Magic the Gathering XX: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!

[Mystic Muse]

I should clarify, this is my mtgo deck. Dojo bots sells them for 9$+ each (and they sell cards on the cheap generally). This whole deck costs < 3$.

EDIT: Is that elesh norn?

If you mean her avatar, it sure looks like it to me.

Technically, no. It's basically supposed to be a villainous version of one of my MLP OCs, who modeled herself after Elesh Norn's look. So, it's an Elesh Norn copycat, basically. (And she was already a queen of blades copycat)

[Androgeus]

Technical nitpick: The tokens cease to exist upon entering the graveyard, not upon leaving the battlefield. Otherwise they wouldn't be considered to have "died" and Grave Pact wouldn't trigger in the first place.

Even more technical nitpick: the tokens don't cease to exist until the next time state based actions are checked. :P

[IcemanJRC]

I wouldn't be upset at a more detailed breakdown of the Tempo-Burn deck, it sounds like something I'm use to playing.

Jeskai Tempo-Burn begin the season as one of the "Best Decks," performing well at PTKTK and the large events such as SCG IQs and Opens that have become the gauge for the paper meta in recent history. The Standard list starts from a shell of:
4 Mantis Rider
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames

These are non-negotiable in almost all cases, they are then supplemented by a body of aggressive creatures, usually something like:

0-4 Monastary Swiftspear
3-4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
0-4 Ashcloud Phoenix
0-2 Stormbreath Dragon
0-1 Keranos, God of Storms

Some decks even trade the 'core' Rabblemasters for other three drops, like Hushwing Gryff, or my personal play; Brimaz, King of Oreskos.

They also include a considerable supplement of burn in some combination:
3-4 Lightning Strike
0-4 Magma Jet

Also:
0-4 Hordeling Outburst
0-4 Steam Augury

And commonly operates on 24 or 25 lands, with a number of Dig Through Times. And flavored to taste. This list Top 8d GP San Antonio this past weekend:

Spoiler

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4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Mantis Rider
3 Wingmate Roc

4 Hordeling Outburst

4 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Dig Through Time

3 Mystic Monastery
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Temple of Epiphany
2 Shivan Reef
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Plains

And I'll save sideboarding and mulligans for part two after questions. I can also get you some different lists to look at if you'd like.

[Duck999]

My super friends commander deck is coming along... well?
The person who gave me sleeves (and supplied many planeswalkers) has given me 15 too few sleeves.:small tongue: The decks itself is not that good, but it looks really fun. I also still need a chain veil. I originally put in guildgates, then switched to the khans dual lands. I thought about putting in the tri lands too, but I don't want all my lands to enter tapped. Also, I'm not using scry lands because budget. Also, I like gaining 1 life. Even if it is barely anything.

[Androgeus]

My super friends commander deck is coming along... well?
The person who gave me sleeves (and supplied many planeswalkers) has given me 15 too few sleeves.:small tongue: The decks itself is not that good, but it looks really fun. I also still need a chain veil. I originally put in guildgates, then switched to the khans dual lands. I thought about putting in the tri lands too, but I don't want all my lands to enter tapped. Also, I'm not using scry lands because budget. Also, I like gaining 1 life. Even if it is barely anything.

If you don't want to run too many tapped lands, then I'd run the 10 tri-lands over the gain life ones. I think access to another mana is more important than 1 life is in edh.

[mrcarter11]

Spoiler

Show

Jeskai Tempo-Burn begin the season as one of the "Best Decks," performing well at PTKTK and the large events such as SCG IQs and Opens that have become the gauge for the paper meta in recent history. The Standard list starts from a shell of:
4 Mantis Rider
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames

These are non-negotiable in almost all cases, they are then supplemented by a body of aggressive creatures, usually something like:

0-4 Monastary Swiftspear
3-4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
0-4 Ashcloud Phoenix
0-2 Stormbreath Dragon
0-1 Keranos, God of Storms

Some decks even trade the 'core' Rabblemasters for other three drops, like Hushwing Gryff, or my personal play; Brimaz, King of Oreskos.

They also include a considerable supplement of burn in some combination:
3-4 Lightning Strike
0-4 Magma Jet

Also:
0-4 Hordeling Outburst
0-4 Steam Augury

And commonly operates on 24 or 25 lands, with a number of Dig Through Times. And flavored to taste. This list Top 8d GP San Antonio this past weekend:

Spoiler

Show

4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Mantis Rider
3 Wingmate Roc

4 Hordeling Outburst

4 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Dig Through Time

3 Mystic Monastery
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Temple of Epiphany
2 Shivan Reef
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Plains

And I'll save sideboarding and mulligans for part two after questions. I can also get you some different lists to look at if you'd like.

