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PucaTrade Case Resolution POV

PucaTrade Case Resolution POV

Being an avid Pucatrader I am always interested in Pucatrades new features and processes. Recently they released a new “Flash of Insight” addressing Case Resolution Automation (https://pucatrade.com/blog/2015/case_resolution_automation). I wanted to take a deeper look at what this means from a member’s perspective with some personal thoughts and opinions. I would also like to hear others feedback from members who use the site.

I think that the audio is definitely worth listening to and adds a lot more color around the meaning behind the highlighted points PucaTrade is trying to make. The two things that I will examine today are the Case Automation piece while briefly touching on the Foils for all members.

Case Automation Importance

I think that the summary of the total case resolutions and statistics is fairly misleading to the audience that don’t listen to the audio clip. It primarily sounds like PucaTrade is trying to reduce a tedious resource heavy process on their team. I think their approach is definitely an interesting one, but could actually be accommodated in a cheaper fashion on their current resources.

I understand PucaTrade’s position for several reasons. One their resources expertise could probably be put to better use on more innovative ideas/functions for the site rather than going through individual cases and responding. It is very time consuming, and if we broke down the case number with the following metrics provided with some additional flavor we will see how/why this is a good area for improvement.

We’ve had 173,000 total cases, 56,000 escalated to admin, 10,000 resolved by admin

If 56k cases were escalated, that means most likely those were read once by an admin. They also state that they have some sort of matrix for case resolution that is approximately 25 different choices of script that are then applied to the case. Let’s assume it takes 5 mins per case this way. That would give the team 280,000 mins or roughly 4,666 hours or about 195 days’ worth of work. Just to read the initial case, apply a script and respond. Now if we apply a minimum wage of $12.25 for San Francisco we look at a cost of around $57,000. They currently break this work across 5 people I believe. As you can see it’s probably a full time job for one person alone.

If we apply 10 mins for the last 10,000 cases that go to resolution by admin we come to an additional 69 days. In practicality I would think its probably a longer process due to the administration of resolving the case like sending out points and what not. Plus revisiting the case would take some time as well. I hope we can all agree that this is very costly to PucaTrade, and knowingly a very costly piece to the community funded site.

Case Automation Resolutions by the Numbers

PucaTrade believes that by removing this feature for all members, and only allowing the cases granting access to admin should be for paid tiered members will help solve the above dilemma either in cost or man hours. Not knowing the true reason we can only improvise with what I have shown above. I think that this feature fails to address additional data in their cases. This data may actually represent a different qualitative story that is really behind everything. Being an avid trader and breaking down my personal Case Data I would like to address some missed points.

First, my numbers are roughly close to PucaTrade’s overall numbers.

139	*Unique Trades*
5	*Cases*
3.60%	Percent of Trades Leading to Cases
352.0791367	Pucapoints of All Trades on Average

I have roughly traded with 139 unique members since joining in January. I have a free account on PucaTrade (I appreciate the ability to trade without being a paid member). I have had 5 unique situations that required a case. Of those cases I have opened 3 that required an admin. Two of those trades were outstanding for over a month. My average point per trade is 350 Pucapoints. I want to highlight this fact to address some Case Resolution Points.

What we don’t know from PucaTrade is whether the Cases are unique or if they are multiple cases with the same member. I have grouped my data in pivot tables to account for this information. This may actually lead to a lower percentage of real cases. Almost all my cases were under 200 points. In fact most trades that I have made upwards over 10,000 points players send me a mail thanking me for the condition of the cards or that they were received. Which by the way is a great message to get from fellow members.

So, the case and point is that I think PucaTrade is really trying to eliminate the low level case resolutions. Again, not having access to all the data there are several things I can only guess at based off personal conclusions. I think by going to this model they will alleviate a ton of case work for “The Humans” that they mention in the audio.

Personally I don’t like this approach as it will have an immediate impact on my current trading capabilities as an active member of the community. However, I think they make a good point about upgrading to the $5 a month uncommon feature due to the “Insurance” that PucaTrade provides. Also, noting that instead of paying USPS or whomever for 10 trades a month you just pay Puca instead and they will insure your trade.

