Magic the Gathering XX: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!

[ChaosOS]

Legion is +X/+X, Overlord is tutor and mind control

[IthilanorStPete]

A note about Overlord - be careful about using it against opponents with Control Magic effects. That second ability can be a real killer when turned against you.

[unseenmage]

Anyone have any advice about how to kick a Human Horde deck up a notch?

My playgroup is used to playing against my singleton Dragon Horde deck. (We use my variant where if the Horde were to have access to an outlet for infinite mana it uses the outlet 1d20 times instead. Because does it really need more than 20 uses of Dragon Roost per turn?)
That one has Apocalypse and Worldfire and a few other nasty nasty surprises so its kind of Horde Magic on challenge mode.

I tried building a Human Horde as a gentler more classic Horde deck, less OP more grind through the minions. But it turned out to be woefully underpowered.

I did build it as a singleton too, which I now believe was a mistake. So I intend to edit it for multiple copies.
It also seems like we never topdeck enough token creatures. (The deck currently stands at 60 tokens to 40 real cards.)
More boardwipes could help too but I don't really want this thing to become Dragon Horde 2.0, then again without flying and with the vastly reduced average token toughness that is unlikely to happen.

Thoughts, suggestions, critiques?
(Can't post decklist right now but if there's interest enough I can try to put it up later tonight or Sunday.)

[mrcarter11]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some causal advice. I recently started to play Magic again after getting out around Onslaught. I know Khans is out right now, but I've never been a fan of tri color decks, so in search of 2 colored decks I happened across the Ravnica guilds. Are any of the guilds actually still playable compared to current decks in a causal environment. Any help or suggestions about the topic would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Blue Ghost]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some causal advice. I recently started to play Magic again after getting out around Onslaught. I know Khans is out right now, but I've never been a fan of tri color decks, so in search of 2 colored decks I happened across the Ravnica guilds. Are any of the guilds actually still playable compared to current decks in a causal environment. Any help or suggestions about the topic would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Return to Ravnica was just two years ago, and the power level of Magic has remained fairly constant, so certainly one could have a good guild deck. Of course, casual can mean many different things to different people, so you would want to get a feel for your playgroup before committing to a deck.

[mrcarter11]

Return to Ravnica was just two years ago, and the power level of Magic has remained fairly constant, so certainly one could have a good guild deck. Of course, casual can mean many different things to different people, so you would want to get a feel for your playgroup before committing to a deck.

I play at college and we have a pretty varied play group. I mean, some people are the type to bail on school and go compete in tournaments, some have decks that were made with 9th ed.. So it's a varied level of play. I was just wondering how competitive I could expect to be. And what guilds would be better/worse to look at.

[Lea Plath]

I play at college and we have a pretty varied play group. I mean, some people are the type to bail on school and go compete in tournaments, some have decks that were made with 9th ed.. So it's a varied level of play. I was just wondering how competitive I could expect to be. And what guilds would be better/worse to look at.

Are you talking about standard or just general casual play?


Anyway, I've just played at my first standard FNM since Gatecrash. 3-1 with Jeskai Ascendancy. I lost to Abzan, a supposed good match up due to lack of gas and a misplay where by I should have saved my rattleclaw mystic with a retraction helix but didn't. I then beat mono black control, rg monsters and rg monsters. The list was needing tweaks, like for example, I was using citp lands over a coast and strand and 3 fetches, 1 temple of plenty etc.

Might try the aggro version next time.

[mrcarter11]

General casual level of play. Standard as far as I'm away is only two blocks back.

[Svata]

Well, we had 20 people at FNM last night, and I made 4th with my abzan deck. We cut to the top 8 after 4 rounds, with me in 8th, and I beat the guy in first 2-1 through a mix of luck and skill. Then, after that hard-fought victory, I promptly got roflstomped by a guy who used to be on the pro tour. I ended up 3 and 3, with all my losses being rather quick, messy affairs, and my wins being drawn-out slugfests.

[Duck999]

General casual level of play. Standard as far as I'm away is only two blocks back.

Casual level of play generally means you shouldn't be playing decks that combo off before turn 5 usually. At least, as far as my experience goes. It is better to start safe, and play harder if your weaker decks are getting stomped. Just don't start out strong and weaken your decks. From experience, I know it is very annoying when someone brings a deck that is winning every time in what is supposed to be a small casual group of players. It may be fun for the one winning, but everyone else came for a chance to play fair, and they did not come expecting to have spent tons of time and money on their decks.

[Lea Plath]

So, the modern GP was interesting. No Ascendancy Combo in top 8. Delver was 17% of meta but scapeshift, pod, twin, gbx were all over 10% etc.

And hey, I know one of the top 8ers, Andrew Devine!

[IcemanJRC]

No Ascendancy combo is probably because if you don't get it early your dorks eat removal all day and there was probably a fair bit of preparation for it. When people are ready for combo decks its hard to perform. I think if people get more practice and it doesn't eat any bans it could be a regular player, but then again with every deck having super efficient early removal, the environment is kinda hostile.

