Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Yet another Magic thread by me, Shas'aia Toriia! 'Cause I'm sure you weren't sick of looking at me yet!
All art by Uncle Festy. Worship him for his god like art skills.
Also, he takes requests. Sometimes. Usually he bites your head off if he isn't in the 'art' mood.
It's the 9th official Magic: the Gathering thread on Giantitp forums!
This is the place for everything regarding the game - rules questions, your own card creations, decks, reports, rants about recent sets/cards/rules changes, the storyline, favorite cards/colors/sets/characters/pros/articles, the absolute glory/terrible creation that is Elder Dragon Highlander, whatever you can think of.
And definitely don't be shy if you're new to the game or think about starting. We're pretty casual players around here anyway. (Except, you know, those of us who play in tourneys.)
If you want, you can post decks and have them placed here in a list similar to the one below! Just, you know, tell us. Definitely multiple times because we'll forget. Actually, it's better off if you PM me.
The Deck Gallery:
That deck focuses on getting the kill as fast as possible, and is an extremely simple deck to play - I gave it to my mom, and she managed to beat me with it, twice out of three games. The other one was multiplayer, and did manage to take down somebody else before I did the same to her.
It has a very good record, wins most games it plays and consistenly trounces my Faerie deck.
Start the game off by playing Flamekin Harbinger to tutor up either Nova Chaser or the Soulstoke, depending on what you need more. Then play Smokebraider for some cheap mana. Play Incandescent Soulstoke turn three, and up to 3 Nova Chasers through the Soulstoke's ability turn 4 for the win.
If they somehow survive this, just champion Flamekin Harbinger, fling your Nova Chasers and Changeling Berserkers at the opponent. When they do, search up a new one and do it again! Vengeful Firebrand is great end game. He'll likely have haste from one of the many warriors in the deck, and his firebreathing effect quickly escalates from Smokebraider's ability.
Conspiring Ultimatums, a truly magical, non-budget deck by tgva8889
Gameplay:
When playing this deck, it's important to survive the early game. Once you get into the late game, any deck without an abundance of counterspells will suddenly be faced with an onslaught of powerful spells. Between the 5 game-winners, one being a repeatable spell, the 4 Naya Charms, and the 3 Primal Commands and 4 Cone of Flames to control the game a bit, this deck should have no problem pushing through a late-game backbreaker. Maelstrom Archangel is there to help you push through some spells; after all, it's not very likely you'll be able to play two Ultimatums in one turn, is it?
In terms of your early game, the key to surviving is to play Sprouting Thrinax, Naya Charm, and Cone of Flame as much as possible to slow down your foe. In addition, don't be afraid to take a bit of damage; you can afford to go down to 10 or even 5 before you're really in dire straits. The Primal Commands can gain you some important life early on, and it's not uncommon to be casting Maelstrom Archangel on turn 5 if it's in your opener, so the Angel can act as a last-ditch blocker if need be. Garruk's Beast tokens are also extremely helpful in surviving to your big guns, and Garruk himself provides you some acceleration that can get you there faster.
Naya Charm is truly your ace in the hole. Acting as Regrowth, Lash Out, and a fourth of Cryptic Command is truly something amazing. However, don't be afraid to spend Naya Charm early on. If you get Wort up and running, you can recycle your Naya Charms with your other cards extremely easily.
Remember, the objective with this deck is to conspire ridiculous spells for ridiculous fun. If you're about to lose, don't be afraid to Conspire Conflux and show off your deck in a glorious fashion. It's all about making big explosions, after all!
The basic strategy is to play evasive creatures with nice CIP abilities, then bounce them with ninja to replay them again, gaining tons of card advantage. Save the instant counters for things you can't handle, like high cost spells that Spellstutter Sprite can't hit, or board-wiping spells. The deck has lots of disruption and can usually play pretty aggressively. Nearly every spell can potentially 2-for-1 the opponent, giving me control of the game thanks to my strong card advantage. It's a very cheap deck to build due to being made entirely of commons, yet I find that it's still a solid deck to play in other casual formats as well. Its biggest weaknesses appear to be board-sweeping spells and pingers, so my sideboard is built to accomidate either of those threats. Peppersmoke handles most pingers and can decimate casual aggro decks. Remove Soul is also good against aggro, while Negate is for control decks that have been popular lately. Echoing Truth is to stop pauper storm decks based on Empty the Warrens, and the Mistblade Shinobi is for keeping midrange creature decks off balance.
