Magic: The Gathering

[BeastOfShadows]

Just wondering if anybody on here besides me plays or has in previous plays magic.

[Pheonix Alugere]

yes

[Smokefish]

*Raises hand* Previously.

[Loli Defense Force]

*Just got back into the game -3-*

[Nunu]

I did a long long time ago...

[Copper]

Same. Haven't played it since high school, many moons ago. Stopped about when I was in college when they started introducing all those phasing rules and token generators and whatnot. Give me Karma and a Winter Orb and I'm happy.

[Kusanagi]

I used to play. Then some asshole stole my cards after a match, one which I specifically stated I would only play in if it was for fun, not for cards... I also won it.
That didn't stop me from playing, but it sucked big time.
The reasons I stopped were because A) they came out with too many rules, and B) not enough people around that simply wanted to play, just to play; I spent money on those cards to play with them, not to lose them.

[wallpaper]

I do, but I pretty well only have those piddly 10-cent cards that the hardcore gamers discard when they get the newest sets in. XDD I only play for funsies anyways! Red/Black or Blue/White (I freaking hate Green *fistshake*)

[Loli Defense Force]

Oh yeah, apparently in the next set, mana burn no longer occurs :x

[Bob]

i plays!

[aika]

I still go to the prereleases when they don't clash with other game tournaments, but I don't play constructed any more, it's too expensive.

FYI two prereleases ago I resolved a progenitus in a sealed tournament. It was a very good moment. And yes I won.

[Newbie]

I play. The most recent set is all mixed colors, but it's also one of the single most broken sets known to man when played correctly. Also, I'm very adaptable as I never owned any cards when I first started and learned all of the rules by playing. Admittedly, some of the token decks can be ridiculous, but that's half the fun.

[Nunu]

Needs more unglued

[Smokefish]

Needs more unglued

Que?

http://www.ulmf.org/bbs/picture.php?albumid=139&pictureid=1469

[DeMatt]

I used to play...
A: "...and I hit you for 2 more. Okay, your turn."
B: "Dang, down to 3."
Me: "Wait, you're at 3, you're at 3, and you're at..."
C: "3."
Me: "And I'm at 20. *pregnant pause* Pestilence, pestil for 3."
A, B, C,: *scoops*
Too bad the deck was so dang slow.

Hey Random_Knight777, that card image only showed a "linksteal" image before I went to the Troll and Toad website and looked it up. Maybe copy it into your album and relink it there?

[Smokefish]

THY WISH IS MY COMMAND.

EVEN IN DEATH, I STILL POST.

[Newbie]

http://www.rancoredelf.com/catalog/images/unhinged/rod_of_spanking.jpg

[Kusanagi]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/iceholder/94305.jpg

EDIT: fix'd

[DeMatt]

http://www.trollandtoad.com/images/products/pictures/94305.jpg

Geez... Troll And Toad does NOT like their card images being "borrowed". Hey Kusanagi, that card image only showed a "linksteal" image before I went to their website and looked it up. Maybe copy it into your album and relink it there, so random passersby don't just view a black square with white "stop hotlinking our images!" text in it?

[Tassadar]

I'm off and on.

[Kusanagi]

http://www.wizards.com/global/images/mtgcom_daily_mr41_pic2_en.jpg

[Newbie]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/iceholder/94305.jpg

EDIT: fix'd

They also had the scissors lizard and the rock lobster, if I recall, the lot cancelling each other out.

[Dreana]

I play with the new stuff it can be both fun and annoying though. I am definately one of those people who prefers to play for fun and i absolutely hate those decks where all you do is sit there and watch the other player do stuff since they keep you from playing anything.

[Nunu]

you mean blue?

[Newbie]

you mean blue?

Beat me to it. They even have stuff to copy spells, which inevitably means unlimited counters, so you don't get to play shit and end up loosing by deck out, which is the single most bullshit way to lose ever.

[Copper]

Beat me to it. They even have stuff to copy spells, which inevitably means unlimited counters, so you don't get to play shit and end up loosing by deck out, which is the single most bullshit way to lose ever.

I think the single most bullshit way to lose ever is to have someone that has one of those "sacrifice a creature for life" items, another item that gives them "token" creatures with which to feed said sacrifice item, enough turns to get themselves up to 100 health (maybe it was more. Wanna say it was even 1000, but I don't remember...), a nigh-unbeatable defense that you can't punch through, oh, and they're prick enough to not let you concede the game because they want to keep "playing." I think the only reason the person did was because they had a "Wheel of Fortune" card in their deck (the one where you flip a coin and can potentially lose the game on a coin toss or something like that.) Of course, the other person countespelled it or some shit at which point the person *did* want to concede and the other person wouldn't let them.

After witnessing that one was about when I decided not to get back into Magic.

[Nunu]

i was not aware of any rule anywhere that meant you weren't allowed to concede if you didn't want to.

[BeastOfShadows]

they're actually changing a lot of rules at the next rotation... There's no more mana burn, lifelink and deathtouch are becoming static abilities, there's a whole page of it on the wizards site. I could tell you the rest of it if you want.

@aika - Nice. Resolving a progenitus is always nice, and usually will make you win.

@nunu - yes I think they should print another un-set. The silliness is missing. One of my favorites is rocket-powered turbo slug. It has super haste.

[Copper]

i was not aware of any rule anywhere that meant you weren't allowed to concede if you didn't want to.

