Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

bv310 · Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:07 am

I've seen a good number of Burning-Tree in to Volcanic Strength. Always makes me chuckle a bit to see what would otherwise be a Limited card used in Constructed.

bv310 · Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:07 pm

In post 1940, Fate wrote:am I stupid for thinking these cards have untapped potential in Standard?:

Wild Defiance
Boros Reckoner
Pit Fight
Wolfir Silvirheart
Hounds of Griselbrand
Strangleroot Geists n shit

For a more mid rangey G/R deck.

Pit fight a bound Silvirheart and a Reckoner? 11 damage to the face.

Pillar of flame my Geist? Nope hes a 5/3 before that happens.

Has survival from spears and shit against aggro, has huge guys and fighting potential against control (also domri rade against control)

Y/N?

Dude, Reckoners are $25 a piece right now. I would not exactly call that "untapped potential". Also, Silverheart+Hound actually is pretty great.

bv310 · Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:30 am

In post 1995, Fate wrote:Sorry, I had some coffee this morning.

Let me rephrase that.

Shea, do you play those colors in Standard (when you play standard)? Would you ever be interested in skrimming against me on MWS or something because that's a tough match-up for me.

ILL EVEN CALL YOU SENSEI

Dude, I'll run WUR against you on MWS/OCTGN if you want to test.

bv310 · Sun Mar 03, 2013 10:24 am

I'm also up to test my Bant Control list, and my Infinite Reflection combo list. Also OmniDoor.

bv310 · Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:29 pm

Or me, seeing as I'm Canadian, rather than some smelly American getting their greasy mitts all over it.

bv310 · Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:29 am

In post 2030, Thestatusquo wrote:Hey, while yo guys are arguing about the logistics, you could read the link I just posted to the actual already established logistics of the recently established program that spawned these rumors.

Or not. Arguing is fun, I guess.

I'm just mad that I can't get my promo Pilgrim because I don't live in the US.

bv310 · Sat Mar 16, 2013 2:02 pm

In support of Chamber, I point at Baneslayer Angel pre- and post-M11 (i think) reprint

bv310 · Sun Mar 17, 2013 3:44 pm

In post 2049, Nuwen wrote:sup

Built & played my first Standard deck this morning. Fate took 1st place in the tournament, I took 5th. Definitely going to fill out this deck and play it at more events:
http://www.mtgdeckbuilder.net/Decks/ViewDeck/537529

Congrats!

Also, I'd heavily consider cutting the two Soul Ransom for Augurs or Dreadbores.

EDIT: If you want a random steal effect/answer to Thrags, I'd run Evil Twin instead. Getting a copy of Thrag, plus the ability to murder a series of Thrags

bv310 · Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:03 pm

The downside of Soul Ransom is that the Opponent gets the choice. They get to decide whether you holding their creature is worth more than two cards in their hand. Ultimately, that kind of effect hurts you because they will always choose what hurts them the least.

bv310 · Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:04 pm

I play EDH for fun (and to play with my goddamned Fable of Wolf and Owl). Standard and Modern are for being vaguely competitive. That's my style, anyway. Everyone's play will be different.

bv310 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:10 pm

4-1 at Standard FNM tonight for the 4th or 5th week running. Still fighting to make my deck work , but it's getting more consistent at killing.

bv310 · Sat Mar 23, 2013 9:55 am

Friends Block has a name:

Theros
Born of the Gods
Journey into Nyx

Looks to be Greco-Roman themed

bv310 · Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:19 pm

So in today's episode of "I wish I was a judge", had a guy at FNM "accidentally" return all his enchantment to his hand when I Merciless Eviction'd. When I asked him what he ws doing, he shuffled the cards around in his hand, then said he couldn't remember what was in play and wht wasn't. I told as much as I remembered, but I didn't think to write down the game state prior to wiping. Coincidentally, on his turn he was able to hit two enchantment-based removal spells to swing for game.

Same guy has had a few people complain about shady plays before, but the store owner doesn't want to call him out unnecessarily. We're watching him, but you can't really do much without picking a fight that might be frivolous.

bv310 · Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:26 am

In post 2169, Thestatusquo wrote:DQ. Cheating.

It's really that simple.

Also, what the hell format were you playing?

Format: Standard. He's running a T2 version of Boggles, I'm running a pseudo-version of Omnidoor.

Also, no judge around last night. We've only got the one, and it was his birthday.

bv310 · Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:40 pm

4-1 tonight, placed 4th with Omniscience. Verdant Haven over Ranger's Path has paid off a lot in my Aggro matchups. Managed a win against a friend in Round 3 by ult-ing Vraska with Temporal Mastery in hand.

bv310 · Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:15 pm

Spoiler season snuck up on me.

Something to think about for future deck building: http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/t ... ean_EN.jpg

bv310 · Mon Apr 08, 2013 9:55 am

In post 2281, Thestatusquo wrote:All the new split cards seem fine, if not amazing.

The new planeswalker is very strong. Good defensive ability. +1 is kinda meh, and the ultimate is very strong, although one rarely ultimates planeswalkers.

The only thing about Ral is that his +1 ability doesn't really work as defensive. They still get to untap their permanent next turn.

bv310 · Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:27 am

In post 2296, creampuffeater wrote:Laughing at people in the Rumor mill on MTGS is by far the best thing to do during spoiler season.

It's the best.

bv310 · Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:43 pm

In post 2311, Sudo_Nym wrote:Well, you can build a decent competitive deck for like 10 tix. If you actually want to win events, though, you're looking at 100+, same as any other format. It's slightly better, now that Storm is out, but MonoU and Cloudpost are still around.

I fully expect them to try and nerf cloudpost with the DGM B&R Update. They've started tinkering now, and Delver/Post put up like 60% of the meta right now, and shove out a thousand other archetypes.

bv310 · Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:02 pm

I've found MTGOCardSelling and the ManaBot sets to be pretty good price-wise, especially on older stuff.

bv310 · Sat Apr 13, 2013 5:26 pm

In post 2380, Thestatusquo wrote:Playing this at the SCG open on sunday. Wish me luck.