They also mention Moral Hazard in regards to their guarantee. A few things that they do not mention is Moral Hazard really means that the person purchasing the insurance is knowingly going to misuse it. Hopefully for the majority of the community that will not be the case. There were several Facebook comments around people abusing trades, and I agree that someone could deface their own card. I was extremely disappointed in my most recent case that was escalated around a situation that was similar to one of those concerns. The best insurance as a member that you should do is actually take photos of your cards before you send to prove that they were not damaged prior to mailing. I have found this to be very helpful.

Case Resolution Approach

Personally, what I believe PucaTrade should do is shift their workload. What I mean by this is they did talk about hiring additional help with case resolution by ramping up or down members for their queue. This could actually be fixed with many creative ways.

Offshore it – Hire some resources outside the US at cheaper rates to do the work. You already have the hard part put together which is your resolution matrix. Also in context to San Francisco minimum wage get someone in another state for Remote work.
Ask members of the community that might want to help in this work. As you say it is a community funded business.

The two approaches above would maintain what is there today, possibly shift costs and effort from the current team, and hopefully maintain the same quality and service for all members. I am sure that other fellow community members have other outstanding great ideas.

Foil Flip Flop

The last thing I want to touch on before I wrap up is the move for Foils to be received by all members. Personally I do not think this is fair for the paid members that originally helped build the community as it is today. However, maybe they don’t care and it isn’t a big deal to them. Personally I wouldn’t like to pay for exclusivity only to be told it really didn’t mean much after all. I can understand the depreciation of time and it not maybe being as big of a perk, but shouldering something amongst others and then giving it away doesn’t seem fair. Unfortunately, I do not have a good solution to this, and obviously this was a PucaTrade decision which I will be delighted to use.

I hope those of you who read through the article enjoyed it. Feel free to leave comments. I am curious like I stated before to hear what other members have in mind.

Battle for Zendikar Archetypes: Tokens

Tokens

For the next installment of our Battle for Zendikar: Limited Archetypes series I’m going to talk about token strategies. Everyone is perfectly aware that there are Eldrazi Scion in the set, and there are also a couple other interesting token-themed cards in the set. It’s actually difficult to put a specific color to this archetype, but you can expect it to include some combination of Green, Black, and White. I actually foresee in many cases have a white or black splash. It’s worth noting at the front that the order I’m posting these isn’t in an order of power level.

The main reason tokens is the next archetype is that often times in draft you see a couple early picks and you start leaning in a direction. I consider this a fallback option for when Ramp or Converge isn’t coming together but you have some of the pieces. This is both a viable archetype on its own and is what many aspiring ramp/converge decks will end up switching to late in pack one or early pack 2.

Colors:

Green:

This is likely the core of the deck because it provides help in the splashing department and has the largest array of token generators. Importantly for Green it also has a couple reliable ways to pump your team and start converting the tokens into pressure. Cards like Tajuru Beastmaster and Tajuru Warcaller are the primary ways to do so.

Black:

Black has a sacrifice theme and that will play heavily into the tokens deck that features Black as a core color. While it lacks premium token generation, the sacrifice outlets provide tempo positive ways to clear out problematic creatures and start pecking away. Bone Splinters being the premiere option here.

White:

White has both some pump and ways to generate tokens. However, if white is one of the core colors in your tokens deck you’re likely to also be more of a curve out Allies deck with the ability to make tokens. Rather than strictly a tokens deck, but if you’re splashing for white you’ve found yourself with cards like Retreat to Emeria and Unified Front. Unified Front being one of the reasons to splash here. Normally splashing for a sorcery speed make three 1/1s isn’t exciting but here Retreat and Unified front provide multiple things. Retreat works as a pump spell and both cards produce Allies, which can get additional triggers off of both your keyword Rally cards and the Rally pump creatures in Green.

Splashing:

Blue gets an honorable mention as a possible player in this archetype strictly because of Ruination Guide. I think that’s a key card that could signal a GU player to start considering tokens more highly. Turning all of your Eldrazi Scion into 2/1s is a big game as they start trading with real cards.

