Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
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Begin opening sequence! It's the 4th official Magic: the Gathering thread on Giantitp forums!
This is a 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 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 me. Perhaps multiple times nicely if I forget.
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 MWC
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 Shas'aia Toriia and Johnny Blade before me. I don't think I could have done it on my own.
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Pokemon White Friend Code: 3353 3706 1386
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List of MtG-related websites put together by Johnny Blades and probably some other people:
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.
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.
Deckcheck, 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.
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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 IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
WHEEEE!
Also, officially taking requests for OotSification of MTG art.
__________________
Quote Of The Week Whenever I Feel Like Updating It (last updated 1/17/12)
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phase
That guy was badass! He was like, "Oh! Oh, you're gonna try to Chuck Norris me, I'll just Chuck Norris you!" Unfortunately, I am the best Chuck Norris since Chuck Norris.
Which is saying something, considering that Chuck Norris... was Chuck Norris.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Festy
WHEEEE!
Also, officially taking requests for OotSification of MTG art.
Would you mind just making OotS-style Chandra Nalaar? Doesn't have to be based on her art or anything, just Chandra in some pose and OotS-style.
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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 IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Extinguisher
Cool.
If it wouldn't be too much trouble, an Ashling would be awesome.
Spoiler
Sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tgva8889
Would you mind just making OotS-style Chandra Nalaar? Doesn't have to be based on her art or anything, just Chandra in some pose and OotS-style.
I was planning on doing all five of the Lorwyn/M10 planeswalkers, so I'll do Chandra first.
__________________
Quote Of The Week Whenever I Feel Like Updating It (last updated 1/17/12)
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phase
That guy was badass! He was like, "Oh! Oh, you're gonna try to Chuck Norris me, I'll just Chuck Norris you!" Unfortunately, I am the best Chuck Norris since Chuck Norris.
Which is saying something, considering that Chuck Norris... was Chuck Norris.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Man, Zendikar is looking awesome for an aggro-lover like me; I'll finally, after all these years, get to play the Good Ol' Sligh! Best of all, the Stupid Multicolor Crap that has plagued Standard for years seems to finally be subsiding, as soon as Alara gets outta here!
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Festy
WHEEEE!
Also, officially taking requests for OotSification of MTG art.
Cool. When you're done with everyone else's request and if you still have energy, I'd love it if you could flip a coin, then draw either a Virulent Sliver or a Darksteel Colossus. Surprise meh!
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Expedition Map will find a place in a few EDH decks, I dare say.
Also, about that, I'd like to renew my suggestion that we MtG players of the Playground choose one of the new legendary creatures and build EDH decks for it. Or we could even attempt to build one deck together.
So, who's interested?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eldariel
Man, Zendikar is looking awesome for an aggro-lover like me; I'll finally, after all these years, get to play the Good Ol' Sligh! Best of all, the Stupid Multicolor Crap that has plagued Standard for years seems to finally be subsiding, as soon as Alara gets outta here!
You just seriously jinxed it.
And I still think that Zoo will be the aggro deck to beat for quite a while.
On that note, I have officially given up any hope that Allies could be decent or at least interesting. Also, I just noticed that Soldiers still have only one 1-drop.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Woah! How didn't I know this was here D:
I recently kind of got back into magi. I first started at Mirrodin, stopped after Ravnica, and will probably be re-entering at the end of this year. I'm not too great a deck builder but I currently have a semi-decent black/red burn-ish deck. Same with a blue counter/200+library win condition. If anyone is interested I can post the lists, although neither are legal in any recent format.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
They did both Kicker and Echo during Time Spiral block, so I don't see any reason why they wouldn't/couldn't.
I also agree, that the Allies seem to be really... really weak. Needs some out of tribe shenanigans to help them out (Wild Pair might be interesting with Allies; hahaha or maybe Braids X3).
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Keep in mind that we're still missing some Allies. There is presumably a cycle of Allies at each rarity. We haven't the Blue common, the Blue uncommon, the Green uncommon or the Black common.
Of the ones we've seen so far, Kazandu Blademaster is nice enough as a 2/2-First Strike-Vigilance for 2. In a deck with 16+ Allies, where one can expect to curve into three of them and draw more if the game goes long, Oran-Rief Survivalist, Turntimber Ranger, Bala Ged Thief and maybe Kabira Evangel and Hagra Diabolist also look decent.