Mirrinus' Pauper Mono White Control
Spoiler
Deck: Sarutabaruta (or just call it Pauper Mono-W Control)
Format: MTGO Pauper Classic
(Note: the circles of protection were common when printed in 7th edition, so they're legal for pauper.)
Anyway, I realized that most decks for pauper are creature-heavy, due to the lack of mass removal. So I built a deck designed to crush aggro strategies. I run a wealth of removal spells, some of which can earn card advantage. My creatures are few, but are versatile and are great both early and late game, oftentimes utilizing my excess mana to the fullest. The Kami of Ancient Law in the sideboard is mostly to switch in against creature-light decks as an early beater, or to replace Holy Light against white decks. I figure that if a deck is playing white, it's likely to be playing white enchantment-based removal like Oblivion Ring or Temporal Isolation, so the Kami would be great at keeping my other creatures clear of these answers.
What I'm still considering, though, is the removal suite. I like Fire at Will for its potential for card advantage, particularly against weenie swarms like Slivers. Unmake is also great simply for the lack of the attack/blocker clause. The Dawn Charms are there mostly for versatility, as I can usually think of a good use for it. I'm not sure if I should be maindecking the Holy Lights, though. So far, they've only been useful against pinger decks, Empty the Warrens, and certain elf builds. However, given that Storm may be one of the best pauper builds, Holy Light affords me with my best chance of trumping Empty the Warrens. But most of all, I'm debating Judge Unworthy. On one hand, having 8 removal spells that require attacking/blocking is kind of restrictive; on the other hand, it's my cheapest removal spell, and my only removal option for turn 2. The Scry is oftentimes a toss-up; getting rid of excess land is great, but I've had instances where I needed to draw another land, but can't put a land on top of my deck with Scry if I want to kill a creature. I guess Temporal Isolation is a possible substitute, but it's pretty lousy in the Silvers matchup, which is perhaps the most common deck played in the pauper casual room as of late.
I'm still debating whether Relic of Progenitus should be in the sideboard; perhaps I could use more aggro options to switch in against creature-light decks, even though those tend to be fewer in number for this format.
So, what does this deck do? At its core, this deck is made to abuse Mirror Sheen with various effects that can target me. Beneficial effects like Compulsive Research, Oona's Grace, and Walk the Aeons can be spread to both myself and my teammate, especially in MTGO 2HG, where turns are taken separately. Meanwhile, burn spells like Electrolyze, Cone of Flame, and Conflagrate can spread their damage to point just 1 damage at me, allowing me to copy them as well.
My plan is to lay down some beefy blockers and control the board with versatile burn while building up mana and drawing cards for both me and my partner. Lots of card drawing spells plus Drift of Phantasms allows me to quickly find Mirror Sheen, while Hinder (my counterspell of choice in extended) and Swerve protect me and my flagship enchantment. With Mirror Sheen on the board, most of my spells become super-charged. Eventually, I will seek to win the game with a huge, crazy turn. Most commonly, I'll flashback Conflagrate for just 2 mana, discarding my hand of 7-8 cards and targetting myself with just 1 point of its damage, then pump all of my mana into copying that huge Conflagrate. With 8 mana available and 7 cards in hand, that's 20 damage divided as I choose, perfect for eliminating all blockers for my partner's alpha strike, or just sending it all to the dome. Or I can copy Walk the Aeons (and buy it back) before this too. Either way, my other goal is to supercharge my partner's deck, which I hope will make the game very fun for both of us. Most players appreciate being given extra cards and turns, right?
I still have no idea what I would do for the sideboard, as that doesn't usually come up for 2HG, but it might matter if I take the deck out for a spin in 1-on-1 duels, where it'd play more like a combo deck with heavy control elements. I'm also not sure about a few individual choices. Should I run cheaper burn that can't synergize well with Mirror Sheen? Are more board sweepers necessary? Do I have enough defense to avoid being run over in the early game? Is my mana base stable enough to support UUU for Plumeveil and RR in Cone of Flame and Conflagrate, or should I cut the Cone of Flames? Is Cone of Flames even worth 5 mana? Is Swerve any good at all? (It can counter counterspells by changing their target!)