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
3 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
4 Stifle
1 Sylvan Library
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland

I'll be watching the stream as much as possible. Good luck!

bv310 · Sun Apr 14, 2013 5:48 pm

Played a PTQ in Winnipeg this weekend. Took 5c Ramp-Control (formerly Omni-Door, but I cut Omni from the list in favour of more stuff to deal with my bad matchups). I prepared my main and side for a ton of Junk Rites and Esper Control matchups, based purely on all the competitive data I could find. I ended up losing a little bit of my speed in favour of resiliency, but I was comfortable doing so since it made everything but aggro a lot better. Played RG Aggro/Naya Blitz 4 out of 7 rounds. Won my other 3 rounds 2-0, lost all my Blitz matchups 1-2. I think if I'd had a bit more sleep, or not over-prepared for an archetype that wasn't even there, I could have won at least 2 more rounds. Either way, I'm happy I went, and 2 of our locals made top 8 (of 28 of us who drove the 8 hours. We made up 30% of the field)

bv310 · Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:31 pm

It was LSV, and was then echoed on SCG, if I remember. It was right when I started trying to metagame Standard that those articles came out and Delver really took off.

bv310 · Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:34 pm

Wait, what? Are you trying to discount the opinion of someone who literally gets

paid to play MTG competitively?

bv310 · Sun Apr 21, 2013 7:54 am

I wouldn't say that straight aggro is completely unviable, just that the meta right now is very anti-aggro (owing mostly to the success of aggro right when GTC came out. Watch when DGM comes out, aggro will be big. It always is after a set release until the meta shifts to accomodate it)

bv310 · Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:31 am

In post 2431, xRECKONERx wrote:I took 2nd at FNM with RDW playing against an Unexpected Results deck, GW Humans, Gruul Midrange, and Junk Rites. It's viable.

And I've taken 5-0 for weeks playing OmniDoor. FNM Viable =/= Competitive successful

bv310 · Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:54 pm

In post 2442, Fate wrote:so all that hype that drove up that banned jace's price...

Magic market is crashing nao

Nah, Jace is creeping upwards because every B&R is going to have random "OMG Jace might get unbanned!" talk. His price didn't deflate at Gatecrash's B&R, it won't now.

bv310 · Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:05 am

So what's everyone here looking to play for Prerelease? I'm thinking I'm going to go Golgari, just for the sheer power and fun of Scavenge.

bv310 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:22 am

So if any of you pull a Varolz at prerelease, especially a foil, PM me and we'll work something out. I'm making a new EDH deck with him as general

bv310 · Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:50 am

In post 2482, InflatablePie wrote:6x DGM sealed is gonna be such a clusterfuck >_>

Sealed for this set should be 2-2-2, I think. AVR was different, since it was a large set.

bv310 · Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:35 pm

So I went Golgari, paired with Orzhov. Solid pool, had a Jarad, a High Priest of Penance, and some other stuff. Went 3-2 overall, and lost my last round (3-1 before) because I bricked off White mana two games in a row. Best part of my pool was a lot of extort-defender creatures.

Favourite part of the day: Setting up a board state where I could extort for 4 each cast, with the mana to do it. Honourable mention goes to the round I won with the 4-mana Torturer guy + Stab Wound over 6 turns.

bv310 · Sun Apr 28, 2013 5:07 pm

So if anyone wants to trade Ready // Willing, let me know. I want to do Junk Rock or something, and a set of Ready and Willing seems like a good place to start.

bv310 · Mon Apr 29, 2013 5:41 am

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rock-27-04-13-1/

Thoughts? I'm looking to move away from OmniDoor for a bit, just for a change of scenery.

bv310 · Mon Apr 29, 2013 11:52 am

It's a 2-part thing,
1) I prefer Ajani's ability to randomly end games with his -3,
and 2) I'm not really a fan of Lili in this build. I feel like she'll just be a slightly more expensive Edict effect, since her + ability is all downside for me.

(there's also the fact that I kinda forgot Lili existed, and I don't want to drop $100 on her right now)

bv310 · Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:19 pm

So completely ignoring this dumbfuckery (and it truly is quite a stupid argument), who here is up to do some Modern testing with me? I want to try my Tron idea out before actually committing money to the list.

bv310 · Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:12 am

Well yeah, but in WeeFiends, your only goal is to blitz them 20 in one shot using a Kiln Fiend. Strobe is one of the weakest pieces to the deck, since it doesn't cantrip or give your guy evasion.

bv310 · Tue Apr 30, 2013 12:33 pm

How committed are you to the 2-colour approach? Because if the answer is anything less than "completely", a W splash for Boros Charm allows you to not run Armed, and gives you access to Azorius Charm/Oblivion Ring/Faith's Shield

bv310 · Tue Apr 30, 2013 1:13 pm

I think it's so he can feasibly cast the Dangerous side of Armed // Dangerous, but I honestly don't think it's worth it.

bv310 · Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:06 pm

In the next couple weeks, shocks are going to bottom out for prices as people keep drafting DGM. Now's a good time to pick them up when they're cheap.

bv310 · Thu May 02, 2013 4:58 am

I think the implied value for buying DGM comes in the fact that ~10% of the time, you end up getting an $8 land in addition to your regularly scheduled rare. Opening DGM for value comes in finding how many of that ~10% ended up in your box.

bv310 · Thu May 02, 2013 10:16 am

In post 2558, Shanba wrote:I could be wrong, but arent all the cards from a new set initially more expensive?

Mmmhmm. As the set gets drafted more and more packs get opened, prices will fall a lot. Boros Reckoner was $25 for a while, same with Angel of Serenity.

bv310 · Fri May 03, 2013 5:10 pm

So I really enjoyed draft tonight. I think DGM/GTC/RTR might overtake M13 as my favourite draft format.

bv310 · Mon May 06, 2013 11:38 am

SLIVERS ARE IN M14: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=508858

THAT IS ALL. CARRY ON WITH YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ARGUMENTS.

bv310 · Mon May 06, 2013 2:08 pm

I'm sure Slivers are actually going to be obnoxious in draft, but fuck it, they're a cool interesting tribe that isn't Elves.

bv310 · Tue May 07, 2013 12:46 pm

I have anither 2 weeks of drafting before a standard FNM here. I'm not sure if I'm happy about drafting or disappointed that I don't get to try Junk out before game day.

bv310 · Tue May 07, 2013 2:12 pm

Your face should die.

bv310 · Tue May 07, 2013 4:00 pm

$80, yeah right. Try $110.

bv310 · Fri May 10, 2013 7:23 am

I don't get to do drafts anymore because of this job, so good luck shea!

bv310 · Thu May 16, 2013 5:42 pm

I have an Advent I'm willing to trade. Any chance you have Deathrite Shamans kicking about? (I'll add other stuff to make it a fair deal)

bv310 · Fri May 17, 2013 5:28 pm

In post 2654, xRECKONERx wrote:Could've sworn I had an entire post here of the deck I'm taking tomorrow. @BV: Yeah, I have two Deathrites, actually.

MAINBOARD4 Arbor Elf
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Silverblade Paladin
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
3 Thundermaw Hellkite

4 Advent of the Wurm
3 Boros Charm
4 Mizzium Mortars

1 Clifftop Retreat
3 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Sacred Foundtry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden

SIDEBOARD3 Ray of Revelation
3 Purify the Grave
3 Selesnya Charm
4 Unflinching Courage
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Any last second tips before I go to states tomorrow would be awesome.

