands.com/draft/d3d3c43747354934820ccf205a9dde0b

Episode 228 is here after the first weekend of playing with Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and we've broken the format wide open. Dimir Zombies is the best deck in the format, and it is hungry for brains! We go over the big picture concepts of how to win in the format, overperforming cards, and rerank the top commons. Don't miss out on the opportunity to get a big edge on your competition this week!

We're welcoming in the newest limited format the only way we know how to on LOL: The Crash Course! Join us as we look through big picture concepts like creatures vs. removal, archetype support, incidental lifegain, flying and of course our top commons and uncommons in each color! Grading Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQyvruGHlT3yRFp029_TewlLlHjxnLWXjWscKIdisMd-I-JBGLzLMfJnq4nAv6vbI94zR5X1Qeh_5CN/pubhtml

With Innistrad: Midnight Hunt right around the corner, your hosts are taking a deep dive on all the commons and uncommons previewed so far to try to get a sense of what to expect from this upcoming draft format in terms of mechanics, archetypes, build arounds, and more!

We're kicking off September with our monthly bonus episode dedicated entirely to the newly redesigned Tinkerer's Cube on MTGA! This cube captured the hearts and imaginations of both your hosts immediately and we're here to share everything we know about winning and having fun in this extremely well designed limited environment! Roundtable: https://www.17lands.com/draft/aff2b89d54fd47a590c701c0a243785f

We're sending Adventures in the Forgotten Realms off in classic LOL fashion with our 50 Takes episode! What were our biggest takeaway from the format? Just how busted was Rakdos? What did 17lands data teach us? How did Venturing shake out? These questions and more answered in this 50 point rundown!

For our August Bonus Episode, we're joined by Data Scientist and Limited aficionado Carl AKA TwoDuckCubed! With the rise of data in the MTG Limited world, we wanted a chance to air our concerns and frustrations and put Data in the hot seat with Carl as its appointed defense attorney. Let the trial begin!

With Adventures in the Forgotten Realms almost on the outs, we return to a LOL staple and look at a bunch of "What's the Play" situations from various games in the AFR Draft Challenge Event on MTGA. Play Along at Home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQcqxasMPCepNTuVNz49qNBl5PXbchgX7ti5yceeHKuiR4fnjC4cjEO97AgjJM-zKDttStp0UCfCx-R/pub

Your hosts are back with an early mid-week episode to bring you up to speed on the newest MTGA announcement for limited players! From August 10-26, Arena is bringing back Amonkhet Remastered, Kaladesh Remastered, and Ikoria for 5 days each and is giving everyone a free draft entry for each format! Want to know how to win in each of these complex sets? Tune in and find out!

This week we're running back our Pass/Fail style episode, this time exploring all 6 non-blue decks in AFR; what are the strategies for each archetype, do they have multiple builds, and what are the overall takeaways for success in the format? Listen and find out! Decks Discussed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQw1DtFy9Zsk5GInHZx0nOp6QymVKOoRBChaYkf1-PogyRLktEdUhnsqffYri69YbOM8bRzmFzjw56D/pub

It's that time again: another review of a Lords & Chord Vs. Resources Team Draft! Follow along with your hosts as they take a look at all 6 draft logs and decks, where they may have gone wrong, and what pivotal picks dictated the wins and losses for each team! Play along at home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTMb2jNe24S0VMqT-gaykaoxl5bnjNende-H-xwUaVVj3iiSAbg1wLxLkhIdq0FxFTbK-5SeCk-hmN8/pub

Our July Bonus Episode has us looking at all 17 limited formats since starting the podcast and ranking them from worst to best! Take a trip down memory lane with us as we discuss the best deck in each set, what worked, what didn't, and which sets fully inhabited the 8 characteristics of a great limited format!