It was less of a point of the one guy not being *able* to concede as the other guy was simply being a dick and wouldn't let the game end. Like I said, he held out for the Wheel of Fortune and after that was when he opted to bow out and the other guy told him no, that he wanted to finish it, and it was just a whole bunch of drama. (That also happened, oh, more than 10 years ago, so I'm hazy on the details. I just remember the highlights.)

[Kusanagi]

I usually use a white/green deck, or a white/artifact deck.

I kinda like the artifacts. They can get silly, but it's still fun.

Yes, more 'un-' needs to be made.
https://www.abugames.com/images/products/unglued/bfmleft.jpghttps://www.abugames.com/images/products/unglued/bfmright.jpg

[lurker]

https://www.abugames.com/images/products/unglued/bfmleft.jpghttps://www.abugames.com/images/products/unglued/bfmright.jpg

That's what SHE said.

I was more Yu-Gi-Oh speed meself

[Pheonix Alugere]

It was less of a point of the one guy not being *able* to concede as the other guy was simply being a dick and wouldn't let the game end. Like I said, he held out for the Wheel of Fortune and after that was when he opted to bow out and the other guy told him no, that he wanted to finish it, and it was just a whole bunch of drama. (That also happened, oh, more than 10 years ago, so I'm hazy on the details. I just remember the highlights.)

That's when you put up your deck anyway. They can't really force you to keep your cards on the table.

[Copper]

At that point, that's what he did. Didn't stop the complaining from the other party though.

[aika]

I'd just like to announce that two friends and I won the team trio tournament at the core 2010 set prerelease in London last Saturday.

[cross_grave]

Nice. I wish I could play that well. Alas, I don't really have anyone I could practice with... And my deck sucks. I don't have the cards to build the deck I want.

[aika]

Seriously, limited is the best form of magic, and probably the cheapest. Drafts are fun, rewarding and you don't have to spend £50 on a playset of search lands.

[cross_grave]

Heh. I've played drafts before, and I sucked. It was fun, though. Still, I'd like to have a nice deck for regular games.

[aika]

We used to play with brilliant constructed decks, but the games we played were less fun and the ways the decks won were often very evil (especially my blue white control deck).

So now we have "mediocre" constructed decks (basically made nearly completely out of non-rares) and mostly play limited anyway.

[cross_grave]

A guy I've met while studying (a very good Magic player) told me about a deck that contained only commons. I don't know the details, but I was told that this particular deck was a real beast. Common-based decks can be very powerful.

[aika]

Right, until it comes up against Ravager Affinity.

[cross_grave]

Hmm... Haven't heard about something like that.

[Alias]

Magic always struck me as having the same problem as D&D type games - too many rules, changing too quickly to be enjoyable. That and I was younger at the time so I'd already been assimilated into the ranks of Pokemon card users. Another money sink would be like, money sink times TWO. and you know what that means.

Yeah, less money. =P

[aika]

I suggest anyone that wants a free schooling at MtG (note: free) downloads Magic Workstation and then plays me online :)

[cross_grave]

I might try this someday... Maybe next week, when I get my laptop back.

[aika]

I challenge you to build an extended deck without rares that can beat a standard Ravager Affinity deck (assuming DoV and Skullclamp aren't B&)

[cross_grave]

Heh. I don't know my cards well enough to try that... I'm a bit out of practice. And I have a lot to learn as far as deck building goes.

[Blah]

aika: never got workstation to play nice with me, but I'll go browse the extended list and see what I can come up with.

Edit: DoV and skullclamp are banned in extended, and my has it changed since I last looked. Way back in the day I could've run half my monoblack legacy and had a field day with ravager. Bleh. See what all these new sets spit out in the way of junk...

Edit2: Heh. Shatterstorm. There's my (first) answer for your non-rare ravager beater. Of course it's pretty gay to build a deck specifically to kill another one, so I'll keep looking.

[aika]

Of course DoV and skullclamp are banned now >_>

They broke the format

[ShadowWolfSBI]

Have a couple of amusing stories about MtG...Of course, at least one of them wouldn't be possible under regulated gaming.

First Story: One game I watched back in high school had two guys who were both using Goblin decks. Both had the Goblin avatar card, whose name escapes me at the moment. The game ended up turning into both of them doing nothing but playing out their goblins so that they could see how high the avatars would end up.

I'll tell the second story later, but note that it does involve a bit of a dirty trick, since we were having to deal with a whiny little bitch of a player.

[Blah]

Funny stories eh? Lets see...

-Agonizing Demise on a Serra Avatar. (The only way our casual group won vs. this person's angel deck, generally.)
-Delaying Shield + Disenchant. The best one I remember was when a beast deck decided to suicide on me with vitalizing wind and overrun, well over 100 damage. I smiled at him and refused to block, then cast disenchant at the end of combat. Table was laughing at that one.
-Having more creature kill cards in your deck then a goblin/elf deck has creatures (60 card vs. 100 card is the reason, but still entertaining as hell. Yes the 100 won.)
-Taking a leak while you wait for your opponent to finish his Mind's Desire (did this on a few occasions)
-Winning via maggot carrier or related effect. More entertaining when it's by accident because you forget the come-into-play effect.

[aika]

Funny stories - anything involving Eye of the Storm.

Having only 5 minutes left of your lunch break and trying to resolve a 100 spell stack.

[ShadowWolfSBI]

As for the second story...

One year, during my high school career, there was a group of us that would play MtG before classes, and occasionally during lunch. One game type we'd play was what the group called an "All Lands" game. Like the name might suggest, all of your deck's land cards started out in play. This generally prevented one from getting mana-screwed.