Key Cards:

Despite being slightly redundant the core cards here are mostly in green and are the big time token generators. Eyeless Watcher, Call the Scions, and Brood Monitor are all key players that put multiple bodies on the table all along the curve. Brood Monitor seems slow for a tokens deck but the reality is that this tokens archetype is likely to play like a mid-range deck. If you’re in white early Retreat to Emeria is a huge player here as well. It also combos really well with Fertile Thicket which can help you get to Brood Monitor and set you up for a huge pump from Retreat or just a new set of tokens. If you find yourself in black it’s important that you find the removal early. Bone Splinters, as mentioned, is great here and Swamp Surge is a late pick-up that works as a win condition is you’re light on creature pump.

Signal Cards:

If I were drafting this I would be looking for the Rally pump cards as late pickups as well as Unified Front, Bone Splinters, and cards that are just weak in every other deck like Inspired Charge and Cliffside Lookout, both pump spells that no other deck wants. The key difference in signal cards between this and ramp is that you can pick up impactful cards late in packs. Retreat to Emeria is an interesting one because I think it is likely to float to the middle of many packs, but I could be underestimating how much a non-tokens deck wants that card.

Summary:

I don’t think there’s a single first pick that makes me really want to be the tokens drafter, but this is a fine option when you start to see that the archetype is open. Keep your eyes peeled for the signal cards in the back half of packs and prioritize token generators, especially the Eldrazi Scion versions so that you always have an out to move back into ramp. I think this deck will manifest with a few different color combinations and that will be one of it’s strengths. In my opinion, BFZ doesn’t boast one clear cut tokens strategy but has the card quality and depth to let drafters build their own tokens deck. This may not be the strongest archetype in the format, but it’s one you’re likely to play against and may end up drafting a time or two.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions, comments, or a specific archetype request let me know in the comments.

Battle for Zendikar Archetypes: Green Ramp

Green Ramp

Battle for Zendikar was just fully spoiled this past week, and this set has a few clear cut archetypes. It’s hard to get an accurate read on how strong each will be right away, but at the very least we can be aware of what archetypes are really looking for what cards and what cards should signal that an archetype is open.

I’m starting with Green Ramp because with the Prerelease events this weekend Sealed is going to be on every one’s mind and ramp lends itself very well to most sealed formats and should be a strong option this weekend.

Color Pairs:

Blue:

I expect Blue to be the natural pair for Ramp decks because it also has a couple excellent Eldrazi Scion generators with Eldrazi Skyspawner and Incubator Drone to help ramp and stabilize the board. Another all star for a G/U ramp strategy is Murk Strider, it isn’t the easiest to enable this card in G/U but if you can this is an example of just one great tempo spell this color combination can use to buy time to get their large threats online.

Red:

The great thing about Red as a ramp pair is having access to the many great removal options Red brings to bear in the new format. Cards like Stonefury and Rolling Thunder are great versatile answers that scale great with the additional mana Ramp is going to generate. There are other great cheap removal options in Red. The one drawback to this color combination is a lack of quality cheap threats to stabilize the ground game, many of these threats are aggressively costed and are much better when turned sideways then they are when left back as blockers. For this reason R/G can find itself with many of the creatures that get pumped with Landfall triggers and perform as a midrange beatdown deck.

Black:

Similarly to Red, Black has solid removal. It lacks the versatile answers that red provides but has a couple unconditional removal spells that have the upside of exiling the creatures they kill to enable cards like Void Attendant that both stabilize the ground and help ramp up. Black also has a strong tokens sub-theme that can be exploited for additional win conditions. Catacomb Sifter is a perfect example of a card in this color combination that helps ramp and provides fantastic card selection when sacrificing Scion to ramp.

White:

This is likely the worst color pair for a pure ramp strategy just because white is more aggressively slanted. However, White does bring some solid removal to bear and ways to pump Eldrazi Scion and capitalize on going wide. There are also great Awaken options like Sheer Drop in white that are great mana sinks for a ramp deck that hasn’t found its big threats.

Splashing:

Green provides great fixing in the format and in Sealed you can expect to splash a third color very often. Blue is the best color pair and a decent splash color, although Red/Black provide the splashable removal these decks will be looking for. I would be looking for ideally a GU shell splashing either Red or Black for some versatile answers to ensure the deck can consistently reach the late game.