[Snowbluff]

Ascendency combo?

Also, my Gods EDH deck is pretty much finished. If I were to tweak it, I would add some more field wipes. It has the unintended theme of "I'm playing your cards," since I was looking up cheap legendaries to put into it.

Which will be my next EDH deck, probably with Nephalia as the commander.

[Bucky]

Ascendency combo?

It's an engine combo deck where, with Jeskai Ascendancy and creatures like Birds of Paradise, cheap spells like Sleight of Hand both draw cards and make mana, while also making a huge attacker.

[Snowbluff]

It's an engine combo deck where, with Jeskai Ascendancy and creatures like Birds of Paradise, cheap spells like Sleight of Hand both draw cards and make mana, while also making a huge attacker.

Hm...

I looked it up. Retraction Helix + Jascendency + Cornucopia = pain, even without Altar of the Brood. o.0

[Mystic Muse]

Am I a bad person for wanting to play a deck that can cast Emrakul an arbitrarily large number of times?

[IthilanorStPete]

Hm...

I looked it up. Retraction Helix + Jascendency + Cornucopia = pain, even without Altar of the Brood. o.0

That's the Standard version, which requires more pieces and is less consistent. The modern version just needs 1 or more mana-producing creatures out, then chains 1-mana cantrips. It's got Glittering Wish for an effective 7 copies of Ascendancy (3 in the maindeck, 1 in the SB for the 4 Wishes to find). It nets mana on each spell if you have more than 1 mana creature out and/or you're using spells that untap/produce mana like Cerulean Wisps or Manamorphose. Once you've cast enough spells that you have a creature with ~20 power, you then attack for lethal or Wish for Flesh/Blood to kill the opponent. If you want to see the deck in action, there's some MTGO videos with it here.

[Snowbluff]

Well, damn. That's pretty amazing.

So guys, I'm getting a card for my birthday from a friend. Now, I don't want to break his bank. What would be a good, not too expensive, and underused legendary for a neat EDH deck?

[Mystic Muse]

Well, damn. That's pretty amazing.

So guys, I'm getting a card for my birthday from a friend. Now, I don't want to break his bank. What would be a good, not too expensive, and underused legendary for a neat EDH deck?

I like Reaper King.

If you mean not for the commander, Anafenza the foremost.

[Snowbluff]

I like Reaper King.

If you mean not for the commander, Anafenza the foremost.

I know someone who runs reaper king as his EDH. I am looking for a commander.

[Mystic Muse]

I know someone who runs reaper king as his EDH. I am looking for a commander.

Vorosh the Hunter?

Oros the Avenger?

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls?

Merieke Ri Berit?

Rubinia Soulsinger?

Ruhan of the Fomori?

Surrak Dragonclaw?

Thraximundar?

No idea about Naya legends, nor Jund.

[Chen]

Mayael the Anima is a fun commander. You can play with all sorts of big creatures and put them into play for free. A little library manipulation (Sylvan library, scroll rack etc) synergize really well with her. Add in some traditional green ramp and you have a solid deck even if you can't get Mayael to stick on the table.

[Snowbluff]

Hm... Mayael and Thraximundar sound interesting.

Thrax would be good with a lot of self-saccing critters and Attrition. Too bad that there are not many Eldrazi-spawn cards in those color.

[Ionbound]

Isn't Jeleva still really good? Or is she too expensive and overused?

[Androgeus]

Well, damn. That's pretty amazing.

So guys, I'm getting a card for my birthday from a friend. Now, I don't want to break his bank. What would be a good, not too expensive, and underused legendary for a neat EDH deck?

Norin, The Wary?

[Lea Plath]

I still play Jeleva in EDH and in 1v1 French Duel Commander and she has just been outclassed. Totally out classed. The only thing you really lose by playing Narset over Jeleva is hatred and Lim-Duls Vault, besides that the deck is nuts.

[Snowbluff]

Isn't Jeleva still really good? Or is she too expensive and overused?

I actually have one. I picked it up for my Pantheon EDH. I've considered her for a deck, but as a WotC Commander (tm), I consider her overused.

Norin, The Wary?

PFFT HAHAHAHAHHA! Oh, wow. I forgot about that. I have to find a way to make his useful.

[Androgeus]

PFFT HAHAHAHAHHA! Oh, wow. I forgot about that. I have to find a way to make his useful.

So off the top of my head the main things that make Norin useful are Purphoros, Pandemodium, Warstorm Surge, Genesis Chamber and Confusion in the Ranks. The rest of the deck is token makers (Krenko, Siege-Gang Commander, Bettleback Chief, ect) and some board control stuff.

[houlio]

So off the top of my head the main things that make Norin useful are Purphoros, Pandemodium, Warstorm Surge, Genesis Chamber and Confusion in the Ranks. The rest of the deck is token makers (Krenko, Siege-Gang Commander, Bettleback Chief, ect) and some board control stuff.

Don't forget to throw in Cloudstone Curio. If you ever want things to enter the battlefield, you probably want it.

[Grinner]

Thought you all might appreciate this:

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