One member of the group, however, decided on one occasion to be a bit of a whiny little bitch. He had a card that, as long as it was in his graveyard, all of his lands could be used as either white or green mana. His deck allowed him to generally get the card into the graveyard within one or two turns. He also had a card called "Magenta"-something or other, and often used it to wipe the field so he could dominate.

The key problem to this was that his wipe card ran off of mana. He'd included every land card he owned, if it was an All Lands game. If we would try to force him to play that deck in a normal game...He'd bitch and moan until he was allowed to "rework" his deck, removing most of those lands.

Finally, the group had enough. While bitch boy was off getting food as we were preparing for a game one morning, one of the players who ran a counter-and-direct-damage deck stacked his. All of us (except for the unaware little bitch) covered him while he did this. We then proceeded to tell the missing player that we'd done the usual method for determining who went first while he was gone, and that the (stacked) player had won. (We didn't really do that. It was a mutual agreement.)

The first player played a card that would allow him to immediately take a turn, but would lose after that turn. He followed it up by Boomeranging the effect to the whiny little bitch...

Bitch-boy got the point, I think...Or got butt-hurt and left. Didn't really make that much difference to me, at least.

[aika]

I used to play...A: "...and I hit you for 2 more. Okay, your turn."
B: "Dang, down to 3."
Me: "Wait, you're at 3, you're at 3, and you're at..."
C: "3."
Me: "And I'm at 20. *pregnant pause* Pestilence, pestil for 3."
A, B, C,: *scoops*Too bad the deck was so dang slow.

Hey Random_Knight777, that card image only showed a "linksteal" image before I went to the Troll and Toad website and looked it up. Maybe copy it into your album and relink it there?



Pestilence FTW. In particular:

I was one player in a four-way "friendly" game, and as is habitual, started the game mana-screwed. Hence, everybody else focused on each other rather than me. This continued, as I slowly built up lands and actually played a couple creatures, until this happened:
A: "... and this hits you."
B: "Ow, I'm down to 3."
A: "Okay, your turn."
Me: "Um... so you're at 3, YOU'RE at 3, and you're at...?"
C: "3."
Me: "And I'm at 20. *pause* Pestilence, pestil for 3."
A, B, C: *scoops*

PHEW, for a minute I was having a major episode of deja vu.

Also, Wolf, I bet you're talking about Mageta the Lion (http://wowbox.tw/mtg/images/largejpg/24xxx/24565.jpg).

[ShadowWolfSBI]

Yups, that's the one.

[cross_grave]

Does anyone here know good cards for making tokens? Goblins and saprolings are prefered.

[DeMatt]

PHEW, for a minute I was having a major episode of deja vu....I'd totally forgotten that I'd posted that story before. Sad to say, I wasn't a very good player - that's the only M:tG story I've got.

[aika]

Does anyone here know good cards for making tokens? Goblins and saprolings are prefered.

http://www.buymorecards.net/shop/images/setfolders/0T/siegegang_commander.jpg

Amazing, amazing card. So many uses.

[Blah]

<3 commander

Verdent Force (high costing tho) for saprolings.
Verdent Embrace

Empty the Warrens (goblins + storm)
Greener Pastures (if you plan on having more land then them)
Saproling Burst (w/ pandemonium = lulz)

[Newbie]

Does anyone here know good cards for making tokens? Goblins and saprolings are prefered.

There's a slew of fungus cards that basically create saprolings every three turns, and/or modify the creation of/created tokens. Many of them have "thallid" in the name. Add to that Doubling Season and you're fairly well set for tokens.

[Tassadar]

Does anyone here know good cards for making tokens? Goblins and saprolings are prefered.

Veredloth the Ancient. Kicker 1 for adding as many 2/2 saprolings into play as you can afford.

Also, the Thallid Ancient card drops it from 3 turns to 2 for all your saproling producers. Once, I was playing against a blue/white control deck, I had something like 40 tokens at one point, all of them 2/2 thanks to Veredloth. Then I played the "All creatures get +3/+3 and trample until end of turn" sorcery. Too bad he had a wall of glare with gaseous form on it.

[cross_grave]

Thanks. I'll see if I can build something useful out of this...

I suggest anyone that wants a free schooling at MtG (note: free) downloads Magic Workstation and then plays me online :)

Dammit. I don't think that I can pay for it.

[Goldstein]

I hate to necro, but when I saw we already had a thread for this, I thought it was better than the alternative.

Recently got both a Sliver Queen and Legion for my Slivers EDH deck. Of course, that means putting in Mana Echoes. I also decided to try out the very silly combination of Ghostflame Sliver and All is Dust.

Anyone else play EDH here?

[super_slicer]

I have no clue what EDH is. But I do have a sliver deck. How do you compensate for the shear amount of mana types you need? I've thrown in a few myrs, so I can get them out with any mana, and have another mana color to use.

[freeko]

EDH = Elder Dragon Highlander

You have 1 card that you set aside as your general (which was originally an elder dragon). You may only play spells of the color(s) that your general has and any artifacts that do not have a colored mana symbol on them. So if you have say Eladmiri, Lord of Leaves as your general then you can only play green cards and artifacts that have colorless or green mana in their casting costs or abilities.

The decks are exactly 100 cards so that basically means the deck itself is 99 cards plus the general card. Aside from basic lands you may only play 1 copy of a card in your deck.

Thats pretty much the basics of what EDH is. There are all kinds of silly rules that go specifically for EDH but I wont bother with that stuff.