Core Cards:

The highest priority commons are those that generate Eldrazi Scion. Eyeless Watcher and Call the Scions ramp and provide multiple bodies for pay offs in splash colors. Cards like Outnumber and Swamp Surge provide ways to utilize Eldrazi Scion if you lack large win conditions. These cards also ramp you up two mana the following turn, Natural Connection and Lifespring Druid are just barely behind and are the two remaining core cards. In draft these four are fairly interchangeable and a good mix of the four is ideal. Brood Monitor is the final core card, this can be ramped into and helps get into the 7 to 9 drop range reliably.

Ramp Pay-Offs:

As stated earlier, ways to utilize tokens for damage can be a fairly reliable way to win if you lack the efficient Eldrazi. But at common and uncommon the win conditions that are truly great are Plated Crusher, Eldrazi Devastator, and Bane of Bala Ged. Two cards that really shine in this deck are Titans Presence and Scour from Existence because you can reliably ramp into Scour and have the top-end to reliably turn Titans Presence into a powerful and efficient removal option.

Signal Cards:

If you’re only interested in Sealed then this probably isn’t for you. These are the cards that you see after pick 5 or 6 that should indicate that the archetype is open. Natural Connection and Lifespring Druid will rarely reach this point but if they do you can be confident that a player to your right isn’t in either Converge or Ramp since these are core to both strategies. The high quality pay off cards should also indicate this, especially Plated Crusher.

Summary:

This will be a powerful and very common strategy for both the prerelease and release events for BFZ. However, if you don’t have the enablers found in the Core Cards section this shouldn’t be pursued as actively. You generally want between three and five solid direct ramp options in your deck. You don’t need as many pay off cards you need enablers, so just because you open three Plated Crushers doesn’t mean you should be attempting to run a ramp deck. It’s much more important you find the enablers and work with whatever large threats you open in your pool as they are much more common than the actual ramp cards.

Fantastic Goyfs and Where to Find Them

“Ach! Hans, run! It’s the Lhurgoyf!” -Saffi Eriksdotter, last words

Sound familiar?

Whether you chuckle, roll your eyes, or nervously scan your cubicle for Goyfs, the above flavor text (often shortened to “Ach! Hans, run!”) is among the most memorable, most emotional, and even the most ridiculous flavor text snippets of all time.

Even if you haven’t been playing Magic for very long, you’re probably well-acquainted with at least one “Creature – Lhurgoyf.” Whether you rue the day Tarmogoyf saw print, or you thank the MtG gods that your Zoo deck can hit so hard on turn 3… I guarantee that Lhurgoyf is ultimately responsible.

Lhurgoyf was a four-mana creature, weighing in at 2GG. Its power was the number of creatures in graveyards, and its toughness was that number plus one. A complex mechanic. Yet oh, so grokkable.

Fifth Edition saw a lot of other lasting card designs- pain lands, Ball Lightning, Force Spike, and the second-generation “Elemental Blast” cards, to name a few – but Lhurgoyf has stood the test of time in its way too. “Lhurgoyf” became a recognized creature type, and the original card spawned a five-color Lhurgoyf cycle, two other creature cards completely from flavor text, and most of the essential elements of Tarmogoyf. (The low low price of 1G was a last-minute edit; it cost 2G for most of its life in testing. Other than that, it’s a straight-up extrapolation from Goyfs back in the day.)

Sure, Lhurgoyf wasn’t exactly a competitive card at the time *cough cough Necropotence*. And it didn’t become a competitive card, ever. But Lhurgoyf was such an R&D home run for Wizards that I’m going to declare it the single most influential card in the set. That’s a bold move, I know. But stick with me.

Lhurgoyf was never really intended to be a long-lived creature type. In fact, when it was first printed it was a Summon card, “Summon Lhurgoyf.” This came from an era when we still had oddities like “Summon People-of-the-Woods” and “Summon Nameless Race.” But players loved this card! They loved it for all the reasons we still love it today. The “growing with the graveyard” mechanic. That crazy art with the rangy limbs and gnashing teeth (thank Pete Venters for worldbuilding through his art in those days). And of course, the text!