This deck is built around my personal favorite creature, Twilight Shepherd. It started out as a simple WUB blink deck, but then morphed into a toolbox-style deck revolving around 1-mana artifacts. Nearly every single card syngergizes with Twilight Shepherd. Any of the sacrificed artifacts can be returned to my hand with the angel's ability, evoke becomes absurd when the angel activates, CIP creatures play nicely with her, and wiping the board with Magus of the Disk tends to be rather one-sided when all my stuff comes back to me, including the Magus himself! But the star of the deck is Voyager Staff combined with Twilight Shepherd, which basically lets me pay 3 mana each turn to ensure that any permanent that goes to my graveyard that turn gets returned to my hand. That includes lands like Terramorphic Expanse and Flagstones of Trokair as well (hence the high number of basic lands to fetch). Mannequin and Momentary Blink both ensure that my angel is never rid of permanently, and Trinket Mage tutors for the Staff right when I need it, or for any other silver bullet artifact. The sideboard includes stuff like Relic of Progenitus, to hose even more strategies. Lack of artifact lands is due to anti-synergy with the Magus. It's a fun deck with an insane amount of resiliance, as that angel is almost impossible to ever get rid of permanently, thanks to the massive amount of blink and recursion in the deck.
Countersliver is a classic and effective Magic deck archetype that seeks to win by playing a few cheap, efficient threats to take the early game lead, then using permission and light removal elements to prevent the late-game from coming as you press your advantage. The archetype is named after the original version, which played Crystalline Sliver as its flagship creature.
Countersliver is a good example of an effective aggro-control deck. Your creatures are weaker than your opponent's best aggro creatures, and your removal and card advantage suite isn't nearly as strong as a dedicated control player's. What you do have, though, is tempo. You have superior early-game creatures to all but the best aggro decks, and you'll be shaving pieces off your opponent's life very quickly while trying to maintain your board advantage. Countersliver especially likes to prey on slower decks. Compare a Countersliver deck to a normal permission control deck. Against a mid-range deck, both are able to stall for several turns with their counterspells. However, while the permission deck is just buying time to play a big finisher, Countersliver will have a guy in play by turn 2, and attacking the opponent relentlessly while stalling for time. In other words, it has a tangible clock in play, which will likely win before the late-game hits.
Countersliver is normally weak against fast aggro decks with superior creatures. However, my personal build contains a few elements that help that matchup. First is the high number of first-striking creatures. Bant Sureblade and Deft Duelist make formidable blockers, easily dispatching lots of popular aggro creatures with high power but low toughness. Deft Duelist is also impossible to burn out of the way, making it a particularly impressive defender. Of course, both are also rather nasty on offense as well. Another nice card in the aggro matchup is Ethercaste Knight. 3 toughness means it can handle many early-game opposing creatures with ease, and it can lend power to my offense without ever having to tap. My favorite starting plays with this deck involve Esper Stormblade on turn 2, followed by Ethercaste Knight on turn 3 with one land up for Mana Tithe. I get to swing for 4 points of flying starting on turn 3, which can lead to a turn 7 win. With Ethercaste Knight blocking on the ground and a slew of countermagic and removal, I'm likely to win a damage race with just those two creatures.
The key to playing this deck is to not overextend with your creatures, and to keep mana open for counters available as often as possible, even if you aren't actually holding a counter. Exalted lets you finish games quickly without having to play many additional creatures. I prefer my fliers for attacking while keeping the first strikers back for defense to win the damage race against aggro. Of course, if you have a clear creature advantage, by all means attack en masse! Just be sure to have countermagic on hand in case they drop a big creature or removal spell. The good thing about this deck is that practically every single spell costs just 2 mana or less (I don't count the borderposts, as I usually pay their alternate cost), which means by turn 4 you can feasibly drop another threat and still have Mana Leak or Remove Soul ready. The deck desperately wants to hit UW by turn 2 (an opening hand that can't do this should be mulliganed), but with 4 Terramorphic Expanses and 4 Borderposts, that shouldn't be too hard to do, at least in my testing thus far.
If you want a sideboard, I would recommend trying out Steel of the Godhead. Against decks light on removal but heavy on aggro, this card is a total beating that almost ensures victory in the damage race. Just keep in mind that you can't enchant your Azorius First-wings or Deft Duelists. In such a matchups where I'd want Steel of the Godhead, such as against aggressive red decks, I'd probably swap out the griffins for Vedalken Outlander.
Oh Lawd, my now seasoned Magic: The Gathering (tm) mind cries when it sees all of these X1's! As some people can guess, this isn't the most... stable of decks.
But, boy howdy, is it fun to play! The creatures it can manufacturer are always loaded with power. This is mostly from all of the synergy. My enchanted creatures make other enchanted creatures more powerful (and in the case of magemarks, give them extra abilities!).
Plus, it's fairly fast. Personal clicks can attest to its ability of bringing out big baddies in a relatively short amount of time.
However, I could always do with making it faster. In fact, this deck is in dire need of optimization, so I will acquiesce to your greater abilities playground if you would deign to help me.