[super_slicer]

Are creature cards counted as spells?

[freeko]

obviously yes

[Nunu]

slivers are massively powerfull in EDH, especialy if you pack a sliver overloard because yuor like, hmmm... what do i need... i know, i'll give every creature i own shroud next turn, then i'll give then tap for any mana colour, then i'll pull out my sliver queen to generate infinite slivers because they all have haste aqnd can sacrifice for 2 mana and my heartstone reduces the generation cost by 1. and now my entire deck is in play. and i have infinite infinite/infinite cant be targeted regenerating creatures with every ability and then some.

[Goldstein]

Yeah, they are really powerful. I promised myself that I'd never try to go infinite on purpose; never tutor for it specifically. But if I happen to draw that Mana Echoes, well...

@super_slicer; I run 37 lands. That includes three that tap for any color, eight fetchlands that can go get me the color I need, and quite a few different lands that tap for multiple colors. I also run a Coalition Relic and a couple different cards that go get me lands. I think it's also probably easier to get the colors you need in this format, since you have such a variety of cards that you're almost certain to have lands that match the cards you get.

I could post the list if you wanted to see.

[super_slicer]

Nah, I don't really play anymore. Just a couple of old friends once and a while. I got out after the block that had the myr cards in it. Everything started to feel to gimmicky (Kamigawa I'm looking at you) for me, and I was never that good in the first place! (I build/built theme decks, that are interesting, but usually not effective [also, steamroller ftl])

But yeah, I can definately see why you'd have no problem throwing out any sliver in your hand after a couple turns.

[freeko]

Kamigawa block was the last competitive play I did. I got straight up screwed in Grand Prix: Salt Lake. I should have made day 2 of the event but was given a match loss going into the last round of day 1 which put me outside the record needed to make day 2. The reason I was given a match loss you ask? My opponent broke four of the sleeves of my deck sleeves shuffling my deck in the previous round. I was given a penalty of a match loss after that match was completed isntead of being able to replace my sleeves and continue.

I played in the qualifier the next day and was banned from the game for 1.5 years on purpose from colluding before the finals of a tournament to allow some local to win the tournament in exchange for pretty much the whole prize support aside from the pro tour invitiation in the tournament.

As for my EDH deck, I shut down slives so so easily. You need to have some manner of an answer for Linvala or your whole deck is just useless.

[super_slicer]

Maybe, if you're using slivers that have "Pay # for effect" or "tap". Most of mine just give the effect, sure I'm limited to just using a brute-strength stratagy, but when I've got 8 7/7's with flying, first strike and double strike, that angel can go fuck itself.

But that's the exact kind of thing I'm talking about. That one card is disgustingly powerful. TBH if anyone whipped that out on me, I'd forfiet, then sock them in the face.

[freeko]

In almost all competitive play thats my general. Otherwise I use Lin-Sivvi as my general in casual games. The thing that most sliver decks have to deal with in competitive play is that the other three people at the table playing will almost always look to get rid of them first.

[Goldstein]

Linvala really isn't that hard to deal with. Yeah, she shuts down most slivers, but the deck would be useless if it was just slivers. Besides that, there's still hunter sliver, and probably a few others.

The table does usually gun for slivers, true. But slivers should really be fast enough to win that race.

[Nunu]

I dont really play much but i enjoy making decks. although i've been entierly surrounded by competetive players so i'm built for hard decks.

[super_slicer]

Oh, I'm talking about in regular play, alot of my decks (and now that I think about it, the people who I play with as well) have a strong emphasis around activated abilities. That card destroys at least 3 of my decks abilities to do much of anything aside from putting creatures on the field.

[Nunu]

One of my friends made an elder highlander deck, it was horrible to play against. near creatureless and blue black. It felt like playing in mud as a sliver deck slowed to a crawl and then stopped.

i had 4 creatures and 8 land out against their complete lack of defences and my only option was to concede.

[Goldstein]

What were they doing that you conceded? Just super heavy on control?

Also, does anyone have any experience with any of the computer based Magic programs? I'm not very interested in Magic Online, since the real cards are expensive enough, but I know there are a couple others.

[Nunu]

I play magic 2012 a bit. also i looked into apprentice but that seems to be more than a few sets behind.

also their deck is like precontrol, it uses back to basics, stasis, things that make spells cost more and give creatures upkeep.

so you never untap and if you manage to scrape a few mana together all your spells are twice as expencive.

[Iggy]

I myself am working on building my first EDH Deck. It's going to be a Blue-Green Combo Deck with Momir Vig as my general.

[Nunu]

i'll fight some people in apprentice if they get some set packs that make it reasonably up to date. it will be just like EDH.

edit: i found a program that lets you create new sets for apprentice, so i can now build any deck i want. anyone game?

[Newbie]

What is apprentice and where do I find it? I could probably use the practice.

[Nunu]

apprentice essntialy simulates deck randomization and the playing field you actualy do all the mechanics by hand as you play.

if you search for magic the gathering apprentice you shuold bump into it. then i found magic set editor which is a custom card creator that can export to apprentice format hence meaning you just recreate the cards you want that are missing from the set.

[Goldstein]

I was actually thinking of trying out Cockatrice (http://cockatrice.de/index.php?a=project). From reading about it, it maintains its own database of cards, which would be a plus over Apprentice, if I'm understand it correctly. Additionally, it is actually a full fledged implementation of the game into software.

[cross_grave]

OCTGN is another alternative, if you don't want to use either of the above.

