Post by gabochido on Dec 9, 2011 20:25:08 GMT -5
In a recent podcast someone said something along the lines of "there's just so much pauper you can talk about". I think that is quite false at least regarding our favourite (and only) pauper podcast.
I'd love to organize my own podcast but I'm a terrible talker and currently have very little time outside of family and work so I don't think I'd be able to handle recording one every week, however I do have time to think about what could go in one. Here are some segments that I would include in a podcast about the pauper format:
Pauper News - Start with any pauper/peasant related news or articles from the week that are not covered by any of the other more gameplay related sections. For example, bannings for any of the pauper formats, spoiled cards that could be used for pauper, changes in MTGO or paper magic that affects the format, announced player reward cards or FNM/TNMO cards that could be used in pauper, etc.
Organized Events - While classic Pauper on MTGO is probably the most commonly followed series of Pauper events and that is generally static, you can talk about events organized by PDC or any other player organized events in MTGO. In addition, if you get listener feedback indicating existing events in certain communities for paper magic, or if there are ever any larger events going anywhere, this is a great place to broadcast this. And of course, if you happen to be organizing a league, this is a great section to discuss updates for it.
Metagame Analisis - The metagame for classic pauper in MTGO is very slow to change, but it does occasionally. For example, last month 2 things happened, Infect decks disappeared because everyone sold their invigorates due to MM block being released and the new delver control deck became the rage. It's also worth looking at MTGStats to see what decks have been hogging the spotlight and discussing what the best deck to play against these would be and why. And that's just classic Pauper on MTGO, there are many variations for competitive Pauper organized by PDC that are worth discussing, mainly Pauper Standard and Peasant.
Deck of the Week - I would make this be the meat of the podcast. There are at least 10 tier 1 decks in the current metagame of pauper classic plus a few other tier 2 decks that can be talked about. And of course there are decks from standard pauper and peasant and other variations of the format. For this section I would use the format that Nyukon has used to create a few threads in these forums for deck analysis: describe the deck and how it works, explain how some key cards work in the deck, discuss how its matchups are against other decks in its format and mention what sideboard it can use against these and how to play it successfully.
Card vs Card - Its often worth it and very interesting to go into deeper discussion of the value of similar cards in a particular deck and this is a section that could be used for that. You can discuss advantages and disadvantages of each card, if you might consider playing a mixture of both and what decks each one might be better against. For example, Suture Priest vs Lone Missionary, Daze vs Force Spike, Ancient Grudge vs Shatter in izzetpost, etc.
Just for Fun - Some decks just don't have what it takes to disrupt Infect or Storm, get through mono blue' s counters or stand against goblins or white weenie. However, some of the more interesting combos and deck interactions can be found in less competitive decks. I think its worth visiting these each week as well. A few games in the Just for Fun room will reveal a lot of creative decks and if you want to put a competitive twist on this section you can discuss what it would take to make it succeed in a daily.
Pauper Prices - Prices for Pauper cards don't change nearly as much as cards for standard. The commons from recent sets are always dirt cheap and the high priced cards from classic sets are usually quite static. However, changes in metagame and things like the release of MM or certain boxed sets can have an effect on the prices of cards. Its also worth looking into certain pricey cards and discussing alternatives that can work.
Improving Pauper - This would be where people who like to call WotC stupid for one reason or another can actually step into their shoes and suggest what to do about the game. If certain decks are ruining the metagame, perhaps discussing what to ban or what kind of cards could be printed to give other decks answers or to create a deck that nullifies annoying decks but remains fair to others. Also what to do to make Pauper more popular or more enjoyable.
Listener Feedback - And of course, its always worth reading interesting questions from listeners that haven't already been answered in any of the previous sections.
So this is how I would organize my own podcast if I had one. Not all the segments would be in each show and there would always be special segments for special things. I know the Pauper to the People sometimes follows along the lines of some similar things, but there is no way that there is just "so much pauper they can talk about", not with their current format.
One more thing, I would do set reviews in a different way to how they do it currently. I would most certainly not spend time in the podcast loading up Gatherer and listing every card that does nothing interesting for the format. Instead I would beforehand go through the spoiler and pick out all the cards that could have some use in any decks, including more casual ones and formats like standard pauper, and then go into depth for each one of these. There aren't that many that can really make a difference (most commons are really for limited) so it should be possible to spend more time with each one. The listeners can read through the rest of the spoiler on their own and, if they think any useful card was missed, can send feedback and those cards can be discussed in the next episode.
