Magic The Gathering Thread XXIII: Modern is Dead, Long Live Modern

[Ninjaman]

I like this style, whatever its called, so I’m looking to build a flying esper commander deck around this commander:

Why are you making your flying commander deck Zur, instead of a flier?

And why must the majority of the creatures have CMC less than 4?

[enderlord99]

Why are you making your flying commander deck Zur, instead of a flier?

I clicked the link, and he has the word "Flying" right there on his textbox.

And why must the majority of the creatures have CMC less than 4?

I didn't look at the whole deck... but I'm guessing they're largely enchantment-creatures from Theros. Are they?

[Zhentarim]

Why are you making your flying commander deck Zur, instead of a flier?

And why must the majority of the creatures have CMC less than 4?

I am playing with an aggro-lean. I can have a few heavy hitters, sure, but I have to fit it to the aggro curve.

[Ninjaman]

I clicked the link, and he has the word "Flying" right there on his textbox.

I've looked at Zur a hundred times, and yet I've somehow never noticed that he has flying.

I am playing with an aggro-lean. I can have a few heavy hitters, sure, but I have to fit it to the aggro curve.

Aggro isn't really a thing in commander, though you can get away with cmc 1-2 fliers if you play a lot of Coastal Piracy effects (draw a card when a creature deals damage to an opponent.) You will need a lot of those though. Good thing is Zur can find both Coastal Piracy and Bident of Thassa.
You definitely need Windreader Sphinx.

[Gauntlet]

Good thing is Zur can find both Coastal Piracy and Bident of Thassa.

Zur only finds enchantments that cost 3 or less - both of the above cost 4.

[Zhentarim]

Zur only finds enchantments that cost 3 or less - both of the above cost 4.

I might include those anyway—I want the vast majority of my cards to cost 3 or less, but I’m fine with a few outliers. Heck, I’m throwing in a copy of platinum angel which is 7 colorless! I’ll put it this way—cheap flyers are my preferred creature cards, but if I need a few more expensive flyers to build this deck, that’s fine. Enchantments can go up to 4 mana due to their wide-ranging utility.

If I run out of flyers to add to the deck, I may throw in a few man-lands and a death candle, but I want as many flyers as possible.

Spoiler: Come fly with me

Show

[Ninjaman]

Zur only finds enchantments that cost 3 or less - both of the above cost 4.

Apparently I do not know Zur at all.

[Techwarrior]

Do note that you have to be very careful with playing Zur. Just showing up to the table with him as your Commander is usually enough to get some amount of hate because of how easy it is to (ab)use his ability for cEDH combo kills or 'just' a heavy stax theme.

[Tvtyrant]

Gripe of the day: I can't sell magic cards for even a fraction of their face prices. I have some mint fetches (arid mesa, scalding tarn, marsh flat) that I have been trying to find a buyer for a while. People on craigslist just want to trade other cards (despite offering a discount vs. online,) a store insulted me with a 40% offer and online I can get about 60%. They are used in the three big formats, seems like I should be able to find someone who will give me 75%

[LansXero]

Gripe of the day: I can't sell magic cards for even a fraction of their face prices. I have some mint fetches (arid mesa, scalding tarn, marsh flat) that I have been trying to find a buyer for a while. People on craigslist just want to trade other cards (despite offering a discount vs. online,) a store insulted me with a 40% offer and online I can get about 60%. They are used in the three big formats, seems like I should be able to find someone who will give me 75%

tried ebay / tcg? do your local stores have a policy against selling to their regulars during tournaments?

And yeah, the pawn shop economy in stores is insulting, but plenty of people put up with it, so it wont ever change.

[Tvtyrant]

tried ebay / tcg? do your local stores have a policy against selling to their regulars during tournaments?

And yeah, the pawn shop economy in stores is insulting, but plenty of people put up with it, so it wont ever change.

We can trade but not sell, which is fair but makes it a whole fight to work through.

Frankly I don't want to sell directly to an individual online, it is too easy for them to claim the condition was a lie and demand part of the money back, or pretend they never got the cards, or actually never get the cards. I would prefer facetime or a corporation.

Seems that way. I even tried to take store credit but the manager wasn't buying it.