[Iggy]

I was actually thinking of trying out Cockatrice (http://cockatrice.de/index.php?a=project). From reading about it, it maintains its own database of cards, which would be a plus over Apprentice, if I'm understand it correctly. Additionally, it is actually a full fledged implementation of the game into software.

When I first read this, I was thinking of the actual card, "Cockatrice"

[Nunu]

okay i've got an EDH deck ready to play in cockatrice.

anyone wanna fight?

[Goldstein]

I'm up for it. Are you just named Nunu?

[Nunu]

probably, how do i find you?

Goldstein and i fought on cockatrice, his sliver commander vs my elf commander. I won 2/1.

[freeko]

I will warn you all that Apprentice is easy to manipulate. I was a judge for an online league years ago and having to deal with all the supposed hacking was so bothersome. The problem was, it was most times someone who was hacking by having that one card they need to draw always show up and the such.

I might give this cockatrice thing a try to see how well it handles things. Maybe throw a few beatings around. How does it handle multiplayer as EDH generally will see 4 players in a game instead of being only 1v1.

[Dreana]

My only experience with EDH has been listening to one friend talk about it and playing a game with 3 other people. out of the four of us 3 were precon decks and only one was a personally built deck. My ability to come up with ideas for normal decks works fine...edh..not so fine.

[freeko]

EDH is a wholly different animal as you have a deck thats 100 cards and you can not really just throw in all the good cards and call it a deck like most do in type 2 anymore.

[Dreana]

Well as i said i have played one EDH game and i used a precon called devour for power. It actually had a theme that worked. Also from what my one friend has shown me there is more to it then just throwing lots of good stuff in and calling it a deck. Seen two of his deck designs that were fairly nasty and very effective in getting rolling.

[Nunu]

I like heavenly inferno.

although i just tried some EDH and it ended up with everyone calling me a fucking douchebag and leaving.

its not my fault they couldn't handle my decks win condition being waiting. (i had removed their ability to untap, all their permenants come into play tapped, all their creatures were 1/1's with no abilities, etc)

[Dreana]

decks where you simply run everyone else out of cards or such is pretty much just boring game in my opinion. boring games frustrate people even faster.

[Nunu]

it has win conditions, its just your not in a rush to get to them. you have plenty of search though. but i was scared and playing conservatively.

[Dreana]

Yeah i know how that can be. The gorup i play with the most is always either scared of me and hold back to try and counter whatever i do or scared of me and goes aggressive right off the bat at me. Even in group games. Usually its because i'm the only one constantly updating my stock of cards and bringing new stuff to the table.

[Nunu]

well dreana, want to fight my highlander?

[Goldstein]

The deck works then, nunu? I'll have to try it, even though I'm almost certain I don't have the countercontrol necessary...

[Nunu]

i'm up for a game, give me some sort of contact details so i can tell you when i wanna fight.

[Dreana]

sure Nunu if i had a EDH deck i have built myself. Only thing i have played is Devour for Power.

[Nunu]

over the hext few days i could probably put together a moderately powerful deck instead of my normal competetive ones to go against devour for power.

[Goldstein]

I don't have the physical deck built yet, but if you guys are all alright with it, I could put together a silly U/W EDH deck that I've been wanting to do. It would probably less mean in a multiplayer game than my Slivers.

[Iggy]

So, I'm nearly done working on my Simic Combo EDH deck with Momir Vig as my general. I have about 10 spaces left and I need some ideas for stuff to fill the gaps with. I built the deck with cards that I currently have. There are some cards I need to get a hold of that I plan on adding that I can think of at the moment are Breeding Pool, Akroma's Memorial, Lotus Cobra, Edrich Spymaster of Trest, Command Tower, Phyrexian Metamorph, Argothian Elder, Snap, etc...

I need some ideas for some low mana cost green-blue creatures to add to my deck to speed up the deck early game and other dual color creatures to make use of Momir Vig's ability. I would also like some ideas for guaranteed win conditions, like using Palincron to generate infinite mana for something like Helix Pinnacle.

Any help would be greatly appreciated~.

[Nunu]

http://www.kourtnie.net/tag/mana-acceleration/

i bumped into this a little while ago (yesterday) while building random decks for cockatrice.

[Nunu]

Okay guys, for all you magicites here i want to run a FFA backdraft and i'd like to do it with you, takers are to go... somewhere... just express interest here.

Backdraft for those of you who dont know is just like a normal draft except you hand the cards you drafted to someone else and they have to build and play a deck from that. Suffice to say its sufficiently mad. also i like the free for all format instead of a tournament because it takes much less time and we all get to play together, making things more mad. programs we'll be using are cockatrice and one of those online drafting things like CCGDecks or tapped out, whatever people prefer.

[Goldstein]

What set(s)?

[Nunu]

any set you like, although probably not hig powered cube, i'm more set on doing this than on having an opinion of the cards so i'm just good.

[Iggy]

So I just dominated in a four-way game of Magic today, and this is what I had on the field in addition to many other creatures:

Venser's Journal (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=215079)
Heartwood Storyteller (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=132216)
Primordial Sage (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=89083)
Archmage Ascension (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197893)
Lurking Predators (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=191388)

One of the players tried to give me a severe papercut with their Myr Battlesphere...