Last second tips? Does "kick some ass" count? If not, then don't feel weird for using any of the modes on Boros Charm. I've seen a bunch of people who wait so long for a relevant use for the indestructible that they miss the potential one-shot of the double strike mode.

bv310 · Sat May 18, 2013 2:01 pm

In post 2674, TheButtonmen wrote:Congrats Fate!

^

bv310 · Mon May 20, 2013 9:32 am

In post 2677, Fate wrote:my hand was four lands. the fifth one I played was my 9th land that game. I could've won the turn the tusk came down if 2/4 the land I drew had been literally anything else in my deck except cacklers. after the second tusk and black mana it was over

happens. should've had him g1 but couldn't get a 3rd land for lethal. also didnt win a single die roll all day (
which just shows aggro really isn't just a coinflip deck for all you twofaced haters that are congratulating me now
) gonna practice shuffling more heh

No one hates you, that's never been the point of the arguments in here. We like you, we just think your deck choice was a questionable archetype choice given the current meta. Clearly you did well with it, and you deserve the congratulations you're getting, you putz.

bv310 · Mon May 20, 2013 10:17 am

In post 2684, PeregrineV wrote:EDH Help needed

found a casual group at work, and we played EDH recently (been playing 2-headed giant).

Spoiler: Political Puppets
I played the Policial Puppets pre-made deck straight from the box (switched out Switcheroo for some blue card draw) and played against

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
Isperia, Supreme Judge

and

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight .

Goat guy came out early, Gisela not until about turn 9. Teysa played artifact lockdown, and was bounced off the field.
Gisela came out, was exiled.

Gave away 2-3 cards, so was drawing 3-4 a turn.

Creature armies where big, until Insurrection came out. Used it to kill off tow players entirely.

Leaving me with Isperia. Who had flyers who couldn't attack me, and I had defenders.

He got ahold of some milling and was dragging me down 4 cards a turn (goat gone by now).

then Nin, the Pain Artist came out and I was able to mill him 19, 22, 18, 24 cards and barely pull out the win with 12 cards left myself.

Fun game. But still want to make Animar deck.

So would like help making Animar Deck.

What EDH staples do I need?

Cards I want to play for sure (unless there is a reason not too?)

Spoiler: Animar Deck (In Progress)

Dude, don't ditch Zedruu yet. Just pick up cards like: Words of War, Illusions of Grandeur, Deliusions of Grandeur, Thought Lash, Opalescence, Pyromancer's Swath, Steel Golem, Transcendence (my favourite), or even a Sunforger package.

bv310 · Mon May 20, 2013 12:50 pm

Each of them is a card that you can donate to your opponent.

Words of War: When you're on your upkeep and have donated 4-5 permanents elsewhere, you convert the draws into shocks. 5 triggers on upkeep = 10 damage to someone's face or 5 Shocks to point at creatures, and you don't miss your own land drops.

Illusions/Delusions - Donate to your opponent, laugh while they try to pay the cumulative upkeep costs or take 10/20 damage to the face

Thought Lash - same deal. They either exile cards slowly, or they instantly deck themselves and die on that upkeep. Extra points are awarded if you can hit them with a Mindslaver to force them not to pay the Upkeep trigger

Pyromancer's Swath - Unless they're playing heavy burn or have a bunch of card draw, you've stripped their hand, and left them with a shitty effect to try and get value from

Steel Golem - Now they can't cast creature spells until they find either a sac outlet or a kill spell

Transcendence - In EDH, where you start at 40, this is usually a one-shot kill. Land the Transcendence, donate it to them, they lose unless they find a "destroy target enchantment" spell.

Celestial Dawn (one i forgot) - Due to the rules of EDH, if they don't have a White commander, they can't produce white mana. This locks every non-white player out of casting anything other than pure colourless spells.

bv310 · Tue May 21, 2013 5:50 am

So you play around it. No one is maindecking Ratchet Bombs, and post-board you have Pithing Needle if you're that worried.

bv310 · Tue May 21, 2013 8:17 am

I wish there were Modern tourneys near me (or were you playing on MODO?)

bv310 · Thu May 23, 2013 5:23 am

In post 2716, chamber wrote:Outside of the 3 months of geist being an asshole its a pretty neutral change.

^. Other than GST getting a bit better and Thrun/Sigarda getting even sillier in Modern, I can't imagine this is going to break anything horribly.

That said, Mox Opals can now be used as Lotus Petals if you have more than one, so that's got some breaking potential.

bv310 · Thu May 23, 2013 6:02 am

In post 2718, xRECKONERx wrote:NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Now I won't get to ever make my favorite play again:
- Fate casts Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
- I'm at 5 life
- "HAHA CAN'T REMOVE IT, GG"
- Play Clone

Oh well, this is PROBABLY a good thing for the game, honestly.

You still win through this play. He has to swing with Ruric into your Ruric, and they trade in combat.

bv310 · Thu May 23, 2013 7:32 am

God I wish I could go to FNMs. I would totally play that. Looks hella fun.

bv310 · Wed May 29, 2013 6:19 pm

I've been tooling around on something similar for a while, but I ended up cutting Blue for Black. Black gets Abrupt Decay and Putrefy, and I replaced GST with Loxodon Smiter. It ends up being a radically different deck to play, but it reaches similar goals.

bv310 · Thu May 30, 2013 6:12 am

Playing my only FNM for the foreseeable future tomorrow. It's Modern, so should I bring UW Tron or GW Death and Taxes? I just got my set of Kitchen Finks, but I like T4 Elesh Norn more.

bv310 · Thu May 30, 2013 8:43 am

That's fair. List is currently something like this:

4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Gavony Township
9 Plains
4 AEther Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Serra Avenger
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Flickerwisp
2 Silverblade Paladin
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Restoration Angel
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Sideboard:
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Angel of Jubilation
2 Krosan Grip
2 Blade Splicer
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Mask of Memory
2 Stony Silence

bv310 · Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:37 am

I really like that Junk Aristocrats deck Brad Nelson played.

I'm also of the impression that Olivia herself is still very good in the current format, but I really don't think traditional Jund is the place for her.

bv310 · Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:21 pm

In post 2759, chamber wrote:It seems you are still doomed to never cube.

Been meaning to ask you, how large should a cube be? I kinda want to do a Rise of the Eldrazi cube, but I have no idea what size I should be looking for. Would 3xCommon, 2xUncommon, 1xRare/Mythic be a reasonable size? It'd be about 483 cards without basics. Would I just trim 33 total cards to make it an even 450?

bv310 · Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:13 am

If you need to deal with Voice, use Turn//Burn instead. RUG Ramp seems like it'll be my next pet deck if Voice keeps climbing.

bv310 · Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:51 am

In post 2809, Fate wrote:suggesting a 5 mana fuse card as an answer over pillar to the R/g player is al sorts of wrong I don't even know where to begin

I was suggesting that Turn/Burn is a good answer to voice, not that you should put it in your current deck. (although if Voice is giving you as much trouble as it seems, you may want to adapt slightly)

bv310 · Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:57 pm

So in the interest of being contrarian, I'm going to attempt a version of Infect in Pauper. I'm basing it off of the old list, and I also want test a Crop Rotation package for utility lands.