If they ever print an Ally with Flash, several of these Allies suddenly become really sick.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainKing
They did both Kicker and Echo during Time Spiral block, so I don't see any reason why they wouldn't/couldn't.
I also agree, that the Allies seem to be really... really weak. Needs some out of tribe shenanigans to help them out (Wild Pair might be interesting with Allies; hahaha or maybe Braids X3).
Not all of them [Spoilers]:
Spoiler
Kazandu Blademaster WW
Creature - Human Soldier Ally
First strike, vigilance
Whenever Kazandu Blademaster or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Kazandu Blademaster.
Pretty solid 2/2 for 2 alone and grows for every ally; white ones seem playable.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Kazandu Blademaster is more good because it's a 2/2 First Striking Vigilant Soldier.
I'll probably not build much EDH myself, but if we're just doing it as a community exercise I'd do it. Though I'll be honest, none of the new legends so far are at all interesting to me.
Edit: Cards on MTGSalvation preview that are new are really rather interesting. Allies don't seem that awful (except they are because they're 5 colors), but honestly I'm more interested in the various Quest cards, most of which are looking to be pretty amazing.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Blade
EDIT: Also, I love that Sphinx.
No kidding! Beefy, reasonably costed, with evasion and shroud, and a seemingly innocent but quite unique ability. Seems like an excellent control finisher. Pity it can't kill Baneslayer though, hehehe.
Sphinx's ability combos well with fetchlands, in a similar fashion to Sensei's Divining Top + Sakura-tribe Elder.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eldariel
Not all of them [Spoilers]:
Spoiler
Kazandu Blademaster WW
Creature - Human Soldier Ally
First strike, vigilance
Whenever Kazandu Blademaster or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Kazandu Blademaster.
Pretty solid 2/2 for 2 alone and grows for every ally; white ones seem playable.
Feh. Sure, it grows, but it's also a Soldier, so it's not like it *has* to. I'd rather have a White Knight; at least with pro-black, you can harass mono-black decks, and no amount of black removal (outside of sweepers) can do anything about it.
Another reason why Blademaster is kind of lame? It's a Soldier. Bleh. Might as well be a goblin. Or how about, the fact that since it's a soldier, the fact that it has Vigilance is kind of pointless, since... that's practically all Soldiers do is give themselves Vigilance. Whoo.
Color me unimpressed.
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainKing
Feh. Sure, it grows, but it's also a Soldier, so it's not like it *has* to. I'd rather have a White Knight; at least with pro-black, you can harass mono-black decks, and no amount of black removal (outside of sweepers) can do anything about it.
Another reason why Blademaster is kind of lame? It's a Soldier. Bleh. Might as well be a goblin. Or how about, the fact that since it's a soldier, the fact that it has Vigilance is kind of pointless, since... that's practically all Soldiers do is give themselves Vigilance. Whoo.
Color me unimpressed.
...Soldiers give themselves Vigilance? Mobilization? 'cause that card is BLEH! Meh, anyways, 2-mana 2/2 FS Vigilance is a solid body and making it a 3/3 turn 3 when you swing is actually in line with the modern power level of the creatures. So yeah, I think it's like Allies should be; solid on its own, great in multiples.
That said, I'm not interested. The only tribals I care for right now are Orcs, Dwarves & Minotaurs (outside competitive Legacy anyways where I find Goblins intriguing). Interestingly enough, the last ones seem to be getting something good here.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
tgva, you forgot the link to the third thread in the first post.
Also, a request to Festy - can you post the completed images once you finish them in this thread?
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eldariel
...Soldiers give themselves Vigilance? Mobilization? 'cause that card is BLEH! Meh, anyways, 2-mana 2/2 FS Vigilance is a solid body and making it a 3/3 turn 3 when you swing is actually in line with the modern power level of the creatures. So yeah, I think it's like Allies should be; solid on its own, great in multiples.
That said, I'm not interested. The only tribals I care for right now are Orcs, Dwarves & Minotaurs (outside competitive Legacy anyways where I find Goblins intriguing). Interestingly enough, the last ones seem to be getting something good here.