This week we're examining the outcast of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms: Blue. What are the reasons to draft and (more importantly) what are the reasons to not draft this color? What other colors does it pair best with and how should you be thinking about the commons and uncommons this color has to offer? Answers to all these questions and more in this episode! Roundtable: https://www.17lands.com/draft/adc76c5e6a704b37b058e5a0fc2debb3

It seems that in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, aggro is the name of the game. With so many mechanics and cards that can snow ball from a fast start, how can you combat these tier 1 aggressive strategies? That's exactly what we're here to discuss this week. What cards and archetypes are best when battling the red menace and what are they keys to beating aggro in AFR? Look no further than this episode! Roundtable: https://www.17lands.com/draft/f5a73fb9510b4f7cab7452bdf237b450

With a weekend full of drafts under their belts, your hosts are here to give you as much info as possible on AFR to help you get a critical hit on your next draft. In this episode, we take a look at re-evaluating dungeons and venture, speed of the format, what decks and colors we've been winning with, and re-ranking the top commons! AFR Tier List: https://www.lordsoflimited.com/tier-list LOL Merch: https://www.lordsoflimited.com/merch

With only a day to spare before the release of Adventures in The Forgotten Realms, your hosts are here with their Crash Course episode to get you as prepared as possible! We take a look at how creatures size up against removal, the different mechanics and how often they show up, card grading differences, and top commons and uncommons for each color! Grading Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR-K4xP3k3EAl4OR8ygV_Wbk00OpUQ2Y1Lco6q9aPd7W_WGLf8Sb-X1RJVwD64DLxRWTlrDpZo79qvX/pubhtml

Our June bonus episode is here with an in-depth look at the new Chromatic Cube on MTG Arena. There is a definite recipe for success in this format and it's not like anything we've seen in Arena Cubes before. If you're looking to trophy your next Cube draft, this is one episode you won't want to miss! LOL Merch @ Teepublic: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/lords-of-limited?ref_id=23850&utm_campaign=23850&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=Lords%2Bof%2BLimited

Your hosts are here to send off Strixhaven the only way we know how to on Lords of Limited: The 50 Takes Episode! Official LOL Power rankings, Learn/Lesson and why it was so busted, The Golden Egg Award, Surprise Reach, and more all packed in to this episode bidding farewell to the semester at STX! Merch at TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/lords-of-limited?ref_id=23850&utm_campaign=23850&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=Lords%2Bof%2BLimited

This week we're talking Team Draft and reviewing all 6 drafts and decks from the 4th installment of the Lords vs. Resources Showdown: MH2 Edition! Follow Along: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQd-QgI5x81RaEv_hG0r1ElreJ6iDQtujlpOho63INMR57bPU9HR293nVqRd4h3U4zgeRv9YOQ8iTC5/pub LOL Merch @ TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/lords-of-limited?ref_id=23850&utm_campaign=23850&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=Lords%2Bof%2BLimited https://shop.channelfireball.com/collections/booster-box-sale

With over a week of MH2 drafts under their belts, your hosts are here to dump as much info as possible on this incredibly synergistic set! What are the archetypes trying to do? What are the best uncommons and top commons in the set? What have we been winning with? All these questions and more answered on this jam-packed episode!

As the days of drafting Strixhaven come to a close, we take the opportunity this week to look at which archetypes passed the test of this format and which ones failed. How were the best decks built, what led to less functional versions of each college, and where did they fall on the spectrum of aggro to control? Decks Examined: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRzmEnbFvA39peE-jFms8k7tjrAcoCgdh7XTXGzBzIEg2L4ty9OekX8WYVPrCoWmfPucYzXdk5KAWAp/pub

We've got a lot of homework this week for the students at Strixhaven with our "What's the Play?" episode! We walk through a handful of "Keep or Mulligan" decisions as well as some in-game scenarios to show you how and why we're making the plays we make during our games of limited in STX. We also reveal our free preview cards for Modern Horizons 2 courtesy of WOTC! Play along at home: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSIoUS6ONPbHy9EnQd6Y5akIp1lRmYX8BCX4LT1DCuIPjcaTE6PhMLhqYrbuO75wuQQJLvkmRYNeZpE/pub

This week, we're going through not one but TWO entire draft logs from our time in Strixhaven Limited. We break down the reasoning behind each pick, the different elements we're juggling as we progress through the draft, and what the final build for each deck looks like! Ben's Draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/6019342090944d7ba900c772f571ce23 Ethan's Draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/0940f15b72d94672818e7f6b00d6630f

For our May Bonus Episode, we sit down with one of the founders of and current Chief Marketing Officer for ChannelFireball.com, Mashi Scanlan! We ask Mashi about a number of topics including the origin story of CFB, leaving his job as a lawyer behind, what is important for making good content, and if the current MTG Boom is sustainable. We loved this unique opportunity to hear from someone who's been in the content game from its inception! Support the show at: patreon.com/lordsoflimited