[Iggy]

Putting my Simic EDH decklist here:

Artifacts:
Akroma's Memorial x1
Contagion Engine x1
Dolmen Gate x1
Ichor Wellspring x1
Lightning Greaves x1
Nevinyrral's Disk x1
Sensei's Divining Top x1
Sol Ring x1
Sword of Body and Mind x1
Venser's Journal x1
Creatures:
AEtherplasm x1
Carven Caryatid x1
Cytoplast Manipulator x1
Edric, Spymaster of Trest x1
Elvish Visonary x1
Eternal Witness x1
Fog Bank x1
Forgotten Ancient x1
Gilded Drake x1
Heartwood Storyteller x1
Joraga Treespeaker x1
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth x1
Lighthouse Chronologist x1
Loaming Shaman x1
Lorescale Coatl x1
Lotus Cobra x1
Merfolk Looter x1
Mitotic Slime x1
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary (Commander) x1
Mul Daya Channelers x1
Mulldrifter x1
Ophidian x1
Oracle of Mul Daya x1
Phyrexian Metamorph x1
Priest of Titania x1
Primordial Hydra x1
Primordial Sage x1
Sakura-Tribe Elder x1
Seedborn Muse x1
Solemn Simulacrum x1
Spike Weaver x1
Sun Quan, Lord of Wu x1
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir x1
Trygon Predator x1
Vigean Graftmage x1
Viridian Emissary x1
Wall of Blossoms x1
Wood Elves x1
Yavimaya Elder x1
Enchantments:
Archmage Ascention x1
Lurking Predators x1
Rhystic Study x1
Survival of the Fittest x1
Instants:
Brainstorm x1
Mana Drain x1
Mindbreak Trap x1
Perilous Research x1
Remand x1
Snakeform x1
Snap x1
Voidslime x1
Lands:
Breeding Pool x1
Command Tower x1
Flooded Grove x1
Forest x13
Gaea's Cradle x1
Hinterland Harbor x1
Island x13
Llanowar Reborn x1
Reliquary Tower x1
Simic Growth Chamber x1
Tropical Island x1
Planeswalker:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor x1
Sorceries:
Cultivate x1
Kodama's Reach x1
Tezzeret's Gambit x1


If you guys have any questions or pointers that'd really be appreciated...

[neter77]

I have been playing since 1995, enjoyed it a lot, played tournaments and all the stuff, then IMO it became too comercial, ugly new design and now i just keep a hoard of commons, like 20k and play just "trash" type with friends, the best about that is that every game is unique and its just for the best fun and free :)

[Iggy]

I'd like to make a list of cards that will get you punched in the dick if you play them in a game. I'll start:

1. Vorinclex, the Voice of Hunger
2. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3. Serra Ascendant (in EDH)

Feel free to add more...

[Kusanagi]

Step 1: Play Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge.
Step 2: Play Leonin Abunas and Tajuru Preserver.
Step 3: Play Platinum Angel and Abyssal Persecutor.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: PROFIT!

.....

Or you could just play a Blue/Artifact deck.

[Iggy]

Step 1: Play Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge.
Step 2: Play Leonin Abunas and Tajuru Preserver.
Step 3: Play Platinum Angel and Abyssal Persecutor.
Step 4: ???
Step 5: PROFIT!

.....

Or you could just play a Blue/Artifact deck.

Response: Rebuild.

... Lol?

[Kusanagi]

Response: Rebuild.

... Lol?

Counter response: Last Word

[Takimaru]

Mindbreak Trap (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197532)

[Iggy]

Mindbreak Trap (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197532)

Morph Voidmage Apprentice

[Takimaru]

Morph Voidmage Ascension

That's not even a card.

[Iggy]

That's not even a card.

Spelling error. Fixed.

[Takimaru]

Oh, I know, I was just giving you shit for naming cards that don't exist. Trickbind (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=110499) or Willbender (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=189252)

[Iggy]

Oh, I know, I was just giving you shit for naming cards that don't exist. Trickbind (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=110499) or Willbender (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=189252)

Voidmage Apprentice still wins. It's off the stack.

[Takimaru]

You're an idiot. It's turning face up ability is still a triggered ability.

[Kusanagi]

Oh geeze, he's a nasty one.
Emrakul (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193452)

[Takimaru]

More like TENTACRUEL!
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/315/a/e/emrakul_by_flappyb-d32n4ca.jpg

[Iggy]

Emrakul is super-banned, so meh...

[Takimaru]

Only in EDH!

[Kusanagi]

I don't follow tournaments, but I guess this means nothing, then?

http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Printings.aspx?multiverseid=193452

[Takimaru]

Like I said, he's only banned in EDH, and that's only because people were abusing him. Otherwise, he's a playable card without being terribly overpowered; pretty good when you use an entwined Tooth and Nail (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48122) to retrieve him along with Urabrask (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214378)...

[Iggy]

Last night, my friend got his chameleon collossus to have power and toughness equal to 4 x 10 to the 816th power.

[Kusanagi]

What was the combination exactly that allowed him to do this, since, even assuming he used Chameleon Colossus' ability to get there, the base power would still have to be 4 x 10 to the 408th power..... unless my brain is having a mathematical 'brain fart'.


My friend used a black/white/artifact deck in an Archenemy game. He had 4 'Army of the Damned' and 'Endless Ranks of the Dead' cards. He had 2 AotD and 1 ERotD to start with, and had all 4 of each card by his 10th turn. His opponents apparently either didn't or couldn't counter any of them when he played them, and by his 20th turn all 4 ERotD were on the field. ALL THE 2/2 ZOMBIES.
... wait, did I say 2/2? I mean 4/4 thanks to Elesh Norn.
...... and he had Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge.
......... and Leonin Abunas.