19 Forest
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blight Mamba
4 Ichorclaw Myr
2 Rot Wolf
3 Llanowar Augur

4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Groundswell
4 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Phytoburst
3 Predator's Strike
2 Gitaxian Probe

Also, the Crop Rotation would be -3 Phytoburst, -1 Predator's Strike, +4 Crop Rotation, and then this land package
16 Forest
1 Soaring Seacliff
1 Teetering Peaks
1 Sejiri Steppe

bv310 · Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:46 pm

Preliminary test results are positive. Played 6 games in Just For Fun, then 4 in Tourney Practice. Won a total of 7, 3 in TP, 4 in JfF. So far, FissurePost was an easy matchup when they didn't nutdraw me, and mono-B Rats would have been close if he didn't keep committing removal to my Blight Mambas when I had mana open.

bv310 · Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:16 pm

In post 2821, chamber wrote:
In post 2820, xRECKONERx wrote:Tend to enjoy the constraints of Block Constructed more than Standard since I think tighter guidelines forces more creativity, and Pauper is just cheap.
If you want to see a variant format survive locally, you are probably going to have to own it. Find a store that has a night thats not already occupied, declare it pauper night yourself, advertise on local facebook magic groups etc, have a bunch of decks for people to use if they show up, to get them interested in the format. Keep this up an hope the community around it grows.

One of the Thunder Bay shops is starting up a Block Wars Constructed League. When you sign up, you choose a Block, then your deck has to follow that format, banlist and all.

If I was there, chances are high that I'd be playing either Onslaught-block Slide, or Alara-block Sovereigns of Lost Alara.

bv310 · Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:45 am

In post 2830, Thestatusquo wrote:I assume its unsanctioned and with proxies?

Nope, no proxies, and it's being sanctioned as a "casual" event.

bv310 · Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:06 am

I've found the proper WotC streams to be consistently mediocre. Rich Hagon and co. aren't the best casters, but they're definitely acceptable, bordering on good. SCG's streams tend to be quite hit-or-miss. This weekend, having Cedric Phillips and Riki Hayashi casting was awesome, last weekend's whoever-the-fuck-that-was were

terrible

.

bv310 · Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:16 am

Also fun, someone 4-0'd a Modern Daily using Travis Woo's Green Millions deck: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/63686

bv310 · Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:53 pm

Welcome to M14 Spoiler Season.

bv310 · Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:59 pm

I just don't think she fits into current Red archetypes. Post-rotation, it's possible she sees play with Phoenix/Young Pyro, but for now I don't think she has a place in Standard.

bv310 · Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:30 pm

Also, WTB any copies of this guy for my Modern Fish: http://mythicspoiler.com/m14/cards/tidebindermage.jpg

bv310 · Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:11 am

In post 2907, xRECKONERx wrote:that card made me physically ill when i read it

Meh, it dies to basically everything. I just want it for Vial shenanigoats in Fish. Shuts down a bunch of good cards for a turn or two.

bv310 · Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:35 pm

I like it. Basically looks like a solid Esper aggro list. My only concern would be the two Duskmantles. The feel like too much of a risk with Blood Barons/Obzedat. Did you try Scrivener instead?

bv310 · Fri Jul 05, 2013 7:51 am

Reck, run Yeva instead of Trostani.

bv310 · Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:42 am

In post 3004, chamber wrote:
In post 3003, Natirasha wrote:I mean, I hate this format too, but to say that blinking Thrags is the reason the format sucks is kind of blatantly false. Don't get me wrong, Restoration Angel was a huge mistake and should never have been printed, but the real problems with the format are easy mana, too much life gain, and bad removal.
Those may be your issues with the format. I've liked plenty of format with easy mana. And life gain isn't that bad too. My issue with this format, like most recent formats, is too many high impact cards. I think it was finkle who said something like 'when I used to play magic it was a game of attrition, and now its a game of haymakers' And I feel like that is my biggest issue with current magic.

QFT. I really liked INN-DKA-AVR-M13-RTR Standard. That was a lot of weird fringe decks being really diverse. Now it's just not fun.

bv310 · Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:36 pm

In post 3012, Sudo_Nym wrote:I want an entire set where every card is One with Nothing.

That is an oddly esoteric statement.

bv310 · Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:19 am

I love Rise draft.

bv310 · Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:07 am

Some kind of prerelease gimmick like the Guild packs were, most likely

bv310 · Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:57 pm

That's fantastic news for me and my stockpile of Ethereal Armors.

bv310 · Sun Jul 21, 2013 5:41 am

I think it just ends up being a less consistent combo deck than ANT/SneakShow/OmniTell, and slower than something like TinFins. I watched a pretty decent looking Tezzeret list the other week.

bv310 · Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:11 am

In post 3073, kdowns wrote:
In post 3072, Nuwen wrote:card is obv bad, it dies to removal
What Card?

Every card that's not Sigarda

bv310 · Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:52 am

Meh, go for the throat and do Deadeye+Acidic Slime.

bv310 · Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:43 am

Yeah, it's been dead since the first Modern announcement, but now it's just official.

bv310 · Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:34 am

Pfft, get on my cheese-bag level:

22 Shadowborn Apostle
1 Shadowborn Demon
1 Griselbrand
3 Xathrid Necromancer
1 Reaper from the Abyss

4 Tragic Slip
3 Sign in Blood
3 Immortal Servitude

22 Swamp

SB: 2 Shrivel
SB: 2 Door of Destinies
SB: 4 Duress
SB: 4 Lifebane Zombie
SB: 3 Elixir of Immortality

bv310 · Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:06 am

Yeah, I can appreciate that.

bv310 · Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:17 am

In post 3144, xRECKONERx wrote:Here's the UB mill control list I'm trying to run:

KINDA SORTA INCIDENTAL MILL CONTROL(Creatures - 5)
2x Aetherling
3x Augur of Bolas

(Instants - 23)
1x Crypt Incursion
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Devour Flesh
2x Doom Blade
2x Essence Scatter
3x Far // Away
3x Opportunity
2x Psychic Strike
2x Syncopate
4x Think Twice
2x Warped Physique

(Sorcery - 4)
2x Barter in Blood
2x Mutilate

(Planeswalker - 2)
1x Jace, Memory Adept
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

(Land - 26)
4x Watery Grave
4x Drowned Catacomb
3x Nephalia Drownyard
7x Island
8x Swamp

I've been testing this all night and haven't lost yet. It's pretty solid overall -- the mill is incidental and winds up being a wincon in those long midrange/late games. For the sideboard, I'm thinking...

