MTG thread

Simic is awesome.

I don't have too many cards yet. I mostly play on xbox lately as it's usually just me playing now. =( Oh, and I suck, but it's still fun.

Got sucked back in to MTGO over the holidays. Updated my deck for Modern and have been having a blast. It's great the meta has expanded quite a bit to allow more than 4 or 5 competitive decks. From what I can see there are about 10 or so different ones that are viable (in Modern at least), some of which are quite cheap to build. It's great not seeing a 'goyf or set of Urza lands every game you play.
Next up is updating my Zombies deck for Standard which should be pretty cheap to do as welll. This block certainly seems like a good time to be jumping in to Magic (for a change).

The last 2 guild mechanics and no you cannot Extort more then 1 B/W per spell to do it more then once.

Extort: Finally Carnival of Souls has its infinite combo.

But, you can do it multiple times per permanent with extort, I'm guessing.. So, if you have 3 creatures with extort, and cast a spell, you could do extort 3 times for that spell. Right?

enzie_sl said:

Right?

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Correct .

Gatecrash looks interesting. I really enjoy MtG, but for some reason there are no money (aka SCG or TCGPlayer) tournaments in Seattle area in the near future. Also, the west coast GPs coming up are both modern as are all the PTQs. I'm fine with modern, just not sure how much I care about standard with no relevant standard tournies to look forward to in this part of the country.

I pawned some of my old cards a few weeks ago to fuel a new addiction (board games) and of course, any time I touch my cards I get the itch to play again so now I'm thinking about building an FNM-capable deck since the place I board game at also does FNM. Anyone have any suggestions for budget Standard decks? No clue what the meta/competition is like by me but I'd be in it mostly just for the fun anyway. G/W Wild Defiance looks kind of fun, also been a fan of mono black and RTR looks to have some neat stuff there.

Sphinx's Revelation, fuck that card right in the ass! Lost so many games due to that card.

wantonsoup_sl said:

Sphinx's Revelation, fuck that card right in the ass! Lost so many games due to that card.

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Love that card. I'm a pretty big fan of Standard these days. Multiple decent decks and nothing seems overwhelmingly good the way it sometimes does.

wantonsoup_sl said:

Sphinx's Revelation, fuck that card right in the ass! Lost so many games due to that card.

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Agreed ,,, But a "Miracle" Bonfire Pisses Me Off even more ...

ood_sl said:

Agreed ,,, But a "Miracle" Bonfire Pisses Me Off even more ...

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I've been using reverberates in my side board, have got a lot more rage from that then the miracle bonfire.

Miracle is such a shit mechanic.

Don't think it's been said yet, so I'll go ahead and do it; Magic from the last couple of years, makes magic from 3rd edition through like, Invasion block, mostly useles. The power inflation on the new sets is so fucking retarded. It's like EQ through Velious, versus EQ today with the item stats. I understand that in tournaments it doesn't much matter, but trying to play with friends who have the new cards is futile and a bit disappointing.

That's not the case at all. Not really. In sets from 3rd to Invasion Block you have things like quality hand destruction, mass land destruction (and 3 mana land destruction spells), other forms of mana denial, tutors, super good card draw, better counterspells, and the kid of acceleration they just don't make anymore. All of the denial strategies of the past have been completely and utterly eliminated from Standard along with any and all high tier combo decks. It is true that the quality of creatures is insanely high but that's because that's how you are supposed to play the game now. You swing with dudes. Really, really good dudes with abilities and synergy and all kinds of come into play effects and shit. You do not make it you strategy to prevent your opponent from playing the game through blowing up all their lands or never letting them untap, never letting them cast a relevant spell, wrecking their hand, or piecing together your combo turn 4.

A couple of Powerfuluncommonsthat will see plenty of play :

I would say magic is currently more balanced and fair than it has ever been. There are a huge variety of playable decks in standard, as well as modern with new lists placing highly at almost every major event. The last couple years have certainly not been that way however. JTMS, Caw Blade, what have you being pretty shitty for the game. I don't follow Legacy much but I know that a few archetypes have started to make a resurgence there as well with the addition of a few new cards.

Miracle isn't a shitty mechanic per se. Some cards certainly go a little far however, Bonfire being one of them. Even the best miracle decks can play like shit as the game still boils down to how lucky you get at the highest levels of play. Topdecking a bonefire at the right time will win you games. So will hundreds of other cards in every single format. The variety on display in decklists making top 32 and even top 8 in a lot of big tourneys is very impressive right now.

You can take a pauper deck and win a PTQ. I suggest buying a few lottery tickets if you do because you would have some small fucking odss but Magic will always be a game of chance. The best decks just limit the odds very well. I've beat a $1400 Legacy deck with a $50 standard vamp deck best of three (1st set of Zen had released 2 months prior). We played for a pack and I pulled a Baneslayer out of it. I'd rather be lucky than good any time I sit down at a table to play.

ood_sl said:

A couple of Powerfuluncommonsthat will see plenty of play :

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Skullcrack has some nice applications with all the random lifegain that's happening and red decks aren't even terrible already in Standard. Will also be pretty solid in Modern probably. Fairly narrow in limited though. Not so sure about Gridlock in constructed, but it will certainly be a nice effect in limited, often ending games immediately as a falter type effect.

They've printed effects like Gridlock before and they are usually houses in limited that show up here and there in Standard in sideboards. Skullcrack is a great deal like Flames of the Bloodhand and Flames saw some play so it seems safe to say that Skullcrack will see some play too.

Skullcrack will certainly be an interesting consideration for sideboard. It's essentially an 8 life swing if responding to a Thragtusk or Sphinx's Revelation. Oddly though, Red is REALLY good at using all of its available mana every turn for value right now, so it becomes more awkward to play than it might have been in red decks of the past. Most red decks are looking at curving up through Hellriders and Thundermaws at the turns in which the big life chunks tend to materialize.

And as to power, creep as a long-time control and combo player, the power creep is mainly just getting Creatures up to being as powerful as spells used to be. It's a redistribution of power.

I have yet to encounter a creature that has anywhere near the effect on deckbuilding and play that say, Stasis, had.