He almost got stomped by a couple of mass sacrifice spells, but Lapse of Certainty saved him the first time, followed up by Null Brooch and Mana Tithe on the next turn.

It was also funny because he played War Report after he had OVER 100 MILLION ZOMBIES in play (exponential growth, anyone?). They were all technically creatures AND artifacts, and according to the people he was playing with, they therefore counted twice for War Report.

He's currently trying to get a Panoptic Mirror so he can play AotD more than just the 8 times.

[cross_grave]

Last night, my friend got his chameleon collossus to have power and toughness equal to 4 x 10 to the 816th power.

How the Hell did he do that?

What was the combination exactly that allowed him to do this, since, even assuming he used Chameleon Colossus' ability to get there, the base power would still have to be 4 x 10 to the 408th power..... unless my brain is having a mathematical 'brain fart'.


My friend used a black/white/artifact deck in an Archenemy game. He had 4 'Army of the Damned' and 'Endless Ranks of the Dead' cards. He had 2 AotD and 1 ERotD to start with, and had all 4 of each card by his 10th turn. His opponents apparently either didn't or couldn't counter any of them when he played them, and by his 20th turn all 4 ERotD were on the field. ALL THE 2/2 ZOMBIES.
... wait, did I say 2/2? I mean 4/4 thanks to Elesh Norn.
...... and he had Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge.
......... and Leonin Abunas.

He almost got stomped by a couple of mass sacrifice spells, but Lapse of Certainty saved him the first time, followed up by Null Brooch and Mana Tithe on the next turn.

It was also funny because he played War Report after he had OVER 100 MILLION ZOMBIES in play (exponential growth, anyone?). They were all technically creatures AND artifacts, and according to the people he was playing with, they therefore counted twice for War Report.

He's currently trying to get a Panoptic Mirror so he can play AotD more than just the 8 times.

...

Why can't people just play good old-fashioned beatdown decks? Sigh. Altough this also might be my bias against artifacts showing here.

[Iggy]

How the Hell did he do that?



I don't remember the exact number, but it was somewhere around that number...

[Takimaru]

Eh... I'm an aggro player myself. Buuut, WotC knows that there's a specific audience that loves silly shenanigans, so they make sure to appeal to them as well--I'd say it's an attempt to sell cards to the 'Johnny' (combo player) archetype, if you're familiar with those.

Man, Archenemy gets ridiculous with some of the advantages they give the bad guy. I think the most amusing thing I had with it was Evil Comes to Fruition (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212599) with a T2 Beastmaster Ascension (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197890). Considering the archenemy goes first, that basically took them down pretty quickly, yowch...
The promo that allows the Archenemy to play a Planeswalker from their deck is pretty nasty, too.

[Iggy]

So, I've come to really love Ghoultree in my Karador EDH Deck. Especially when I have 7+ creatures in the graveyard and Greater Good in play. Because everyone loves {G}: Draw 10, discard 3. :D

[Iggy]

I just went infinite with my Momir Vig EDH. What's better is that my opponents recognized it before the combo went off.

[Zenka]

Does anybody know where to play this game online? I loved this game to play with cards when I was little, would be nice to play this game again online :)

[Nunu]

we tend to use cockatrice. there are plenty of different programes out there wand it may not be the best but its what we've got a foothold in.

[Iggy]

So, what do you guys think the new abilities will be for each guild in Gatecrash? Here's my thoughts for whatI think Simic's ability could be.

Upwell - When this creature leaves play, you may search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on it and reveal it. If you do, add it to your hand.

[Nunu]

Nunu played a draft the other day. First pack had foil rakdos, third pack had niv mizzet.

Thats like being on topic right?

[Iggy]

Nunu played a draft the other day. First pack had foil rakdos, third pack had niv mizzet.

Thats like being on topic right?

I'd say it is. Although I'm kinda getting sick of getting Niv Mizzet every 4th pack...

[Serifyn]

So, what do you guys think the new abilities will be for each guild in Gatecrash? Here's my thoughts for whatI think Simic's ability could be.

I've been refreshing the MTG website several times per day seeing if they finally posted any spoilers, in addition to checking mtgsalvation for leaks.

Anyway, for exploratory purposes, here are my thoughts.

Orzhov: We've already seen Soul Tithe (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=265372) in white and i think it is a tell for what we can expect in orzhov. Orvhoz will likely be a control based guild whose creatures either have benefits for themselves upon death or penalties for opponents creatures on death, i wouldent be surprised if the main orzhov mechanic was based around something similar to Grave Betrayal (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=270960) where creatures you control return from the graveyard in some manner, making them resilient to removal.

so i believe the Orzhov mechanic will be something called Soulbound

Soulbound: Where Creature dies, you may pay it's CMD again, if you do, you may remove it from a graveyard and return it to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it, it is a white spirit creature in addition**

----

Simic: TBA

-----

Boros: White/Red colors are aggressive when paired, using the swarm potential of white and the temporary buff/burn potential of Red, Boros will take advantage of powerhouse human cards such as [/url] and 'human' tokens from Innistrad or in order to create a board presence and win with combat damage.

White has a history of building up using puny 1/1 tokens and with cards such as [url=http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Precinct+Captain]Precinct Captain (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=silverblade%20paladin) from Return to Ravnica will help this out.

I believe the Boras mechanic may be something like Rally

Rally: When This card comes into play, you may tap it and another creature you control, if you do, put a 1/1 soldier token onto the battlefield under your control.