Fun Combinations; Double Vigor. Need I say more? Happy Song (Mayael's Aria) (at begining of upkeep, stuff, then win the game if you control creature with power 20 or greater) combined with Mossbridge Troll (tap a bunch of creatures, Mossbridge Troll gets +20/+20 til end of turn.
Mycoloth.
Another Mycoloth.
Spellbreaker Behemoth's to stop your big things from getting countered.
Spearbreaker Behemoth to stop them getting killed.
Vigor to make them tougher.
Hamletback Goliath+Mycoloth. I spawn more Saprolings. My Hamletback gets bigger.
I'm trying to work out what to remove for a Windbrisk Raptor and a Rage Reflection. Any suggestions?
And secondly; Foily Noble Hierach.
To start off with this deck, you want to either strip their hand away with Gerrard's Veridct or search for something good with Demonic Tutor. Once you have Graveborn muse in play, just start accumalating card advantage. If they try to attack, prevent the damage with Oriss, or block with Forbidding Watchtower. Finish off the game with Liliana Vess or Divinity of Pride. Above all, though, don't be afraid to Wrath often. With 4 wrath effects and 6 tutors, you can always get more.
Lastly, there is a soft lock in this deck. See if you can find what it is.
The basic premise of the deck is to use the triggered come into play or leaves play effects on creatures, repeatedly, in order to bring about an effective soft lock on the game through denial. This is achieved through taking two keywords abilities (Evoke and Persist)... and breaking them soundly over your knee.
The core of the deck is the interaction between Cauldron of Souls (the only card in the deck that gives creatures Persist) and Elemental creatures with Evoke alternative casting costs. In response to the Evoke's triggered effect, you tap Cauldron of Souls to give the Evoked creature Persist. It leaves play, then returns to play, causing its triggered come into play ability to go on the stack a second time, for no additional mana cost.
Example: If I evoke a Mulldrifter for 2U, when it comes into play, I draw two cards. Since I paid the Evoke cost, the triggered effect goes on the stack. I give it Persist via Cauldron of Souls, and when it comes into play a second time, I draw two more cards.
Example 2: The interaction between Spitebellows and Cauldron of Souls is fundamentally the same, except that the creature's ability triggers when it leaves play, rather than comes into play. However, when Persist brings Spitebellows back into play, it has a zero toughness courtesy of its -1/-1 counter from Persist, sending it cheerfully back to the graveyard a second time, allowing for either 12 damage to be done to one creature, or 6 damage to be done to two separate creatures.
The typical play of the deck leaves it feeling like its ramping a little slowly. Turns 1-5, you'll probably only have played an Armillary Sphere, Cloudstone Curio, Cauldron of Souls, and land. ***NOTE*** This deck likes its mana, and digging up lands with the Armillary Sphere is crucial.
Once turn 6 hits, however, you'll be causing some serious hurt, having surprisingly rapid, effective tools at your disposal during your turn. Mournwhelk empties your opponent's hand, Shriekmaw and Spitebellows tear down your opponent's creatures, while Stingscourger stalls out their creatures. Supreme Exemplar is the only huge beater in the deck, though clearing the opposing board, casting a Spitebellows (not Evoking), and then giving it +2/+0 and Haste via Inner-Flame Acolyte (if not +4/+0) can give you a suitable beater as well. Otherwise, your damage comes from lightweight, evasive creatures like Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter.
This deck isn't especially meant to play against terribly competitive players, but it *can* perform against moderately fast decks. The difference is that it moves slightly slower, and loses out on creatures, because instead of holding on to your Evoke creatures, you'll be playing them in to deal with threats on board. I've got a list of cards that I personally intend to use to tinker with the deck even further, but I'll leave the deck *as is* for the purpose of posting it. I want people to be able to tinker with it, and the deck *does* work well in its current form.
The deck also has a number of specific weaknesses, none of which should be terribly worried about. It's meant to be a fun deck... for you. It won't be fun for them.
Please include lots of info on how to play the deck so that people who don't understand your brilliance can bask in its true glory.
Also, it should be noted that this list was maintained by tgva and Johnny Blade before Shas. He doesn't think he could have done it on his own. Except, ya' know, for the part where he did.
__________________
Steam ID: Sir_Dwar_Of_Ebberon Testing the Monk: One-shot encounters designed to answer the Monkday question once and for all (or at least give us one more thing to link to each time it does come up). Monk players and DMs needed!