[Zhentarim]

Do note that you have to be very careful with playing Zur. Just showing up to the table with him as your Commander is usually enough to get some amount of hate because of how easy it is to (ab)use his ability for cEDH combo kills or 'just' a heavy stax theme.

I picked him more for the flying...the extra cheese was an afterthought till I saw it and thought “what an amazing card!”

[LansXero]

We can trade but not sell, which is fair but makes it a whole fight to work through.

Frankly I don't want to sell directly to an individual online, it is too easy for them to claim the condition was a lie and demand part of the money back, or pretend they never got the cards, or actually never get the cards. I would prefer facetime or a corporation.

Seems that way. I even tried to take store credit but the manager wasn't buying it.

Stores expect to make twice or more what they paid for in singles, due to how long they tend to sit. Also because most stores' cash flow sucks or is nonexistent in the first place. You cant pay your lease with copies of Catan or boxes of magic cards after all.

Have you tried finding FB groups for players in your area? Perhaps you could find buyers there, and trade in person to avoid issues. Also, you should be willing to move it slowly and 1 by 1; few people will need, want or be able to afford a bunch of expensive cards all bundled together.

[Androgeus]

I picked him more for the flying...the extra cheese was an afterthought till I saw it and thought “what an amazing card!”

Yhea Zur will probably draw you unwarranted hate that will be hard to deal with. If you want to stick with WUB, something like Chromium, the Mutable, Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign, or partnering Ravos, Soultender with Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker might be more appropriate. Also no discussion of flying tribal should go with out mentioning Isperia the Inscrutable

[Zhentarim]

In commander, is this card colorless or is it blue?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-card/memnarch/

[mythmonster2]

In commander, is this card colorless or is it blue?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-card/memnarch/

Blue. Any instance of a color symbol anywhere on a card makes it that color for Commander (only exception being cards with Extort, since the symbol there is technically only reminder text).

[enderlord99]

In commander, is this card colorless or is it blue?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-card/memnarch/

Blue for deckbuilding, but colorless when an in-game effect refers to a permanent's color.

[Zhentarim]

Blue for deckbuilding, but colorless when an in-game effect refers to a permanent's color.

perfect.

I’m honestly caught between building a flying tribal deck and building an eldrazi deck that splashes blue.

[tonberrian]

There are two issues here that you're conflating. The first is color. A card's color is determined by the mana symbols in its casting cost, if any, or by effects that change colors. Memnarch the card is colorless - its casting cost is just {7}. Lands are colorless, because they have no casting cost. Ancestral Vision is blue, despite having no casting cost, because the color indicator (the little dot before the type) - originally it had text to say it was blue, though. When card text talks about colors, it's talking about this.

Color Identity is broader, and afaik is only used for deckbuilding in Commander and Oathbreaker. Color Idenity is determined by mana symbols in casting cost, color indicator, and rules text. Since Memnarch has blue mana in its effect cost, its color identity is blue. Islands have color identity blue, because they produce {U}. Meanwhile Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is still color identity colorless, because there's no colors in its rules text. Ghostfire, despite having rules to say it is colorless, still has a color identity of red because of the red mana in its cost.

[Zhentarim]

Yhea Zur will probably draw you unwarranted hate that will be hard to deal with. If you want to stick with WUB, something like Chromium, the Mutable, Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign, or partnering Ravos, Soultender with Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker might be more appropriate. Also no discussion of flying tribal should go with out mentioning Isperia the Inscrutable

As awesome as a 5-color deck like Niv-Mizzet Reborn would be, I personally prefer the novelty of a twin-commander deck and will thus go with Ravos, Soultender and Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker as my two commanders. When I have the deck and mechanics fully hammered out, I’ll start on the homebrew lore for the deck—granted, it will be irreverent to established cannon, but I’ll use the names of the cards in the lore. Maybe there can be a romance befween my two commanders?

[Eurus]

tried ebay / tcg? do your local stores have a policy against selling to their regulars during tournaments?

And yeah, the pawn shop economy in stores is insulting, but plenty of people put up with it, so it wont ever change.

On the one hand, yeah it is, but on the other hand it's hard enough for those places to keep the lights on that I don't usually resent them for it...