I'll spoiler this to avoid cluttering.

Spoiler

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Things that jump out at me.
Mantis Rider is a big deal? I thought most tri color decks tried to avoid using things that cost all three colors, if it's something that wants to be played early on in the match.
I like the charm, it's good for the aggro or burn phase of the deck, and stoke the flames I can see being useful for either burn or removal in a pinch.

Seeker and Swiftspear I'm a fan of, so that's cool. I was gonna ask if Rabble could be traded out as I'm not a fan of the card, but you mentioned that so thank you. Between the phoenix and dragon, which is actually more critical to the deck?

If you aren't running Rabble, are the outburst cards still useful in the deck? And is any other burn considered decent for the deck. In terms of cheap burn for the colors, couldn't you use Boros Charm as well or is that a terrible idea?

[Duck999]

If you don't want to run too many tapped lands, then I'd run the 10 tri-lands over the gain life ones. I think access to another mana is more important than 1 life is in edh.

I probably will. It is a good idea. However, I have a severe lack of any variety of tri lands. I will try to get them, but I mostly get cards through trading, which means they can be hard to find. I could probably get them at the game shop with not much money.

[Mystic Muse]

They should be a dollar, maybe a dollar fifty each at most.

[IcemanJRC]

I'll spoiler this to avoid cluttering.

Spoiler

Show

Things that jump out at me.
Mantis Rider is a big deal? I thought most tri color decks tried to avoid using things that cost all three colors, if it's something that wants to be played early on in the match.
I like the charm, it's good for the aggro or burn phase of the deck, and stoke the flames I can see being useful for either burn or removal in a pinch.

Seeker and Swiftspear I'm a fan of, so that's cool. I was gonna ask if Rabble could be traded out as I'm not a fan of the card, but you mentioned that so thank you. Between the phoenix and dragon, which is actually more critical to the deck?

If you aren't running Rabble, are the outburst cards still useful in the deck? And is any other burn considered decent for the deck. In terms of cheap burn for the colors, couldn't you use Boros Charm as well or is that a terrible idea?

Mantis Rider is amazing. It's a lightning bolt every turn that pays for Stoke and needs to be answered. Mana is pretty darn good right now so you can, more often than not, play Mantis Rider turn 3. Neither Phoenix nor Dragon are particularly critical but they're both quality; Phoenix is great if you want to be able to grind out some advantage, Dragon is better for dodging Abzan Charms and Banishing Lights. And finally, Boros Charm would generally be considered a pretty terrible idea, since you'd get DQd. Since it's not standard legal anymore. But if you're not playing standard than sure go ahead, four to the face is pretty good.

EDIT: ALSO, my personal opinion, Hordeling Outburst is always a bad card to play in this deck.

[rg9000]

Can I have some feedback on this budget modern extra turn deck?
The main combo is clockspinning + sage of hours.
Thanks in advance!

Spoiler: Let's Do the Time Warp again! (Minus Time Warp)

Show

# Time Deck
2x Azorius Guildmage
4x Clockspinning
1x Ith, High Arcanist
1x Rebuff the Wicked
1x Frozen Æther
4x Mycologist
1x Piracy Charm
1x Magus of the Disk
2x Time Stop
1x Niveous Wisps
4x Mana Leak
13x Island
1x Island
12x Plains
3x Test of Faith
2x Medomai the Ageless
1x Nullify
4x Sage of Hours
2x Feat of Resistance

Sideboard advice might be nice

[gooddragon1]

Can I have some feedback on this budget modern extra turn deck?
The main combo is clockspinning + sage of hours.
Thanks in advance!

Spoiler: Let's Do the Time Warp again! (Minus Time Warp)

Show

# Time Deck
2x Azorius Guildmage
4x Clockspinning
1x Ith, High Arcanist
1x Rebuff the Wicked
1x Frozen Æther
4x Mycologist
1x Piracy Charm
1x Magus of the Disk
2x Time Stop
1x Niveous Wisps
4x Mana Leak
13x Island
1x Island
12x Plains
3x Test of Faith
2x Medomai the Ageless
1x Nullify
4x Sage of Hours
2x Feat of Resistance

Sideboard advice might be nice

8 mana and 1 of these with a clockspinning shuts down a lot of decks.

[vhfforever]

I'll spoiler this to avoid cluttering.

Spoiler

Show

Things that jump out at me.
Mantis Rider is a big deal? I thought most tri color decks tried to avoid using things that cost all three colors, if it's something that wants to be played early on in the match.
I like the charm, it's good for the aggro or burn phase of the deck, and stoke the flames I can see being useful for either burn or removal in a pinch.