SIDEBOARD2x Pithing Needle
2x Notion Thief
1x Curse of Death's Hold
1x Crypt Incursion
1x Dispel
2x Negate
1x Jace, Memory Adept
2x Appetite for Brains
2x Duress

My thought process on the sideboard goes like this:
Pithing Needle shuts down obnoxious Planeswalkers + cards that Aristocrats needs to functions
Notion Thief just surprise shits on anything that runs Sphinx's Revelation
Curse of Death's Hold can be a perma-wipe against some aggro decks + Aristocrats
Crypt Incursion comes in when I'm facing any deck that I'll be dumping creatures into a graveyard... or they'll do it themselves like with Aristocrats... or it's good to have vs Reanimator
Dispel is a good one of for control matchups
Negate obv comes in against decks that run any scary noncreature spells -- everything from Jund to Bant Pants to Control
The extra Jace comes in against control matchups for the 0 effect (and in some rare cases free card draw while leaving counterspell/Drownyard mana up)
Appetite for Brains comes in against Jund's fatties
Duress comes in against control or even sometimes Jund (planeswalkers + all the removal)[/area]

This deck seems to do well in testing. I end up having exactly what I want in my hand, and the Drownyards always leave me with options. I think Junk can blow up this deck post-board with the Slimes/Sin Collector/Resto post-board but it's not something I'm seriously worried about... and I have been incredibly impressed with Opportunity here. I'm willing to give up the lifegain from Sphinx's in exchange for a much more consistent mana base plus the access to all the black removal.

2x AEtherling tends to make me see it not too often but always when I want it. The three Augurs have a whopping 27 spells they can grab. I'm wondering if Syncopate is worth running since Psychic Strike just straight up counters things without the unreliable X cost AND gives me more mill. Far // Away is obv a huge card that I can't wait to play because it's a five mana blowout (and even a 2-3 mana blowout in the right situations). I have yet to miracle the 1-of Cyclonic Rift, but I'd imagine there are probably situations where it's awesome. It sucks not having access to Supreme Verdict or Terminus or Planar Cleansing by foregoing white but I honestly think it more than makes up for that fact in the black removal it can run PLUS the fact that the mana base is way more consistent PLUS the fact that it can run jace/Tamiyo without being greedy

Also wondering about Mutilate vs Barter in Blood... like, running 2 & 2 has been fine so far but I can't actually see any advantage that one has over the other considering they're the same CMC, both sorcery speed, and both are going for the same effect. I suppose the only real difference is that sometimes in rare cases you don't have the swamps to make Mutilate effective (there are 12 swamps out of 26 lands) but then in some rare cases Barter in Blood doesn't make them sacrifice what you want it to

Something to look at, this list went 3-1 recently: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/69758

bv310 · Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:26 am

So I may now be driving to Barrie on the weekend to play a Modern GPT, with the top prize being 4 foil Ravnica Bobs, and then other good stuff all the way down. I intend to run GW Hate-Vial, and I'd like some critiques on the list:

4 Dryad Militant
4 AEther Vial
4 Path to Exile
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Voice of Resurgence
1 Spellskite
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Angel of Jubilation

4 Ghost Quarter
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Gavony Township
9 Plains

Sideboard
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Spellskite
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Tectonic Edge

bv310 · Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:30 pm

In post 3239, Thestatusquo wrote:I dont think that will happen. Also, I'm pretty sure BV has mono U tron online. Maybe if you asked him pretty please he'd let you borrow it.

Actually, Sisters is my current online list, but I will happily lend it out.

bv310 · Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:42 pm

Seems like something I could be coerced in to. I know a guy who'd likely flip me that Taiga for a Scrubland if I asked him nicely.

bv310 · Fri Aug 16, 2013 8:15 am

/in. Will playtest after work tonight, and all weekend.

bv310 · Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:52 pm

Dude, you lose SO much versatility by cutting the flickers. Being able to win your way back into the game with a single Saruli on board is nuts.

bv310 · Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:53 pm

Also, in the best case scenario, Jailbreaker is a 4/4 for 4 with no evasion or trample. You can do better.

bv310 · Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:34 pm

From Rosewater's article today. Some fun stuff to check out when you're bored:

Here are some things you can expect from Theros:

A 3/3 with three abilities that uses fate counters
Multiple cards with the word "nongorgon"
A high-profile cycle of legendary permanents that are not creatures or lands
A rare card with five words of rules text in which one of the words is "planeswalker"
An artifact creature that appears to be a big horse made out of wood
A 5/5 giant snake that can be cast for Green ManaGreen Mana
A multicolor Minotaur lord
A card that could have been in Modern Masters
A giant that brings fire to humans
A creature with a saboteur ability (it has an effect if the creature deals combat damage to an opponent) which is one of the Power Nine

Here are a few names of cards you will see:

Anger of the Gods
Chained to the Rocks
Lost in a Labyrinth
Rescue from the Underworld
Underworld Cereberus
Witch's Eye

Finally, here are some of the creatures you're going to see (note that not all of these are creature types and is only a partial list):

Catoblepas
Chimera
Cyclops
Harpy
Hippocamp
Hundred-Handed One
Kraken
Nymph (Alseid, Dryad, Lampad, Naiad, and Oread)
Pegasus
Satyr
Siren
Triton

bv310 · Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:20 am

In post 3364, Thestatusquo wrote:Does anyone else think that "the god cards" sounds way too close to yugioh for comfort?

Yes, but I have faith that they won't fuck it up.

bv310 · Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:35 am

That's the rumoured Blue God

bv310 · Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:41 pm

In post 3417, Thestatusquo wrote:you should almost never buy sealed product. thats for damn sure.

I usually buy a fatpack per set, but that's as much to get dice/lands/a box as it is to get sealed product.

bv310 · Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:50 pm

In all fairness, if you're new-ish and not looking for the greatest EV right away, 4-3-2-2s will help you lose less money overall, while still getting to draft.

bv310 · Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:16 am

I could see that.

bv310 · Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:16 pm

In post 3503, Sudo_Nym wrote:Honestly, I think it's a strictly worse Drownyard. Milling is only really good in the control matchup, and this takes up a non-land spot. In the control matchup, it'll be really nice; in other matchups, it's going to be really mediocre. I'm going to want a UB control deck, but this seems like SB material, not mainboard.

Drownyard was uncounterable, and 95% of decks didn't pack any hate for it. Ghost Quarter was basically useless otherwise.

bv310 · Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:56 pm

I will stake any one card from my collection that Ashiok never goes above $15 once the initial preorder hype dies down. Once it leaves standard, it won't be any more valuable than Gideon, Champion of Justice. If you're playing him for the Creature steal, you rely on 2 things: 1) Your opponent having a creature worth stealing that doesn't cost too much, and 2) You rely on the deck that is running valuable creatures not beating Ashiok to death before you can steal. I don't see it being worth the slots you'd have to dedicate.

bv310 · Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:21 pm

I LIKE THEM BUT HOLY HELL THEY'RE SLOW

bv310 · Sat Sep 07, 2013 6:26 am

Wooo Magic Celebration day. Opened a Bonescythe Sliver, foil Steelform, and a Serra Angel, then got a Scourge of Valkas in my prize. Also won a Heroes v Monsters in a door prize.