List of MtG-related websites put together by Johnny Blades and others:
Spoiler
The official site. From here you can reach:
The page for Magic Online, if you want to give it a try. Note that, while you have to pay/trade for cards, there are bots who give them away for free. I don't have any experience with this, but there are people posting in this thread that do. The DCI, for organized play. Gatherer, WotC's card search.
magiccards.info, another place to waste lots of time browsing through cards. It doesn't have the user ratings and comments of Gatherer, but lists the prices of several online vendors and, surprisingly, has more card images. The interface is also better in my opinion.
MTGSalvation. That place has a lot of stuff, including a wiki, a huge forum, and many articles of varying quality. They also spoil all the cards of the next set well in advance, so this is where we'll usually get future cards from.
StarCityGames - they make you pay for much of their newer content, but what you can get for free is certainly good enough.
Elder Dragon Highlander, the official page. Very...Spartan design, but that means functionality. Always up to date and it has a forum about this popular variant multiplayer format as well.
Le Bestiaire, an online draft simulator. It gives you some pretty odd ratings sometimes, but at least there is actual feedback.
Magic Workstation, a program for...a lot of things, including collection management and online play. Supports more TCGs than just Magic. There's a freeware version available.
TC Decks, where you can see which decks have tournament success. The decks are essentially named by the people who play them, and if you're looking for, say, Legacy decks, you'll soon find out that not all tournaments are really at Pro Tour level, but this is still an invaluable site for anyone who wants to keep up with the tournament scene.
The Mana Drain, more forums, this time for people looking into Vintage.
Tapped Out, a deck building and critique community. Build any number of decks and put them up for review/critique/comment/display. Or, keep them private. They also have pretty graphic representations of your mana curve, colour costs and colour generation.
http://www.highlandermagic.info/ t\The site for German Rules highlander. It's a 100-card singleton format, but the rules are rather different from EDH. They're more in line with the normal rules, and the banlist is made with a more competitive mindset in mind.
http://deckstats.net/ Calculates mana curve, compares color spread to manabase colors, calculates prices for the deck as well as some other functions. It can handle MWSDeck files and can also save decks pasted into it in the format.
Also, for those who don't get the title, Black lotus is one of the Power Nine, a collection of the nine most powerful (and expensive) rares from the original set. We apolgize for the terrible pun. Well, I don't. But others do.
Also, please let us know if you want something in the first post added, edited or removed.
__________________
Steam ID: Sir_Dwar_Of_Ebberon Testing the Monk: One-shot encounters designed to answer the Monkday question once and for all (or at least give us one more thing to link to each time it does come up). Monk players and DMs needed!
No, as you can only cast a spell once, thus you only have the one opportunity to splice any spell onto it. There's also a specific rule preventing you from splicing any one card onto the same spell more than once.
You can splice multiple Hundred-Talon Strikes in your hand, but you can't splice the same Hundred-Talon Strike multiple times onto the same spell.
Last edited by Brother Oni : 03-10-2011 at 04:21 PM.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
I need help with another deck, sorry. My U/W control is getting a bit large; I need to take some stuff out. The deck is based around using gratuitous unblockableness and removal enchantments, finishing with some manner of combo. The deck stands as:
Steel of the Godhead x4
Phantom Warrior x1
Arrest x2
O-Ring x1
Sovereigns of Lost Alara x1
Thistledown Liege x1 Trip Noose x1
Voyager Drake x1 Zealous Guardians x1
Infiltration Lens x1
Whiplash Trap x1
Pitfall Trap x1
Crib Swap x2
Divination x2
Kor Hookmaster x1
Peek x1
Redirect x1
Venser's Journal x1
Venser, the Sojourner x1
Curse of Chains x1
Pacifism x1
Prison Term x1
Solitary Confinement x1 (combos with Honden of Seeing Winds)
Repel Intruders x1
Careful Consideration x1 Living Tsunami x1 Blinding Mage x1
Telepathy x1
Honden of Seeing Winds x1
Journey to Nowhere x3
Memnite x1
Unstable Mutation x1
Whispersilk Cloak x2
Train of Thought x1
Sleep x1
Thistledown Duo x1
Eldrazi Conscription x1 (combos with Sovereigns; this gets about 25% of my wins alone)
Volition Reins x1
Sunblast Angel x1
Celestial Colonnade x1
Path to Exile x1
Aether Figment x1
Time Warp x1 (this gets about 20% of wins on the turn I play it, and I almost never lose after playing it)
Sigil of the Empty Throne x1
Armored Ascension x1
Thoughtweft Gambit x1
...Now that I look at the list, I can think of a few I can just eliminate right away. Any comments?