In 7th Edition… a curiosity! A creature called Revenant came out, a black Spirit with flying. It had Lhurgoyf’s creature mechanic, but only for your own graveyard, and without the +1 to toughness. Seems a little underpowered, even for creatures back then. But then there’s the flavor text.

“Not again.” -Hans

A dark little joke? An implied story, that Saffi had perished while Hans survived? Or just an acknowledgment that Lhurgoyf had been so well-received? Knowing WotC, the answer is “all of the above.”

Lhurgoyf’s next aftershock of influence came in Odyssey, with the five-color cycle of Goyfs. Each keyed onto a card type its color liked. In WUBRG order, that was enchantments, instants, creatures, sorceries, and lands. They also had a keyword ability primary for their color (vigilance, flying, regenerate, haste, and trample). Magnavore saw a 9th Edition reprint, and Mortivore is perennially popular with kitchen-table players. He tends to get the biggest of them all, and regen is just good.

It’s doubtful that too many of you remember Cantivore, Cognivore, Mortivore, Magnavore and Terravore. Maybe if you play Commander, you’ve seen Mortivore lurking around mill decks from time to time. But these guys were all the next generation of Goyfs, and they all sport a variation of the classic Goyf physique, with hallmark gangly limbs and enormous teeth.

The Lhurgoyf saga continues, and likely concludes, with Time Spiral block. At last Wizards decided to give us the lady whose cry of alarm inspired it all: Saffi Eriksdotter.

But was “Ach! Hans, run!” really her “last words”?

“In the blink of an eye, she strode from deep snow to dusty waste. From the crease of light behind her, a voice rang hollow: ‘Saffi, wait for me…'”

A time rift. Our Saffi went through a time rift. Perhaps she’s survived after all. Yet her card’s mechanical design seems to signal a thumbs-down for that hypothesis. You can sacrifice her to make sure that a creature that would be destroyed, returns to play. Maybe that means she gave up her life for her brother. Maybe it’s intended to show the chaotic nature of time rifts themselves. Or maybe she was meant to be played WITH Tarmogoyf.

Look at their art side by side. Their original art, in Goyf’s case. On the left, Saffi flees, glancing backward in terror. On the right, Goyf holds a familiar-looking human in one gnarled claw. It could be Saffi’s alternate past, or her inevitable future. It could be Hans. In a typical GW Zoo sort of build, you’d probably see yourself saccing Saffi to save Goyf pretty regularly. The overall picture looks grim from where I’m sitting.

So this is the pinnacle of Goyf. We’ve gone from one type of card in the ‘yard, to EVERY type of card. We’ve gone from a flavor snippet of text on a random one-off creature brewed up for fun, to visible art references between two viable, competitive cards. It paints a fitting, though terrifying picture. A serviceable end. But in my heart of hearts, I wonder… who is Hans Eriksson? And when will he get his revenge?

On the spec side of things, green and white look strong in Origins, and Goyf is still somewhat down. See if you can build a Saffi recursion engine into your little-kid aggro Wilted Abzan. There’s never been a better time.

But even when you’re shelling out for a playset of Goyf… sometimes coins mean more than what they’re worth. And sometimes cards mean more than what they do.

See you guys next time.

Limited Landscape

Limited Landscape

With all the excitement surrounding the Dragons of Tarkir release and the resultant flurry of set reviews and podcasts we have figured a few things out about the new set. However, in terms of limited there are always additional facets of the format to analyze. Questions remain about the relative power level of each color and clan, the playability of a few build-around-me cards, and how we should color our perception of the format based on Fate Reforged. Simply playing the set is often the best way to answer these questions. But having spent some time with Fate Reforged we may be better equipped, and may in fact be better served, to take another look.

Overview

Both the influx of new cards and the exodus of Khans of Tarkir have led to an interesting position for Fate Reforged in the format. In the previous format, the set felt top heavy and lacked truly playable cards in the bottom half of each pack. It wasn’t infrequent to open packs with only 2-3 playables. Since the Fate Reforged packs were cracked first in the KTK format most of these playables would dry up by picks 4-5. This generally made it hard to make meaningful reads on the cards being passed to you early and the fact that many players in a pod would be married to their first pick made feeling out the format a bit more unintuitive.

