Magic the Gathering XIX: Heroic- Bump this thread.

[Mr._Blinky]

Multiple turns of Mindslaver is dramatically stronger than one turn of it. Sorin is good because of his "go to 10" ability, mostly; his ultimate is mostly cool fluff.

That's...pretty much what I said, if a bit more succinct?

Why is City of Brass good? Aren't there other lands that do that now without the ping?

Not really. There aren't any lands that tap for any color of mana without a drawback, unless you count Command Tower (which obviously only works in EDH). Gemstone Mine has limited charges, Ancient Ziggurat is only usable for creatures, Shimmering Grotto and Unknown Shores mostly filter mana rather than producing it, Reflecting Pool requires that you already be able to produce mana of a color, etc. City of Brass is good because, while it pings you, it has no restrictions on how you use the mana and will never suddenly "turn off" for whatever reason. A lot of decks consider taking 2-4 damage over the course of the game a small enough price to pay for unrestricted access to their mana.

[Bucky]

City of Brass is good because, while it pings you, it has no restrictions on how you use the mana and will never suddenly "turn off" for whatever reason.

City of Brass turns off when you run out of life. The new version even more so.

[memnarch]

City of Brass turns off when you run out of life. The new version even more so.

That being said, don't all lands turn off when you run out of life?

[Loreweaver15]

The big deal with City of Brass--and, incidentally, with the shock lands--is that life is a resource, not a treasure hoard, and things that cost life instead of more limited resources like mana or a turn tapped or other needy things are functionally much cheaper and more accessible.

[Fjolnir]

The reason why you don't want city of brass over most of the other more restrictive producers of any color of mana is that you can generally get colorless out of them without the slow bleed.

[Duck999]

I dunno, dude, Mindslaver and Sorin got play.

Mindslaver is colorless, and activates turn 7. Since it is colorless, it is easy to play in green which has ramp, and activate sooner. Sorin comes out turn six, activates turn 9, but does other good stuff in between.
The new card is black and activates turn 8, along with being exiled and being able to get it back.

[Androgeus]

City of Brass turns off when you run out of life. The new version even more so.

Well the new land gets turned off at 1 life, where as you can use city of brass and then respond to the trigger in the same situation.

[Sith_Happens]

This whole "becomes colorless" thing really irks me for some reason. I get that saving your mana for later is a ridiculously good ability no matter how you shake it, but at 2 CMC higher I'm pretty sure they could have afforded to not give Kruphix a worse version of it than Omnath has.

In other news, Interpret the Signs and Spite of Mogis are both going straight onto my Melek EDH list.

[Loreweaver15]

Kruphix is also a lot harder to get rid of than Omnath, has built-in Spellbook, and affects ALL mana, not just green mana.

[Mr._Blinky]

Kruphix is also a lot harder to get rid of than Omnath, has built-in Spellbook, and affects ALL mana, not just green mana.

This. Omnath is really vulnerable to getting you blown out by any kind of removal, wasting all of that mana you saved up. The fact that Kruphix is an indestructible enchantment makes him just about as hard to deal with as a permanent can be; Return to Dust and All is Dust are about the only commonly played answers to that kind of card, at least in my playgroup, since Path and Swords can't hit him if he's not a creature.

Plus, being in blue gives him access to cards like Stroke of Genius and Blue Sun's Zenith, which are incredible both with his ability to save up mana and with his built in spellbook. Dude is a house.

[dragonsamurai77]

Speaking of Kruphix, here's what I plan to run once JOU comes out; thoughts? Somewhat budget; a few expensive cards that I should be able to trade for with lucky pulls from previous prereleases, but please try not to suggest any more pricey cards.

Spoiler

Show

4x Elvish Mystic
4x Kiora's Follower
2x Prophet of Kruphix
3x Arbor Colossus
2x Kruphix, God of Horizons
3x Prime Speaker Zegana
2x Colossus of Akros
2x Worldspine Wurm

2x Cyclonic Rift
3x Dissolve

3x Dictate of Karametra

4x Urban Evolution

2x Kiora, the Crashing Wave

13x Forest
11x Island
(possible 4x Simic Guildgate over 2 of each basic, but Temple of Mystery and Breeding Pool are a bit too pricey; Temple's not too bad cost-wise, but I would need a playset, which would be ~$16.)

Sideboard:
2x Negate
2x Mortal's Resolve
4x Simic Charm
2x Pithing Needle
2x Unravel the Aether
2x Mistcutter Hydra
1x Scavenging Ooze (Duels 2014 promo, not in my budget to actually buy or trade for another)

[Duck999]

I went to a MtG panel at Pax East, and they spoiled some cards. Five minutes later, you could check online and see the cards. The spoiled god Athreos seems good.

[Marthinwurer]

Athreos is godly. (See what I did there? :p ) He's a 3 drop indestructible that makes it nearly impossible to board wipe. He is going to make me actually make a standard WWb deck that will work. I love him already.

[Shadow of the Sun]

So Wizards just printed the straw that broke the Pod camel's back. What the hell are they thinking?