__________________
That whale is going to die, and it's Fullbladder's fault.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Theoretical debate time!
Which is more powerful, a land that taps for 2 paired colored mana (For example, WU or BG like the guild lands) or one that taps for a pair of single colored mana, such as RR?
__________________
Basilisk 6
Pilot of the Thing
I'm not evil. My morals just aren't the same as society's.
On a one man quest to beat the Star Wars Universe, using nothing but simple, plain, ordinary logic. Score so far: Me 593 SWU 450
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lateral
Always will depend on the deck's colors.
I was considering in an over all meta sense - which one is more desirable/useful. Which would you rather pull in Limited? Which would be more useful in Constructed?
__________________
Basilisk 6
Pilot of the Thing
I'm not evil. My morals just aren't the same as society's.
On a one man quest to beat the Star Wars Universe, using nothing but simple, plain, ordinary logic. Score so far: Me 593 SWU 450
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foeofthelance
Theoretical debate time!
Which is more powerful, a land that taps for 2 paired colored mana (For example, WU or BG like the guild lands) or one that taps for a pair of single colored mana, such as RR?
Assuming the single color double mana land had the same drawbacks as the guild lands (comes into play tapped and you have to return a land to your hand when you play it), I'd say the two color lands are more powerful. Of course, the single colored lands would be a bit better in monocolored decks, though not by much. Even in a monocolored deck, you don't really need that much mana of your color unless you've got things that need lots of colored mana (Primalcrux, for example). And the two color guilds lands would be much more useful then the single colored lands in a multicolored deck. So yeah, I think the guild lands are better.
Also, I've got a funny story from when my dad first started playing Magic. He started way back in the days of Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited. So, one day, he went into a gaming shop to get some roleplaying books. He hadn't been playing Magic that long at that point. He saw some cards on display that were being sold for $15 per card. He looked at what the card was, and he thought that yeah, it's a good card, but who would ever want pay $15 for that one card? So he got the game books and left the store, thinking about how ridiculous it was that someone might ever pay $15 for one card.
That card was Black Lotus. My dad says he really wishes he had bought some now.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
It does all depend on the color(s) of the deck in question. I play a mono green deck so there I would want a land that gives me two green mana. Though I also have a blue white aggro deck that I would want a land that gives me a white and a blue mana. I am not sure but do cards like Glacial Fortress count here or lands that I don't know about?
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
since nobody commented, I'm going to throw this out there. please comment, i've got most of it worked out but it's not quite there yet.
Spoiler
General:
Ulasht, the Hate Seed
Elves:
Arbor Elf
Llanowar Elves
Elvish Visionary
Nissa's Chosen
Priest of Titania
Radha, Heir to Keld
Tajuru Preserver
Viridian Zealot
Wirewood Herald
Civic Wayfinder
Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Harbinger
Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Fyndhorn Elder
Wood Elves
Argothian Elder
Immaculate Magistrate
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Masked Admirers
Nullmage Shepherd
Oracle of Mul Daya
Wirewood Channeler
Ambush Commander
Not Elves:
Magus of the Vineyard
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Borderland Ranger
Yavimaya Dryad
Anger
Acidic Slime
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kumano, Master Yamabushi
Mycoloth
Hellkite Charger
Avenger of Zendikar
Planeswalkers:
Nissa Revane
Sarkhan Vol
Artifacts:
Orochi Hatchery
Horizon Spellbomb
Spine of Ish Sah
Enchantments:
Ashling's Prerogative
Sylvan Library
Aggravated Assault
Abundance
Bear Umbra
Breath of Fury
Mana Echoes
Asceticism
Doubling Season
In the Web of War
Perilous Forays
Instants/Sorceries:
Final Fortune
Nature's Spiral
Rampant Growth
Sylvan Scrying
Genesis Wave
Creeping Corrosion
Grab the Reins
Harmonize
Relentless Assault
Savage Beating
World at War
Disaster Radius
Okay, so there's a few different things going on here.
First and foremost is the lich. He will kick ass and take names, plus his "phylacteries" are flavorful- crystal balls and demon's horns.
Next, is a little combo involving the Reassembling Skeletons and Necrotic Plagues to lock down the field creature wise. And when you feel like dropping a lich, just let the Plague die.
Another big thing here is the crystal ball/dark tutelage combo. Stack low-CC cards, ornithopters, or lands on top with nice goodies below to help mana ramp/get you your good stuff.