Speaking of store economics, I've felt a few times like a membership structure for a hobby shop/FLGS would be a more sensible way to do things -- pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for facility use, event entry, and whatever benefits -- but I'm not sure if people would support that...

EDIT: And oh yeah, if you want to sell duals for a decent price your best bet is to go to a big event and try to find an individual buyer. Or it used to be? I haven't been to a tournament in ages so idk.

[Tvtyrant]

On the one hand, yeah it is, but on the other hand it's hard enough for those places to keep the lights on that I don't usually resent them for it...

Speaking of store economics, I've felt a few times like a membership structure for a hobby shop/FLGS would be a more sensible way to do things -- pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for facility use, event entry, and whatever benefits -- but I'm not sure if people would support that...

EDIT: And oh yeah, if you want to sell duals for a decent price your best bet is to go to a big event and try to find an individual buyer. Or it used to be? I haven't been to a tournament in ages so idk.

My gaming group used to talk about just renting a 10x30 storage space, putting some tables and chairs in it and playing there. $200 a month among a bunch of people isn't bad and the space would be large and clean. Alternatively the rent of a mall space isn't so bad now that malls are dying, making a group gaming store would also work out okay among a group.

[tgva8889]

I have a store nearby that does a sort of membership/part ownership thing. No idea how well it's going for them, but it's certainly an idea to try.

But yeah, for stores that deal in singles, I don't resent them buying at less than market price. I'd rather support them than random people online any day.

[Tvtyrant]

I have a store nearby that does a sort of membership/part ownership thing. No idea how well it's going for them, but it's certainly an idea to try.

But yeah, for stores that deal in singles, I don't resent them buying at less than market price. I'd rather support them than random people online any day.

I don't play at game stores, so I really don't have an interest in their bottom lines. I appreciate that LGSs are good for some people, but I would rather play with people I already know.

[StoneGS]

Haven't played MTG for ages but I still have a couple of old decks. I like the old card styles more than modern

[Techwarrior]

Does anyone have any experience going to a large scale event like an SCG tour event? I'm headed to the one at the end of June and don't know what to expect. Any idea how much cash I should bring? Other stuff like that?

[9mm]

Does anyone have any experience going to a large scale event like an SCG tour event? I'm headed to the one at the end of June and don't know what to expect. Any idea how much cash I should bring? Other stuff like that?

Money should be based on what you're planning on doing. Plan on getting food either at a local fast food joint, as convention food is hella expensive in the hall. Do you plan to buy anything from the vendors? I've mostly just brought enough to cover the events I'm looking at and then enough to cover a typical burger joint; but I haven't ever planned to buy stuff from the vendors.

[LansXero]

Money should be based on what you're planning on doing. Plan on getting food either at a local fast food joint, as convention food is hella expensive in the hall. Do you plan to buy anything from the vendors? I've mostly just brought enough to cover the events I'm looking at and then enough to cover a typical burger joint; but I haven't ever planned to buy stuff from the vendors.

Some people recommend going with a bag of cash so you dont 'miss out' on trading-up opportunities, as many people go to big events to unload expensive cards at a fraction of the cost, sometimes even depending on the sales of those cards for the return trip. Sometimes prizes are also sold cheaply by people who'd rather travel home with cash than cardboard. But unless you want to chase that 'value' there isnt actually much need.

Speaking of store economics, I've felt a few times like a membership structure for a hobby shop/FLGS would be a more sensible way to do things -- pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for facility use, event entry, and whatever benefits -- but I'm not sure if people would support that...

Thats the current trend, monetizing play space and crafting experiences for players to see value. Half of the time it gentrifies their clientelle, as only those with disposable income and the right attitude care enough to pay for chairs and tables, the other half it drives people away or gets players to band together and open a new clubhouse-style store. Thats why they are hurting, there is no barrier to entry in the industry, as anyone with storage space can become a store, get OP support and distributor prices for their friends and slowly kill their local scene.

[Zhentarim]

Link if video doesn’t work: https://youtu.be/y7K_AhMyd-4

That is the most GRIXIS song I’ve ever heard.

[enderlord99]

How are people supposed to to keep the Tarkir khans straight? Their names are all like...

Godai, Smelmai, Hentai, et cetera.