Apparently the LGS here is only a sort off greedy/cheap dick during the summer.

bv310 · Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:13 am

You really have this whole persecution-complex thing down, eh?

bv310 · Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:25 am

In post 3532, Fate wrote:I'm sorry, its just when literally this entire thread turned into "me vs. them" its kinda hard not too.

Especially when all those people conveniently "shut up" and disappeared when facts and results occurred that showed their stances to be completely wrong, instead of humbly making concessions or anything.

So when they come back makign MORE stances and saying "well In the past ive always been more right than wrong" it kinda sets me off.

Looking back Bv, I realize that you had only said Aggro might not be good ni the current meta, not that it was an unviable archetype, so I've got no issues there.

Fair enough. I still stand by what I said, though I heavily underestimated Ghor-Clan Rampager, while still way over-estimating Wrecking Ogre.

Hey Reck, if you're interested in regular Pauper, that list works pretty well there too: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/73571

bv310 · Sat Sep 07, 2013 6:51 pm

Foil Posts are awesome. I love that card, even though I've never found somewhere to run it successfully.

bv310 · Sun Sep 08, 2013 1:19 pm

No, because Domri is actually useful. This guy comes down, and NEEDS an extra turn to do anything to advance You towards winning. Every other 3-mana Walker, for reference:
http://magiccards.info/scans/en/m14/1.jpg
http://magiccards.info/scans/en/gtc/156.jpg
http://magiccards.info/scans/en/m11/58.jpg
http://magiccards.info/scans/en/isd/105.jpg

Notice how every one of them, on the turn they come down, can do something to help you get closer to winning the game. Ajani is probably the least effective, since he needs you to have a creature, but his -2 can close a game on-the-spot in the right circumstances. Another thing to keep in mind is that each of these walkers has an ultimate that will likely win you the game if it resolves. Ajani makes a shitload of Cats, Domri makes every creature game-ending, Liliana takes out a big chunk of their board, and Jace mills a full third of their deck, or gives you 20 extra Snapcaster targets.

The biggest problem with Ashiok, to me, is that your deck doesn't matter. No matter what you have in your deck, you don't get to make Ashiok's +2 any better.

bv310 · Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:18 pm

Answer this for me, Fate: Why is Ashiok worth the slots in a maindeck? What does this card do that makes me win the game? Milling 3 is not a win condition. Possibly stealing a creature if you're lucky is not a win condition. Stripping their hand is not a win condition. Having to stick your planeswalker for 3 or 4 turns just to get a random creature from their deck is just not worth it. Having to dedicate slots in your deck for a theoretical creature that'll never be something YOU want is not good.

bv310 · Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:22 pm

This is better than Ashiok is every single way.

bv310 · Sun Sep 15, 2013 10:52 pm

In post 3649, Sudo_Nym wrote:At Pauper World Headquarters:
"Mono-U Delver is dominating the format! It has amazing matchups against everything! What shall we do?"
"Ban Infect, Storm, and Cloudpost! That should resolve the issue."

At worst, mono-U Delver is only 15% of the field. Cloudpost, on the other hand, was in 27% of all decks, with over 20% being in Fissure or UR Post.

Source: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/stats/Pauper

bv310 · Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:54 pm

In post 3658, InflatablePie wrote:
In post 3655, kdowns wrote:Creatures:
4x Boros Reckoner

4x Ash Zealot

4x Burning-Tree Emissary

4x Firefist Striker
4x Rakdos Cackler

4x Legion Loyalist

4x Firedrinker Satyr

3x Purophos, God of the Forge

4x Young Pyromancer
1x Ogre Battledriver/Pyrewild Shaman

Spells:
4x Magma Jet
4x Lightning Strike
4x Shock

3x Awaken the Ancient

Land:

22x

18x
Mountain

2x Mutavault

Sideboard:

3x Electrickery
3x Weapon Surge

3x Skullcrack

3x

4x
Burning Earth

3x Madcap Skills

2x Peak Eruption (or +1 Mortars/+1 Skullcrack)
2x Mizzium Mortars
2x Legion Loyalist
2x Act of Treason

I have personal doubts as to whether you'll need 4 Burning Earth. I feel like Farseek leaving means that the 4c mana bases can't function very well

bv310 · Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:08 am

2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Spellheart Chimera
2 Turn // Burn
3 Syncopate
4 Magma Jet
3 Lightning Strike
4 Izzet Charm
3 Dissolve
3 Steam Augury
3 Ral Zarek
4 Steam Vents
2 Mutavault
8 Mountain
8 Island
SB: 3 Counterflux
SB: 2 Hammer of Purphoros
SB: 4 Anger of the Gods
SB: 1 Turn // Burn

This is basically what I'm looking at for Theros-Standard UR. I really want to use at least one God effectively, and I think Purphoros is the God for me

bv310 · Fri Sep 20, 2013 2:31 pm

In post 3673, Shanba wrote:If anyone cares about pauper, here's a decklist:
2 Benevolent Bodyguard
4 Avacyn's pilgrim
4 Lanowar Elves
2 Bonesplitters
4 Journey to nowhere
4 Devoted Druid
4 Midnight Guard
4 Presence of Gond
4 Sigil of the Nayan Gods
3 Guardian of the guildpact
2 Lanowar Empath
1 Totem Guide Hartebeest
4 Selesnya Guildgate
6 Plains
12 Forests

The deck makes infinite 1/1 tokens with the central combo of midnight guard+presence of gond or alternately, devoted druid sigil of the nayan gods and presence of gond. I like having the alternate combo in the deck because its pretty low cost to run the sigils, which cycle when you dont need them. They also advance the alternate plan of just beating down with dudes which wins a surprising number of games (guardian of the guildpact with bonesplitters and sigils). When theros comes out, the most difficult part of this deck (finding the missing combo piece, particularly the presence - there are many creature searchers) becomes way easier with the new green grisly salvage thing (commune with the gods). Playing white and green gives you access to sweet cards like standard bearer, qasali pridemage and scattershot archer in the board. Veteran armorer is for electrickery decks.

It's possible some of the beatdown slots should already be dedicated to more search cards. I like the 8 mana elves into turn 2 midnight guard, though - that feels really powerful.

