Magic the Gathering X: Deal X damage to target thread.

[MammonAzrael]

I see, thanks for the heads up. It seems that's what I get for being a mostly casual player who still plays cards from the Urza's block and is only involved in tourney play via the occasional FNM. Now I have to go research to see what decks are/will be big now that CawBlade has been effectively killed.

Well if you're only casually involved with the tourney scene...do you need to keep up with the current Standard trends? I mean, with the decks that relied on Mystic/Jace neutered, you should feel free to play whatever you want, no? No need to worry about who the big dogs are...I guess unless you're thinking about sideboards.

In which case, expect to see plenty of Valakut and Vampires, and plenty of other aggro. You may see some control, infect, and Tezz builds, but they won't do as well given the undefined nature of the format. I'd stick with something aggro like RDWs for now.

[Maho-Tsukai]

Yeah, sideboarding is exactly what I was concerned with. I am also worried that my current incarnation of U/B Infect will not work in the new meta as it packed little to no spot removal and used the contagion clasp + tumble magnet as a way to control creatures. However, if aggro becomes prominent again I most likely will have to totally gut my deck and add more spot removal to deal with creature heavy strategies that where basicly non-existent in my game store's meta pre-ban(pretty much everybody was playing CawBlade or some other form of control that utalized Mind Sculptor...we also had the occasional RUG deck but aggro was pretty much non-existent where I played.

Thus, I want to know how strong and prominent aggro looks to be so I can properly turn my deck against it(which means adding more removal to my main deck.)

If you want to know what my deck looked like pre-bans, here it is..

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Lands:
4x Inkmoth Nexus
4x Creeping Tar-Pit
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Drowned Catacombs
5x Island
5x Swamp

Creatures:
4x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4x Phyrexian Crusader

Other Spells:
2x Jace Beleren
2x Corrupted Conscience
2x Black Sun's Zenith
4x Preordain
4x Despise
2x Corrupted Resolve
4x Mana Leak
4x Tumble Magnet
4x Contagion Clasp

As you can see, that deck may not be in the best spot against creature-heavy strategies and thus I want to know if I now need to alter it to better handle decks that play lots of creatures or if I can just side extra removal and call it a day?

[Zocelot]

In an EDH game:

Me: *Cast a Sheoldred, Whispering One*
Opponent: "Dude, Sheoldred is completely OP"
Me: "Praetors gonna praet"

[BladeofOblivion]

In an EDH game:

Me: *Cast a Sheoldred, Whispering One*
Opponent: "Dude, Sheoldred is completely OP"
Me: "Praetors gonna praet"

*Slaps*

That's for the pun.

*Hugs*

That's for the laugh.

[MammonAzrael]

Well I'd certainly want several Go for the Throats, as they are a good way to deal with Deceiver Exarch, which you must be able to deal with.

Personally, I'd be inclined to start with Kibler's old UB Infect deck and move from there (incorporating NPH, of course).

Expect to see large amounts of aggro, Valakut, and Exarch/Twin. You won't be seeing much control until the format is more well defined.

[Maho-Tsukai]

Yeah, as I said, twin was never a big deal in my local meta pre-ban as my meta WAS CawBlade. Literally about at the absolute least 95% of the decks you would be facing would be CawBlade and the other times you would be facing either RUG or some W/X(or in some cases mono W) deck that looked to abuse Giddeon. But CawBlade was the norm and thus I built around facing that.

Also, would adding spellskites be of any use to me? I know they can work wonders against the Exarch-twin combo and I've had the privlage of pulling a few from some New Phyrexia boosters.

[Sohala]

Spellskite sounds like a viable choice to me, fills in a blocker slot and helps with creature protection.

Both are probably too slow, but viral drake and prototype portal might fit. The first giving another blocker and infecter, the second allowing the spam of spellskites and tumble magnets.

[MammonAzrael]

It'd certainly be worth trying. They also make a solid speed bump for RDW and Vamps.

[Lhurgyof]

Can anyone think of a simple infinite mana combo? I wanted to build a deck that wins with Helix Pinnacle, and the only one I could think of was 3 in mana myr and two galvanisers.

Myr Retriever x 2
Ashnod's Altar
Genesis Chamber

Or substitute Mycosynth Golem with the chamber.

[Tao the Ninja]

Also, there is some very effective mill hate in the format right now (e.g. Kozilek)

I am consideing building a mill deck when M12 comes out, and let me assure you that I am going to include at least one or two Nihil Spellbombs in the main so as to not just fold to Blightsteel/Eldrazi.

[ZombyWoof]

Well I'd certainly want several Go for the Throats, as they are a good way to deal with Deceiver Exarch, which you must be able to deal with.

Protip: dismember is better.

Is it just me or does Scars block have some of the most absurd removal ever? Grasp, Dismember, Go for the Throat...

[BladeofOblivion]

Protip: dismember is better.

Is it just me or does Scars block have some of the most absurd removal ever? Grasp, Dismember, Go for the Throat...

Dismember is GREAT. It's a four-of in a surprising number of decks. And in limited, it's almost a bomb all its own.