[Mystic Muse]

So Wizards just printed the straw that broke the Pod camel's back. What the hell are they thinking?

Make pod overpowered so they have a reason to ban it that logical people can't argue with?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Make pod overpowered so they have a reason to ban it that logical people can't argue with?

Then they've chosen the single best way of doing it.

Athreos just takes everything Pod does and turns it up to 11.

Because of how you can stack triggers you can still combo off with Melira, a persist creature, and a sac outlet with Athreos in play, by just responding to the bounce triggers with your next sac.

He turns what is already the best card advantage engine in Modern into an even more powerful one...

And since the 'isn't a creature' clause only occurs when he's not in play, you can pod into him, making it so that you can't even counter him.

Seriously what in the ever loving hell were wizards thinking?

[ChaosOS]

So I'm thinking Ajani is going to make GW a good color combination for standard post JOU, my primary question is: Will GW alone be enough, with only pacifism, the new Setessan Tactics, and Unravel the Aether/Revoke Existence as removal in a midrangy deck (Which Ajani is built for)? Or if a dip/full third color is wanted, what will it be? Bant walkers, Junk Midrange, and of course Naya midrange all seem like decent options

[Somensjev]

what's everyone's thoughts on king midas macar?

[Loreweaver15]

what's everyone's thoughts on king midas macar?

He dies to just about everything in the format, and will not survive attacking long enough to untap in 99.9% of cases. He'll see Limited play, but not Constructed.

Inspired is generally a super-weak mechanic with the tools we have available right now.

[Mystic Muse]

Seriously what in the ever loving hell were wizards thinking?

"Well, pod is a problem, and he's preventing us from printing new cool creatures. How can we deal with it?"

"Let's print another creature that's super overpowered in it, and then once it dominates for a few months, nobody will object to it being banned!"

"BRILLIANT!"

[Grytorm]

Am I weird to think that Underworld Coinsmith might see play with Athreos? Is a human so it goes with Xathrid Necromancer and it provides a bit of reach.

[Loreweaver15]

Am I weird to think that Underworld Coinsmith might see play with Athreos? Is a human so it goes with Xathrid Necromancer and it provides a bit of reach.

I was just considering Underworld Coinsmith myself. Xathrid Necromancer, not so much.

[Grytorm]

Yeah, Brimaz is probably better but why not go with all of the resurrection shenanigans.

[Mr._Blinky]

So I'm thinking Ajani is going to make GW a good color combination for standard post JOU, my primary question is: Will GW alone be enough, with only pacifism, the new Setessan Tactics, and Unravel the Aether/Revoke Existence as removal in a midrangy deck (Which Ajani is built for)? Or if a dip/full third color is wanted, what will it be? Bant walkers, Junk Midrange, and of course Naya midrange all seem like decent options

I think the proper place for him is a Naya Midrange Superfriends build, running Ajani, Xenagos the Reveler, and Elspeth. Use mana dorks to drop Xenagos T3, drop Ajani T4 and either pump your dorks or a Xenagos token, and then T5 drop Elspeth to either kill of the opposition's board before dropping a Xenagos token and pumping it to a 5/5, or else drop the Elspeth soldiers to pump with Ajani and make a buttload of mana with Xenagos. Long story short, I think that if he's going to work it's because he runs well with the other established planeswalkers.

He dies to just about everything in the format, and will not survive attacking long enough to untap in 99.9% of cases. He'll see Limited play, but not Constructed.

Inspired is generally a super-weak mechanic with the tools we have available right now.

Well, I mean, Springleaf Drum still exists as a card, and I feel like BUG flash shenanigans might be possible with the tools we have now.

[Nerocite]

That new centaur lord makes me happy, glad to see other tribes getting some love beyond minotaurs.

[Duck999]

That new centaur lord makes me happy, glad to see other tribes getting some love beyond minotaurs.

3/3 that gives all other centaurs +1/+1, vigilance, and trample... It is a good lord too. Now centaurs is leaning towards having a deck. Maybe some heroic centaurs and the lord.

[Grytorm]

All minotaur decks really need now to be complete is maybe another one drop which can be filled with Rakdos Cackler and hopefully a few high quality two drops.

[unseenmage]

My local group just started up an EDH mini-league where we each get one Theros god and build a Commander deck around it.
Purphoros fell to me.

I could really use some advice for building a straight R Commander deck, the last one I tried fell flat on it's face.

Edit: Two more things, Modern and Commander banned lists and no mingling of Gods with other God's followers/Equipment.

[Loreweaver15]

My local group just started up an EDH mini-league where we each get one Theros god and build a Commander deck around it.
Purphoros fell to me.

I could really use some advice for building a straight R Commander deck, the last one I tried fell flat on it's face.

Edit: Two more things, Modern and Commander banned lists and no mingling of Gods with other God's followers/Equipment.

Why the Modern ban list?

[unseenmage]

Why the Modern ban list?

Dunno really.
My guess is because newbies. And because some of those gods are mono-colored which gives them a distinct disadvantage. But those are merely assumptions on my part.

Personally I would have preferred challenge mode of Standard only but that's just me.