I love you Shanba. I am also going to test this out sometime. Looks half-decent in the maelstrom of the new meta.

bv310 · Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:14 am

Went 3-1-1 for 4th at my prerel here in the UK. Got 4 packs as prizes. Chose blue for my pack, opened 0 playable blue cards. My deck ended up BGW, and played perfectly.

bv310 · Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:39 am

So I really enjoyed Heroic today. Lots of combat tricks in this set. Almost wonder if I can't do something about it in Standard.

bv310 · Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:07 pm

In post 3691, xRECKONERx wrote:titan strength is a blowout 9/10 times

so is the U trick that taps shit, that with heroic triggers is NUTS

I really loved Gods Willing and Cutthroat Maneuver. Staunch-Hearted Hero was a fucking all-star too.

bv310 · Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:49 am

Hell, I had an Amulet, an Elk, and a Unicorn-of-Paradise and I still wasn't greedy enough to go to 4 colours.

bv310 · Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:16 am

So this is what I'm looking at right now:

4 Omenspeaker
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
3 Tidebinder Mage
4 Master of Waves
4 Frostburn Weird
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Nightveil Specter

4 Jace, Architect of Thought

2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Syncopate
2 Mizzium Mortars

4 Steam Vents
4 Izzet Guildgate
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Mountain
9 Island

SB: 4 Counterflux
SB: 2 Mizzium Mortars
SB: 3 Voyage's End
SB: 2 Prognostic Sphinx

Thoughts? Notable omissions?

bv310 · Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:05 am

In post 3734, chamber wrote:Purphoros looks so out of place in that list to me.

Have you tested at all? I'd worry that you can't tidebinder on turn 2 to curve in to thessa because there wont be a guy to lock down.

Tidebinder doesn't need a target on ETB. It's still a waste, but usually I'd rather be curving Frostburn into Thassa, or Nightveil in to Thassa anyway. Purphoros is more for the laughs than anything, but just dicking about with this, he's been surprisingly good. It does feel a little win-more at times, but stapling a Shock to every creature in the deck is really good for closing out games late. Jace counts for Devotion. That's his biggest advantage over Augury or Ral Zarek. They wrath with Thassa/Jace in play, my Master still counts 4 U for Elemental tokens.

My other ideas have been splashing Green for Master Biomancer/Zegana/Plasm Capture/Zameck Guildmage/the UG Temple, or White for Sphinx's Revelation/Azorius Charm/Detention Sphere. I'm leaning on the G, just to be different, and because I really like Zameck/Biomancer with Master of Waves against spot removal.

Possible UG list:

4 Omenspeaker
3 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master Biomancer
4 Master of Waves
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Nightveil Specter
3 Zameck Guildmage

4 Jace, Architect of Thought

2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Syncopate

3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
9 Island
4 Breeding Pool
4 Temple of Mystery
3 Forest

SB: 3 Voyage's End
SB: 2 Prognostic Sphinx
SB: 3 Tidebinder Mage
SB: 3 Simic Charm
SB: 2 Prime Speaker Zegana

bv310 · Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:31 am

In post 3740, Fate wrote:you'd have to make the forests overgrown tombs at the least, and -1 shrine +1 tomb

The mana base for Nightveil has never had a problem in my testing. Overgrown's likely not a bad choice, but I don't see it being necessary, and I'd prefer not having more shocklands than are necessary. I actually cut a Forest for an Island earlier today, and that seemed to help a fair bit.

bv310 · Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:20 pm

In post 3771, Sudo_Nym wrote:To change tracks completely, here's a deck I'm really liking for Modern:

12 Swamp
3 Dakmor Salvage
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Mutavault

3 Deathrite Shaman

4 Thoughtseize
4 Raven's Crime
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Duress
3 Dismember
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 The Rack
4 Shrieking Affliction

SB
4 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pithing Needle
4 Leyline of the Void

8raaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I want to play it so badly, but Lilis are too expensive for my broke ass.

bv310 · Sun Sep 29, 2013 11:41 am

Doubtful anyone does, but would any of you have Mox Opals you're not super attached to? I sold my playset a while back when I needed a quick $200, but now I want to make Affinity in Modern/Legacy

bv310 · Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:25 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecutory_delusion

bv310 · Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:06 am

In post 3803, PeregrineV wrote:Can people help me out and tell me why this card is so good?

It's a 2/1 for 1 that can make itself bigger to be semi-relevant later in the game.

bv310 · Mon Sep 30, 2013 5:51 pm

I was actually brainstorming something similar to that deck, but in more of a WUR Beatdown form. I really like Ajani and Boros Reckoner, so any excuse to play both of them in the same deck is way tempting.

bv310 · Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:42 am

So I and an anonymous partner (it's Shanba) are looking for a 3rd to play in a Team Pauper tournament. I can supply from a bunch of decks for said person to use, but if you have your own that's fine too. PM me or hit me up on scumchat if you're interested.

Decks I can supply:

Affinity
GW Slivers
BW Extort/Edge of the Divinity
NivixCombo
(theoretically) RW Wellspring

bv310 · Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:03 am

In post 3845, xRECKONERx wrote:I'll play!

Beautiful! What deck would you like to try out? I need to sign us up now, but we can change decks between now and the 21st.

We also need a team name

bv310 · Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:07 am

Also also, we could use an alternate. You likely won't need to play, but if needed, you could play any of the decks.

bv310 · Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:24 am

What do you play in Standard right now? (Also, get on scumchat. Me and the frog are scheming)

bv310 · Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:36 pm

http://www.castingcommons.com/jstl-teams/

Guess who's the "Team to watch" among known Pauper grinders?

bv310 · Sun Oct 27, 2013 9:52 pm

Yep, that's how that works. Also how the Modern Nivmagus deck works, where you're casting and exiling Bolts pointed at him to gain the last bits of damage to win.

bv310 · Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:00 pm

In post 3874, Fate wrote:
In post 3871, bv310 wrote:Yep, that's how that works. Also how the Modern Nivmagus deck works, where you're casting and exiling Bolts pointed at him to gain the last bits of damage to win.
don't lightning bolts do more damage than 2 +1/+1 counters >___>

Serious: That deck sometimes runs either Tainted Strike or Assault Strobe to make the one-shot kill easier. In both of those cases, exiling the bolt is more relevant.