[IthilanorStPete]

I am consideing building a mill deck when M12 comes out, and let me assure you that I am going to include at least one or two Nihil Spellbombs in the main so as to not just fold to Blightsteel/Eldrazi.

Works against the Eldrazi, but not so much against Blightsteel - because its ability is a replacement ability, it never actually hits the graveyard.

[Sohala]

You might want to put in some Blue Sun's Zeniths or similar effects to try and by pass them as well. Assuming you can get their deck low enough, you just have them draw through them instead of milling them to the graveyard.

[memnarch]

Blightsteel just shuffles itself into the library; not the whole graveyard.

[MammonAzrael]

Protip: dismember is better.

Is it just me or does Scars block have some of the most absurd removal ever? Grasp, Dismember, Go for the Throat...

Protip: Dismember can be redirected to Spellskite, while Go for the Throat cannot, meaning it is the better choice to take out Deceiver Exarchs.

[Bucky]

(M12)

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Is it just my imagination or does Primordial Hydra make an insane Cryptoplasm target?

[IthilanorStPete]

(M12)

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Is it just my imagination or does Primordial Hydra make an insane Cryptoplasm target?

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Pretty sure it's your imagination; Cryptoplasm doesn't copy the counters on the creature it's copying.

[Bucky]

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Pretty sure it's your imagination; Cryptoplasm doesn't copy the counters on the creature it's copying.

The first ability is irrelevant. The second and third abilities are the payload.

[IthilanorStPete]

The first ability is irrelevant. The second and third abilities are the payload.

How exactly do you plan on getting a bunch of counters on Cryptoplasm efficiently?

[ZombyWoof]

Protip: Dismember can be redirected to Spellskite, while Go for the Throat cannot, meaning it is the better choice to take out Deceiver Exarchs.

IF they have a spellskite out. But that means they need to draw Exarch, Spellskite, and Splinter Twin while you need to draw... any 2 removal spells?

[MammonAzrael]

IF they have a spellskite out. But that means they need to draw Exarch, Spellskite, and Splinter Twin while you need to draw... any 2 removal spells?

This is true. It is, however, still an upside of Go for the Throat, as the situation will come up. I'm not saying Dismember is a bad card, far from it. Simply pointing out that it is not "better," just different. There are situations in which each card shines. Dismember is better if you're facing down a Precursor Golem. But I'd rather have Go for the Throat if I need to kill a titan. Frankly, you're probably best off playing a mix of both spells.

[ZombyWoof]

Nah Dismember is the better card. I don't think anyone's going to argue that a 1 mana -5/-5 instant speed removal is worse than 1b destroy target non artifact

[Fable Wright]

Nah Dismember is the better card. I don't think anyone's going to argue that a 1 mana -5/-5 instant speed removal is worse than 1b destroy target non artifact

Depends on a variety of circumstances. Each has their own ups and downs.

Unless you're playing monoblack against a Mirran Crusader, in which case neither of them does anything.

[Mystic Muse]

Depends on a variety of circumstances. Each has their own ups and downs.

Unless you're playing monoblack against a Mirran Crusader, in which case neither of them does anything.

Heehee. I love Mirran Crusaders.

[MammonAzrael]

Nah Dismember is the better card. I don't think anyone's going to argue that a 1 mana -5/-5 instant speed removal is worse than 1b destroy target non artifact

I disagree. While I don't expect anyone to argue that Dismember is a worse card than Go for the Throat, it is decidely not better in plenty of situations. I've already named several situations, all of which are common in Standard to face, where Go for the Throat is the better card. And you can't simply ignore the 4 life Dismember costs, it is often relevant.

Both are good cards, and both have their place. But to say that Dismember is simply better is just plain incorrect. It does not avoid Spellskite, which is a common defense these days. It cannot kill titans, which are being reprinted. It has different limitations than Go for the Throat. It is not better. It is like the difference between Go for the Throat and Doom Blade: each are better in different circumstances.

[ZombyWoof]

Ok go tell any pro player that Go for the Throat is a better overall card than Dismember.

Their laughter shall feed me!

[MammonAzrael]

Why would I? I haven't once claimed that Go for the Throat is a better card than Dismember. I have simply refuted your claim that Dismember is better than Go for the Throat.

Neither card is better. Each has different circumstances in which they excel. Dismember is a terrific answer to a wide variety of creatures. It also completely fails as removal against some of the most powerful creatures currently available in Standard. That does not make it worse that Go for the Throat, just different.

Dismember certainly has a wider range of applications thanks to it's ability to be effectively colorless, but I, at least, have been talking strictly about decks capable of casting both cards.

[Fable Wright]

Heehee. I love Mirran Crusaders.

As a B/G player, I disagree with this sentiment. Vehemently.

[Androgeus]

(M12)

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Is it just my imagination or does Primordial Hydra make an insane Cryptoplasm target?

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Unless you get some counters on Cryptoplasm, it will die when it becomes a copy of Primordial Hydra. If you use The Mimeoplasm you'll have something awesome on your hands.