And finally, use sadistic sacrament in the most sadistic of ways (taking out all the lands that produce one type of mana in a multicolor deck, perhaps... Tom still hates me for it. )
Other than that, it's a nice, fun, and easy to put together type 2 black deck. It doesn't stand up to vampires, but hey, who wants to play the same deck as everyone else? :)
Edit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by the humanity
since nobody commented, I'm going to throw this out there. please comment, i've got most of it worked out but it's not quite there yet.
Spoiler
General:
Ulasht, the Hate Seed
Elves:
Arbor Elf
Llanowar Elves
Elvish Visionary
Nissa's Chosen
Priest of Titania
Radha, Heir to Keld
Tajuru Preserver
Viridian Zealot
Wirewood Herald
Civic Wayfinder
Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Harbinger
Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Fyndhorn Elder
Wood Elves
Argothian Elder
Immaculate Magistrate
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Masked Admirers
Nullmage Shepherd
Oracle of Mul Daya
Wirewood Channeler
Ambush Commander
Not Elves:
Magus of the Vineyard
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Borderland Ranger
Yavimaya Dryad
Anger
Acidic Slime
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kumano, Master Yamabushi
Mycoloth
Hellkite Charger
Avenger of Zendikar
Planeswalkers:
Nissa Revane
Sarkhan Vol
Artifacts:
Orochi Hatchery
Horizon Spellbomb
Spine of Ish Sah
Enchantments:
Ashling's Prerogative
Sylvan Library
Aggravated Assault
Abundance
Bear Umbra
Breath of Fury
Mana Echoes
Asceticism
Doubling Season
In the Web of War
Perilous Forays
Instants/Sorceries:
Final Fortune
Nature's Spiral
Rampant Growth
Sylvan Scrying
Genesis Wave
Creeping Corrosion
Grab the Reins
Harmonize
Relentless Assault
Savage Beating
World at War
Disaster Radius
Hmm, I'm not the best person to go to about EDH... and I know it could be a pain, but can you link the more important cards?
Other than that, it seems all good. Being able to just plop out Ulash is damned nice. And being a nuisance is what elves do best. Add in a Joraga Warcaller?
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Anybody heard the news that EDH is changed into commander? And getting official WOTC support? Like cards made specificaly for it? Or oversised commander cards? They say its not going to be in charge of it. Just profit from it.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foeofthelance
Theoretical debate time!
Which is more powerful, a land that taps for 2 paired colored mana (For example, WU or BG like the guild lands) or one that taps for a pair of single colored mana, such as RR?
Either would be absolutely ridiculous if it's tapping for two colored mana (assuming it's not something like the Shadowmoor filter lands where you have to pay a mana in so only net one mana). The one that provides two different colors would generally be better though, since it fixes.
Does this mean we'll get Gideon and Sorin in M12 instead of Ajani and Liliana? Not sure yet, but this seems to suggest that we may be witnessing a changing of the Planeswalker guard.
I am very interested to see what plans they have for Liliana. It seems a waste to make her a character and then toss her out...maybe we'll be seeing more of her in the next block?
__________________
It's tgva8889. If you can't spell it correctly, just copypasta it, please.
Pokemon White Friend Code: 3353 3706 1386
Thanks to araveugnitsuga for my current Poke-atar.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
My guess is that if they're moving Gideon and Sorin into the core, we'll probably be seeing them next block.
It's a little odd that they're getting rid of Liliana in the core but keeping Garruk, since those two were about as tied together as Jace and Chandra. I would have guessed that next block would give us new versions of Liliana and Garruk since they have unresolved business and they're the only of the Lorwyn walkers not to get new versions, but it's looking like that won't be the case.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Well, another thing to consider is who would they replace Garruk with? He is the best example of a pure Green Planeswalker, because his only competition is Nissa and Nissa's the Elf Planeswalker, not really a Green one.
That said, I really do think they should give us something with Garruk or Liliana, now that they've spent time establishing the two and that they have some kind of relationship. Not that I'm not a fan of Sorin or Gideon, but they aren't that many sets back. That said, I would have more expected to see Elspeth Tirel than Gideon in a base set. I generally expect the base set Planeswalkers to have more basic setups, and Elspeth Tirel follows the general "+ ability, - ability, Ultimate" set up. Gideon is a different kind of Planeswalker.
This is not an official confirmation, as it is supposed to promote Duels 2012 as well, but still. It will be very interesting to see what having Gideon and Sorin in the format for another year will do. Gideon is a good Planeswalker, never dominating but always powerful.
__________________
It's tgva8889. If you can't spell it correctly, just copypasta it, please.
Pokemon White Friend Code: 3353 3706 1386
Thanks to araveugnitsuga for my current Poke-atar.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
It's unlikely, but we could get a new version of Gideon and/or Sorin.