Now with Fate Reforged being opened as the final pack in the current draft format we will see a whole new side to the set. After a dozen drafts I’ve found myself picking up high priority rares around picks 5-6 and getting high priority commons at a stage in the draft that would’ve been impossible in the FTR-KTK-KTK format. For example, cards like Jeskai Infiltrator and many great FTR rares are being passed multiple times. The question to ask yourself is how can I capitalize on this as a drafter?

Make the correct reads. This format is much easier to read accurately than the two previous and the benefits of doing so are far greater. Fifth pick Sage Eye Avengers and his ilk were fantasies in the past and a reality now.

The last general tenet of DTK-DTK-FTR drafting I would pass on is to remember that there are between 3-6 cards, all of which are rare and one being mythic, per clan that incentivize staying in their respective two color combination. This means you can very easily go with any pairing you please so long as you consider the consequences it could have on a synergy driven deck. So when you see an Atarka’s Command first pick first pack and don’t know whether or not to take it over a great mono color card, remember you don’t have to commit to a clan and the rewards can be great for staying open.

Fate Reforged Card Analysis

Despite the headline I won’t be going through each card and grading it or anything like that. I’ll be outlining a few commons that I believe will either have risen or fallen given the change in format. By no means will this list be indicative of what I believe to be the best commons in FTR necessarily.

Goblin Heelcutter:

This was my favorite FTR common in the previous format and I don’t see myself changing my tune anytime soon. Heelcutter does things you’d expect from an uncommon and is a card you find yourself counting as a live draw for lethal. My favorite common got even better, if you find yourself in Kolaghan colors this is the card you want to see most next to Pyrotechnics, excluding rares, in many cases. This card absolutely punishes decks that want to exploit and go for value. Dashing out Heelcutter early can provide enough pressure to force opponents to play sub-optimally to stay out of burn range.

Jeskai Sage:

There has been a lot said about Palace Familiar and all of those things can be said about Jeskai Sage. The real power here is that while Palace Familiar gives you an exploit value card and something to stop all the X/1s in the format, Jeskai Sage can trade up into X/2s while providing the same level of value. You’ll often find yourself hoping to find 2-3 Jeskai Sages from your FTR pack.

Return to the Earth:

This card was a decent side board option in the previous format, but with the addition of DTK this card is now (mostly due to the weakness of green) a true main deck option. Return to the Earth also provides green with a card to look for in their FTR pack where green is noticeably lacking playables. It’s not the most exciting card but has certainly risen in value.

Typhoid Rats:

A Limited staple for years Rats is finding itself positioned better in this format where it can be exploited for value and cards like Tail Slash give deathtouch creatures added levels of flexibility. DTK isn’t a set that features many “go wide” strategies whereas Khans featured cards like Ponyback Brigade, Hordling Outburst, and Take Up Arms.

Sandsteppe Outcast:

No surprises here, Outcast is still fantastic although white is markedly weaker in DTK than it was in Khans. To this point, it is fairly common to take Sandblast over Outcast in this format where white is depending on both Green and Blue, most commonly, to provide removal.

Notably improved Uncommons. This is a short list of a couple uncommons that benefitted greatly from synergies in DTK.

Humble Defector:

This is a card that was very strong in the previous format but has a couple cute synergies in the new set. The primary one being with Swift Warkite, Warkite may already be the strongest of the uncommon dragon cycle in DTK. But bringing back Humble Defector, drawing two cards for free, and netting a 4/4 flyer + a 2/1 with upside is a huge game. If you end up with a Warkite or two keep an eye out for this card.

Merciless Executioner:

This one is a given. It had the exploit mechanic before it was actually introduced, given that this format doesn’t feature “go wide” strategies but does feature tons of on death value creatures Executioner can do some disgusting things.

Fearsome Awakening:

Fearsome Awakening is a card that generally wheels and in certain decks has the potential to be insane. Coupled with a couple Gurmag Drowner you can toss away morph dragons and bring them out buffed the following turn. It makes cards like Icefall Regent borderline unbeatable and makes the uncommon cycle of morph dragons much more playable. I wouldn’t take it very early but it will normally be available in the back half of FTR packs where there is a noticeable lack of playables for most archetypes.

MTGSpeculation

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