Seeker and Swiftspear I'm a fan of, so that's cool. I was gonna ask if Rabble could be traded out as I'm not a fan of the card, but you mentioned that so thank you. Between the phoenix and dragon, which is actually more critical to the deck?

If you aren't running Rabble, are the outburst cards still useful in the deck? And is any other burn considered decent for the deck. In terms of cheap burn for the colors, couldn't you use Boros Charm as well or is that a terrible idea?

Yes, 3-color threats are amazingly common currently. I was at the Star City Open last weekend and every round was a Siege Rhino, Mantis Rider, or some other tri-color threat coming out (typically on turn 3, due to how amazing the mana-fixers are). I didn't play a single round against someone running one or two colors in their deck, and all were competitive.

Edit: Also, if you're not running Rabblemaster, you can swap them with Foundry Street Denizen and keep the Outburst in, giving it +3/+0 each turn you play one.

[Ninjaman]

Edit: Also, if you're not running Rabblemaster, you can swap them with Foundry Street Denizen and keep the Outburst in, giving it +3/+0 each turn you play one.

Does nothing in this kind of deck.

[Lady Serpentine]

I've been making silly cards again:

Spoiler: Ridiculous Legends

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Azudos, Lady of the Lost - GGRRBB
Legendary Creature - Demon Monk
You can't cast Azudos, Lady of the Lost unless you have played a land and an opponent lost life this turn.
You may play an additional land for every 1 life your opponents lost this turn.
Creature spells you cast cost 1 less to cost for each land you played this turn.
6/7

Exavelos, Rakdos Blood Emmisary - GGRB
Legendary Creature - Elf Cleric
Double Strike, Haste, Unleash
Whenever Exavelos, Rakdos Blood Emissary, deals combat damage, you may put a +1/+1 counter on up to two target creatures.
T: Add X mana in any combination of B, R, and/or G to your mana pool, where X is the number of creatures you control with a +1/+1 counter on them.

[ChaosOS]

My issue with both of your creations is they seem to be trying to do everything and have way too much going on.

For Azusamo, I don't get why something aggressive that is dealing damage every turn would need a way to dump its hand extra fast at 6 mana. At 6 mana, you're either a lot more controlling or it's just not being cast. Only time I could see that as useful is in a stompy style commander deck, but even so...

Ignoring that you didn't include a P/T on Exavalos, putting mana generation on a creature that otherwise screams pure aggression seems very strange. Sure, they're cool abilities and reasonably synergistic, but it confuses the purpose of the card. If you want to make multifunctional cards, give them a clean, single ability that does that, not just slap a bunch of different abilities on a single card. Finally, Jund doesn't distribute it's +1/+1 counters. Black and red are purely selfish, and the part of green that shares counters is much closer to white color pie wise.

[Lady Serpentine]

...You, uh. Completely missed these were silly hybrids of existing cards, huh? Azudos is Azusa, Lost but Seeking, paired to Rakdos, Lord of Riots. Exavela is Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary.

Also, Black is selfish - but it can distribute power to get more for itself. Exavela would, by building her forces up, be giving herself more effective minions, which is very Black too, especially with her then being able to use them for mana.

Fluffwise, I imagine that she really is an emissary, using the promise of power to convert others; by mixing blood with them she can share the gifts of Rakdos, thereby garnering favor with him, and in turn she can draw on their emotions to fuel her magic and offer him a tithe above their actions.

[Duck999]

Don't seem realistic, but they are entertaining. I can see the allure of mixing cards together. You could get some entertaining combinations.

[Duos]

[gooddragon1]

Also, a while ago, me and a friend played a version of mental magic (sort of). I'll elaborate more in a bit.

[Duck999]

The wording is so bad, but the card is so great.

Also, a while ago, me and a friend played a version of mental magic (sort of). I'll elaborate more in a bit.

Sounds... interesting. Please elaborate.

[Mystic Muse]

Also, a while ago, me and a friend played a version of mental magic (sort of). I'll elaborate more in a bit.

My friends and I did this once when we were bored. Basically you essentially have every card in your entire deck in hand, but you had to keep track of everything in your head. It had to be a deck you had constructed at the time, so you couldn't say you had a counterspell in hand when the deck had no counterspells, stuff like that. The issue of course is, you have to actually remember all the cards, and where they end up.

It wouldn't work so well nowadays, for a variety of reasons, but we did enjoy it at the time.

[gooddragon1]

The wording is so bad, but the card is so great.


Sounds... interesting. Please elaborate.

Basically, I took 60-80 cards (a wad of cards), from my shoebox of cards. Took out all the lands. Then we drew from the same deck. The cards could be played face down as utopia lands (tap add 1 of any color) or played normally. It was interesting.