-----

Dimir: TBA

-----

Gruul: 5 Cards have been spoiled for Gatecrash already and two of them are Gruul cards, as i saw on a podcast the other day, both Domri Rade (Gruul planeswaler) and Borborygmos (Gruul Legendary) have 'top of deck' mechanics, which take advantage of the top card of your deck, for this reason, i believe that the Gruul mechantic will be centered heavily on manipulating the topcard of your deck.

Gruul decks will be VERY creature centric.

Something like Wildcall would be useful in such a deck.

Wildcall: When Creature comes into play, you may reveal the topcard of your deck, if it is land card, you may place it into your graveyard, if it is a creature, you may pay its cmd and put it into your hand.

[Iggy]

Soulbound

Soulbound: Where Creature dies, you may pay it's CMD again, if you do, you may remove it from a graveyard and return it to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it, it is a white spirit creature in addition**



I believe that sounds a BIT too similar to a recent mechanic:

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?text=+[soulbond]

As for my rationale behind the Upwell for Simic is here:

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/225

The section titled "The Upwelling" leads me to believe this will relate to the Simic's new ability. In paticular, this excerpt lead me to believe this: "The return of the deep creatures to the surface, the birth of ever-larger organisms, the pursuit of natural science and understandings, the slow addition of new zonots... all are upwellings. The new and enlivened replace the old and depleted, and that replacement is cyclical." This leads me to think that their new ability would be similar to a birthing pod, except with +1/+1 counters (to stick with Simic tradition).

[Serifyn]

I couldn't come up with anything better than Soulbound, but i'm sure there would be a better name for it.

Orzhov is all about issuing contracts which remain through death, so im sure the Orzhov mechanic will be death related be it on your own creatures or your enemies.

[Iggy]

Orzhov is all about issuing contracts which remain through death, so im sure the Orzhov mechanic will be death related be it on your own creatures or your enemies.

Or related to debt or tax-collecting.

[Iggy]

Simic Fluxmage has been added to the Gatecrash spoiler. The new Simic ability is:

Evolve (Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)

[Iggy]

Sorry to triple-post, but Wizards really fucked up...

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138227&d=1356931036

[Newbie]

All of the new guild abilities are spoiled. They are:

Simic: Evolve: When a creature enters the battlefield with great P/T than this creature, put a 1/1 counter on this creature.

Boros: Battalion: Whenever this creature and at least two other creatures attack, gain an additional effect.

Grull: Bloodrush: Pay a cost and discard from your hand to gain an additional effect, all examples have been creature buffs.

Dimir: Cipher: Exile this card "encoded" on a creature you control. whenever that creature deals damage to a player, you may cast a copy of the spell for free. Both examples have been identical.

Orzhov: Extort: Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay [W/B]. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.

[Serifyn]

I really like Gruul's mechanic, the synergy to one of my favorite current cards; Vorapede is insane.

The fact that Dimir requires attacking is kind counter-productive to the Black/Blue Meta, obviously i've only seen one card, but its powerful enough that it will be expensive, the card which comes to mind is Invisible Stalker, as anything else will probably die instantly.

Im really interested in Boros, but i feel like Mass removal will decimate that deck easily.

Black is my Main color and i use Mutilate in almost every black deck, i can see mutilate devastating in constructed against Boros, Orzhov, Dimir and Simic.

[Iggy]

I really like Gruul's mechanic, the synergy to one of my favorite current cards; Vorapede is insane.

The fact that Dimir requires attacking is kind counter-productive to the Black/Blue Meta, obviously i've only seen one card, but its powerful enough that it will be expensive, the card which comes to mind is Invisible Stalker, as anything else will probably die instantly.

Im really interested in Boros, but i feel like Mass removal will decimate that deck easily.

Black is my Main color and i use Mutilate in almost every black deck, i can see mutilate devastating in constructed against Boros, Orzhov, Dimir and Simic.

I personally play EDH above all else so my opinions maybe slightly different than everyone else's, but evolve with proliferate in Experiment Kraj or Animar will be silly. Especially if they make a an aura that gives the enchanted creature evolve.

As far as Cipher goes, I can see mono-blue Cipher cards being used with Invisible Stalker or more specifically in Edric EDH.

I can see mono-white Battalion being completely retarded in Odric, Master Tactician EDH.

Gruul and Orzhov's new abilities I can't think of anything on the spot right now, seeing as I've never played those color combinations.

But Illusionist Bracers is completely "Why the fuck did you print this Wizards?!" At first I thought it applied to only activated abilities, but no, it even counts TRIGGERED abilities too. Let me list some things to equip this to off the top of my head:


Memnarch
Psychosis Crawler
Zur, the Enchanter
Niv Mizzet (either)
Moltensteel Dragon


I know there's better options, but I'm not going to go fishing for evil combos with this new equip.

[Nunu]

yeah, its almost exactly the same as rings of bright earth (http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=140216). Also a triggered ability is not an activated ability (activated abilities have an activation cost (http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Activated_ability)), so your psycosis crawler doesn't really work there, i mean unless you use one of the many duplicate creature things like rite of replication (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=195630), vesuvan shapeshifter (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=109765) or phyrexian metamorph (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214375).

Also i think most people tend to play EDH because its not just a rush to combo off by turn 3 and instead you get to, you know, play the game. I know i only play edh or draft these days. If by the time you start using odric to abuse battalion, you've probably won anyway so i dont really see what it gets you (ps: darien (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=122049)for life).