Good point about Garruk not being replacable. Green really is lacking in Planeswalkers, though I'm betting we get a new one in Action (probably Melira, but maybe some new Phyrexian character).
I wonder if this means that the next duel deck will be Sorin v. Gideon. As far as I know despite being in enemy colors they never really fought, and fought alongside each other against the Eldrazi. Maybe it has something to do with the next block?
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Story I feel I've got to share...
Earlier this week I was playing in a draft. During deck construction one of the guys mentioned that he'd first picked a Decimator Web; something which I would have been dubious about doing dependent on what else was in the pack. We met in the last round, having both lost both previous matches (I felt my deck was good, but it was lacking in the late game bombs needed to actually finish games). For most of the game I had been beating him down with a couple of creatures with equipment, but I lost these to some top-decked removal when he was on only 2 life. Worse still, one of my guys was a Leonin Relic-warder; when it died he got his Decimator web back. The tide quickly began to turn.
He activates Decimator Web. I'm fine for life and poison, but only have a few turns left of cards in the library. My first draw is of little consequence, and on his turn he activates the web again. I draw and play Blisterstick Shaman, pinging him down to 1 life.
At this stage I count the cards left in my library; 7. On previous activations of the web I'd seen my main hope milled (Helkite Ignitor) but I have a think through my deck to see if there is anything I can do to win.
He activates the web again; I'm down to one card left in the library, which I am about to draw on my turn. My opponant obviously thinks its all over at this stage, but I look through my graveyard to see if my suspicions are correct.
Me: "I've won."
Opponant: "What? How?"
I point at the last card: "That's a Blisterstick Shaman. Unless you can do the 14 damage needed to kill me this turn, I win."
In other words, out of the last 14 cards in my deck the only 2 I was able to draw and play were both Blisterstick Shamans. Lucky or what?
__________________
Evil round every corner, careful not to step in any.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foeofthelance
Theoretical debate time!
Which is more powerful, a land that taps for 2 paired colored mana (For example, WU or BG like the guild lands) or one that taps for a pair of single colored mana, such as RR?
I would rather have RG than RR when:
*I want to pay a mono-green cost, and don't have enough other lands that make G
*I want to pay a gold cost containing RG
I would rather have RR than RG when:
*I want to pay a heavily red cost such as 1RRR and don't have enough other red.
*I want to pay an all-red cost, such as playing Elemenal Appeal without kicker
*I am paying some kind of scalable cost that only accepts red mana, like pumping a Fiery Hellhound.
The perks of an RR land are somewhat rarer than the perks of an RG land, because most mono-colored spells have mostly colorless costs. Actually, I think the 'RR is better in mono' argument isn't correct; mono-X typically has enough lands that produce X, while a two-color deck might struggle to find X-colored mana for spells that cost 2XX. Cryptic Command (1UUU) decks play extra filter-lands (e.g. Sunken Ruins) for that reason.
__________________
This space intentionally left blank
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foeofthelance
I was considering in an over all meta sense - which one is more desirable/useful. Which would you rather pull in Limited? Which would be more useful in Constructed?
In Limited that would depend on the environment, though any environment that includes dual-lands like that to begin with would likely have a multicolor focus, making them desirable.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Gentlemen.
I need your help with a little something. You see, I was challenged to build a deck themed after one of the seven deadly sins for an event, and I chose pride.
Now, this isn't a super serious thing, but I did want the deck to be somewhat viable. I decided to do enchantments-they always said "pride" to me. I'd love some input to help decide which of these two builds works better, and then maybe some tips on how to improve upon it.
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheArsenal
The Next duel deck is Anaji (New) Vs Nicolas Bolas. Thats what I read on thier site.
Technically the next duel deck is Knights vs. Dragons, but yhea Ajani Vs. Bolas is the next planeswalker duel deck
__________________
"Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Androgeus' 3 step guide to Doctor Who speculation:
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
The reason the Ravnica Bounce Lands are useful is precisely because they provide two colors of mana- They're run to make it easier to fix mana in pauper decks and slow formats like EDH.
__________________
Steam ID: Sir_Dwar_Of_Ebberon Testing the Monk: One-shot encounters designed to answer the Monkday question once and for all (or at least give us one more thing to link to each time it does come up). Monk players and DMs needed!
Re: Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
They also provide card advantage since you're getting two mana out of a single land, which is excellent in formats like EDH where the tempo hit isn't as big a deal.
RSS Feeds: 
Magic the Gathering IX: Gone Through Lotus of Threads Already!