I'd love to organize my own podcast but I'm a terrible talker and currently have very little time outside of family and work so I don't think I'd be able to handle recording one every week, however I do have time to think about what could go in one. Here are some segments that I would include in a podcast about the pauper format:
Pauper News - Start with any pauper/peasant related news or articles from the week that are not covered by any of the other more gameplay related sections. For example, bannings for any of the pauper formats, spoiled cards that could be used for pauper, changes in MTGO or paper magic that affects the format, announced player reward cards or FNM/TNMO cards that could be used in pauper, etc.
Organized Events - While classic Pauper on MTGO is probably the most commonly followed series of Pauper events and that is generally static, you can talk about events organized by PDC or any other player organized events in MTGO. In addition, if you get listener feedback indicating existing events in certain communities for paper magic, or if there are ever any larger events going anywhere, this is a great place to broadcast this. And of course, if you happen to be organizing a league, this is a great section to discuss updates for it.
Metagame Analisis - The metagame for classic pauper in MTGO is very slow to change, but it does occasionally. For example, last month 2 things happened, Infect decks disappeared because everyone sold their invigorates due to MM block being released and the new delver control deck became the rage. It's also worth looking at MTGStats to see what decks have been hogging the spotlight and discussing what the best deck to play against these would be and why. And that's just classic Pauper on MTGO, there are many variations for competitive Pauper organized by PDC that are worth discussing, mainly Pauper Standard and Peasant.
Deck of the Week - I would make this be the meat of the podcast. There are at least 10 tier 1 decks in the current metagame of pauper classic plus a few other tier 2 decks that can be talked about. And of course there are decks from standard pauper and peasant and other variations of the format. For this section I would use the format that Nyukon has used to create a few threads in these forums for deck analysis: describe the deck and how it works, explain how some key cards work in the deck, discuss how its matchups are against other decks in its format and mention what sideboard it can use against these and how to play it successfully.
Card vs Card - Its often worth it and very interesting to go into deeper discussion of the value of similar cards in a particular deck and this is a section that could be used for that. You can discuss advantages and disadvantages of each card, if you might consider playing a mixture of both and what decks each one might be better against. For example, Suture Priest vs Lone Missionary, Daze vs Force Spike, Ancient Grudge vs Shatter in izzetpost, etc.
Just for Fun - Some decks just don't have what it takes to disrupt Infect or Storm, get through mono blue' s counters or stand against goblins or white weenie. However, some of the more interesting combos and deck interactions can be found in less competitive decks. I think its worth visiting these each week as well. A few games in the Just for Fun room will reveal a lot of creative decks and if you want to put a competitive twist on this section you can discuss what it would take to make it succeed in a daily.
Pauper Prices - Prices for Pauper cards don't change nearly as much as cards for standard. The commons from recent sets are always dirt cheap and the high priced cards from classic sets are usually quite static. However, changes in metagame and things like the release of MM or certain boxed sets can have an effect on the prices of cards. Its also worth looking into certain pricey cards and discussing alternatives that can work.
Improving Pauper - This would be where people who like to call WotC stupid for one reason or another can actually step into their shoes and suggest what to do about the game. If certain decks are ruining the metagame, perhaps discussing what to ban or what kind of cards could be printed to give other decks answers or to create a deck that nullifies annoying decks but remains fair to others. Also what to do to make Pauper more popular or more enjoyable.
Listener Feedback - And of course, its always worth reading interesting questions from listeners that haven't already been answered in any of the previous sections.
So this is how I would organize my own podcast if I had one. Not all the segments would be in each show and there would always be special segments for special things. I know the Pauper to the People sometimes follows along the lines of some similar things, but there is no way that there is just "so much pauper they can talk about", not with their current format.
One more thing, I would do set reviews in a different way to how they do it currently. I would most certainly not spend time in the podcast loading up Gatherer and listing every card that does nothing interesting for the format. Instead I would beforehand go through the spoiler and pick out all the cards that could have some use in any decks, including more casual ones and formats like standard pauper, and then go into depth for each one of these. There aren't that many that can really make a difference (most commons are really for limited) so it should be possible to spend more time with each one. The listeners can read through the rest of the spoiler on their own and, if they think any useful card was missed, can send feedback and those cards can be discussed in the next episode.