I'd like to refine this format by having every card also gain morph X, where X is 10 times it's converted mana cost (so if you did leave lands in you could turn them face up at any time for 0 and they're not "dead" cards). 10 is nice math. In this way, you just pick up a wad of cards. Hopefully, you don't just pick up a wad of basic lands.

[Eldariel]

There are a ton of ways to play mental magic. Perhaps the most famous is casting any spell with casting cost equal to turn or less each turn. So turn 1 you can play any 1 to 0-mana spell, turn 2 any 2-to-0 mana spell and so on. Every spell may only be cast once and whether or not you have graveyard depends.

Another style uses a proxy deck (one from which everyone draws, or everyone with their own) where every land is a rainbow land (or alternatively, everyone declares which basic land the land they played is) and every spell is any spell that shares a converted mana cost (or mana cost) with it. Richard Garfield, Ph.D. essentially allows you to play a version of this mode without the rainbow lands.

[Ninjaman]

Lands aren't dead in mind magic, they can be played as any land in the game.

[gooddragon1]

Lands aren't dead in mind magic, they can be played as any land in the game.

In my original version you play cards as they are written or face down as lands. So a land is just a face down land generally. With the morph addition they can become 2/2 creatures for 3, and you can flip them face up if they would die for 0 at any time. Not better than some cards but pretty good in a way I think.

[mrcarter11]

Outside opinions wanted. I have the opportunity to buy a full box of one set. The problem is trying to decide what set is most appealing. The sets I have to choose from are RTR, Dragon's Maze and KOT. I'm not entirely sure which sounds the best. I'm not personally a fan of Khans, besides liking 1 or 2 of the wedge combos, and even then I'm not super excited about what they did with the wedges.. So I'm leaning towards one of the other two, but I'd still hear arguments for KOT.

[Sith_Happens]

Now that I think about it Return to Ravnica is actually a bit underwhelming in retrospect, and I can tell you from personal experience that you should never, ever buy a Dragon's Maze box. No, not even then. So that pretty much leaves Khans by process of elimination, which is fine seeing as even if you don't like it as a set it's chock full of individual bits of awesome (SIIIIIIIEEEEEGGE RHINOOOOO!!!!). Not to mention it's almost certainly the one that will net you the most trade/resale value due to being the only one of the three currently in Standard.

[sonofzeal]

After making (and stealing) a large number of Tribal decks in Cockatrice, sixteen as of yesterday, I'm now running a "tournament".

Stage one is groups of four. Each deck in each group plays the other decks in the group twice, once going first and once going second. To limit the effect of manahosing, I'm redrawing repeatedly until there's a hand with exactly three lands, no more, no less. Sometimes that hand isn't ideal, but at least it's fair.

Group layout:

Spoiler

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Allies (G/W/U/R)
Beasts (G)
Cinders (B/R)
Frogs (G/U) <- stolen and modified

Enchant (B) <- not strictly "tibal" because it's not creatures, but over 20 black non-aura enchantments.
Faeries (B/U)
Birds (U/W) <- stolen and modified
Centaurs (G) <- stolen and heavily modified

Giants (R) <- stolen
Kithkin (W)
Zombies (B) <- stolen and modified
Snakes (G) <- stolen and modified

Spiders (B/G) <- stolen
Treefolk (G) <- stolen and modified
Vampires (B)
Merfolk (U/W) <- stolen

Any predictions?

[enderlord99]

After making (and stealing) a large number of Tribal decks in Cockatrice, sixteen as of yesterday, I'm now running a "tournament".

Stage one is groups of four. Each deck in each group plays the other decks in the group twice, once going first and once going second. To limit the effect of manahosing, I'm redrawing repeatedly until there's a hand with exactly three lands, no more, no less. Sometimes that hand isn't ideal, but at least it's fair.

Group layout:

Spoiler

Show

Allies (G/W/U/R)
Beasts (G)
Cinders (B/R)
Frogs (G/U) <- stolen and modified

Enchant (B) <- not strictly "tibal" because it's not creatures, but over 20 black non-aura enchantments.
Faeries (B/U)
Birds (U/W) <- stolen and modified
Centaurs (G) <- stolen and heavily modified

Giants (R) <- stolen
Kithkin (W)
Zombies (B) <- stolen and modified
Snakes (G) <- stolen and modified

Spiders (B/G) <- stolen
Treefolk (G) <- stolen and modified
Vampires (B)
Merfolk (U/W) <- stolen

Any predictions?

Number 6 will probably win, unless you play poorly with it on purpose.

[Sith_Happens]

Number 6 will probably win, unless you play poorly with it on purpose.

Depends on the Merfolk list. I've never heard of UW Merfolk, but considering that U Merfolk is still playable in Legacy last I checked I'm pretty sure it has a chance against Faeries.