Captain of the Watch. Oathsworn Giant. Those are just two perfect examples of "Soldiers that give other Soldiers Vigilance"; there are plenty of other cards that do similar or identical things, just like Mobilization, which, I am aghast to hear described as bad by any means.
I also didn't search very hard; all I did was a search for Soldiers with the keyword Vigilance in their Oracle text.
And yes, I'm well aware that the Giant actually gives it to creatures you control in general. He still fits the bill, particularly if all of your creatures happen to be Soldiers (as a Soldier deck is often wont to do ).
As an aside, you wouldn't happen to live in Michigan, would you? I've got a friend who thinks goblins are hilarious, and who has/had a minotaur deck (which, if memory serves, I don't believe it had *any* cards in it newer than Urza block, or some other equally old and hilarious time period).
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Last edited by MountainKing : 09-22-2009 at 05:48 PM.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Oh, and Festy, if you're still in the avatar mood, I don't suppose you could update Akroma, could you?
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainKing
Captain of the Watch. Oathsworn Giant. Those are just two perfect examples of "Soldiers that give other Soldiers Vigilance"; there are plenty of other cards that do similar or identical things, just like Mobilization, which, I am aghast to hear described as bad by any means.
I also didn't search very hard; all I did was a search for Soldiers with the keyword Vigilance in their Oracle text.
And yes, I'm well aware that the Giant actually gives it to creatures you control in general. He still fits the bill, particularly if all of your creatures happen to be Soldiers (as a Soldier deck is often wont to do ).
Meeh, they're all so expensive. I like my soldiers cheap and slender and Blademaster fits the bill while still being impressively sized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainKing
As an aside, you wouldn't happen to live in Michigan, would you? I've got a friend who thinks goblins are hilarious, and who has/had a minotaur deck (which, if memory serves, I don't believe it had *any* cards in it newer than Urza block, or some other equally old and hilarious time period).
No Michigan in Finland as far as I know Well, I can actually be fairly sure since that wouldn't be a name in Finland!
But yeah, one contributor to a Minotaur-deck's lack of new cards might be that they haven't really printed Minotaurs since...Homelands? For a while, at any rate; Homelands-cards may have been horrible, but at the same time it offered some interesting tribals and DIDGERIDOO!
I've also got a Faerie-deck from before the tribe was any good; now I feel Lorwyn spoiled it for me It was built around Faerie Noble too!
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duos
Cool. When you're done with everyone else's request and if you still have energy, I'd love it if you could flip a coin, then draw either a Virulent Sliver or a Darksteel Colossus. Surprise meh!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shas'aia Toriia
Also, a request to Festy - can you post the completed images once you finish them in this thread?
Will do.
EDIT:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shas'aia Toriia
Oh, and Festy, if you're still in the avatar mood, I don't suppose you could update Akroma, could you?
But of course! I always felt that I didn't do Akroma justice, so this should be fun.
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Which is saying something, considering that Chuck Norris... was Chuck Norris.
Last edited by Uncle Festy : 09-22-2009 at 06:03 PM.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Glorious new thread! I'm glad to be a part of this!
Also, I finally got to play with those new people I met at college. First time I've won in months! And twice in a row! I can only feel my luck getting better from here on. Especially with Zendikar on the horizon.
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Originally Posted by Phase
That guy was badass! He was like, "Oh! Oh, you're gonna try to Chuck Norris me, I'll just Chuck Norris you!" Unfortunately, I am the best Chuck Norris since Chuck Norris.
Which is saying something, considering that Chuck Norris... was Chuck Norris.
Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
heh if only i was a slightly better avatarist i could give you a hand festy but...
anyway, how many people are recommended for a booster draft? i want to try one but i'm wondering how many i should try to get...
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Re: Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shas'aia Toriia
tgva, you forgot the link to the third thread in the first post.
Problem now solved more or less.
I would rather play Kazandu Blademaster in a soldier deck than White Knight. Considering I expect that if there is a White Weenie deck, it will be mostly Soldiers-based, my Veteran Armorers can make my Blademasters better than the Knights. Not that you wouldn't just play both of them anyways.
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Magic: the Gathering IV: "Burn, Mana, Burn" as they used to say
It was built around Faerie Noble too!
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