Non-Serious: It's called having

style

bv310 · Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:20 am

Anyone who's remotely interested in watching thousands of dollars get played against each other, the Vintage Championships stream is live: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/a ... 13/welcome

bv310 · Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:34 pm

So Wizards just nuked MTGO. http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/a ... eature/273

Tl;dr: They're shutting down all Premier Events, Daily Events, and things like the MOCS. Drafts are still going to go, as well as queues and 8-mans. They should have updates between now and December on how they're proceeding. If you've ever wanted to play MTGO, this is a great time to scoop up staples at rock-bottom prices, since I doubt they'll keep the events down for long, especially with Hearthstone's Open Beta starting up soon.

bv310 · Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:23 am

I want this to finally be the kick in the ass Wizards needs to fix MTGO. Their replacement events are okay, even if they're not quite as good. Pauper and Momir 8-Mans are excellent.

bv310 · Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:53 am

So I drafted this today: http://i.imgur.com/ca5w82j.png

bv310 · Wed Dec 25, 2013 3:27 am

I'm a fan of Kiora, but coming in at 2 is just sooooooooooo squishy. She dies to Lightning Strike, dang it. I'm still brewing either RUG, BUG, or Bant Superfriends with her/Xenagos/Jace, her/Jace/Vraska/Liliana (maybe Ashiok?) or her/Jace/Elspeth/Gideon

bv310 · Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:26 am

I'm probably going to pick up a set if she preorders at a reasonable price. I've been playing around with Reid Duke's Prime Speaker list that was running Prophet of Kruphix, and that UG Flash list that won a PTQ a few weeks back. I feel like she fits in those pretty nicely.

bv310 · Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:19 pm

I'm slooooooooooooowly grinding my way to Legacy MUD. If any of you ever come in to Ancient Tombs/Wastelands/City of Traitors, I'm calling dibs.

bv310 · Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:07 pm

That's still pretty crummy

bv310 · Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:03 am

This was an odd conversation. Also, I think I like the new frames. I'll have to see the other colours/rarities before I make up my mind.

bv310 · Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:54 pm

We tend to throw weird ideas at each other to see what sticks. It's always a good time.

bv310 · Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:41 pm

In post 4025, PeregrineV wrote:
In post 4024, hasdgfas wrote:
In post 4021, PeregrineV wrote:Don't get the point of counterfeiting when you can print proxies of any card.
Um. Some people play in tournaments.
If you mean some people play in professional tournaments, then if it truly becomes a concern then there will be an inspection of each of and every card at each tournament.

And if someone wins a tournament with counterfeit cards, does that reduce the strength of their play?

Just saying, do you want to be the best because your the best, or you have the best cards money can buy?

(counterfeiting is bad.)

So you're just talking out of your ass then? Do you know how many players play in an average tournament?

bv310 · Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:30 am

Yeah, when was the last chess tournament you saw that topped 1800 people?

bv310 · Sat Jan 18, 2014 7:57 am

Before responding, could you clarify how you mean that?

bv310 · Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:07 pm

That's my second or third most favourite Island in the game, right behind the Vincent Proce bowl one

and this Jung Park one from Innistrad

Innistrad is still my favourite set ever for land artworks. I found a pack of the lands you get from a fat pack when I was home that were AVR, so now I only need 21 of each of the lands from Innistrad proper to never have to look at other basic lands ever again.

bv310 · Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:32 am

I think not having a 1-off Aetherling is a bit of a mistake, but I like the list otherwise.

bv310 · Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:17 am

The prereleases at the nearest shop were all sold out, so I've been playing on MTGO instead. Cube drafts are the best.

bv310 · Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:28 am

Bitterblossom's got a fair amount of answers, especially Abrupt Decay. Either way, I picked up a set of Blossoms for about $100 right after the ban came out, so I'm happy. Gonna run me some BW Tokens.

bv310 · Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:08 am

In post 4109, Natirasha wrote:Has Bitterblossom ever been unbanned in modern?

Nupe. It was on the banlist from the format's birth.

bv310 · Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:30 am

I think (and subsequently confirmed on facebook) that it's based off an ancient Roman myth by Ovid. Pretty fucking cool, and it's also nice to see Erebos being not-disney-evil.

bv310 · Sat Feb 08, 2014 1:04 am

In post 4124, InflatablePie wrote:GR Tron runs Relic of Progenitus, some decks will run Scooze, and there's tons of other stuff like Rest in Peace/Tormod's Crypt/Nihil Spellbomb to stop graveyard shenanigans.

GY Strategies in general will be a bit more popular for a bit, I bet.

Also I should play Modern. Still dunno what deck I want to run; GR Tron looks fun but is pricey, MonoU Tron seems okay, Ninja Bear Delver looks fun and gives me some blue staples if I move out of the deck, Birthing Pod is my favorite card but fetches are expensive... I saw an Esper Gifts list on CFB that looks kinda fun, and then there's this deck... *shrug*

I know Modern relatively well. What type of deck do you enjoy the most? Combo/Control/Aggro/Tempo/something between these? What about Standard decks, what was your favourite recently?

@Reck, U-Tron is wicked fun, but be aware that it's a HUGE grindfest. Mindslaver lock doesn't technically kill them right away, so if they're a dick then you have to manually deck them/beat them to death with a Wurmcoil.

bv310 · Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:07 am

You know what I'd love in the format? Mothafukkin' Wasteland.

bv310 · Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:34 am

In post 4127, xRECKONERx wrote:I basically want to play something that isn't incredibly prone to error (since I make errors a lot) but isn't a mindless "turn things sideways and win". The cheaper, the better.

I think you'd really enjoy DredgeVine: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/95305 or maybe Gifts Control: http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/95510 both of which have gotten much better with Dickbag Shaman out of the format

bv310 · Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:27 am

In post 4148, xRECKONERx wrote:mmm... 3x Lilly wasn't what I had in mind by cheap/affordable

Yeah, but you only have to buy them once, and they're never going to fall in price, short of a reprint (which will drop it by $20 or so, temporarily) or some other disgustingly good 3-drop black walker that pushes Lily out. Buy them one at a time over the next few weeks, it makes it easier to deal with.

bv310 · Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:08 am

In post 4150, vezokpiraka wrote:
In post 4127, xRECKONERx wrote:I basically want to play something that isn't incredibly prone to error (since I make errors a lot) but isn't a mindless "turn things sideways and win". The cheaper, the better.
For legacy? Or for standard?

Some fun decks for legacy: Dragonstorm, enchantments.
Reanimator is also cool, but I think that costs a bit more than these.

He's talking Modern. Also, Dragonstorm isn't really viable, and Enchantress is SUPER complicated.

bv310 · Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:40 am

He's trying to play semi-competitive. Dragonstorm and Wheel of Sun and Moon auto-lose to 90% of Legacy. Also, he's not interested in playing Legacy, so this is a bit of a dumb conversation to have.

bv310 · Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:36 am

This is probably going to seem offensive, but how long has it been since you've actually looked at Modern?

Yes, Robots is a deck, but it hasn't run Tempered Steel in ages. Plus, the requisite set of Mox Opals probably puts the deck out of his budget.

bv310 · Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:26 pm

The Genesis Wave list? That list seems really fun, and I'm slowly putting it together on MTGO to play Modern Dailies.

bv310 · Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:56 am

Fair enough, but I'll tell you right now Tempered Steel hasn't placed consistently in Robots since March/April 2012. http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/95533 is a much more common list. Either way, it's still incredibly good in the current meta.

bv310 · Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:13 am

Fair enough, that deck's a weird one.

bv310 · Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:49 am

Yeah, I'm really reluctant to buy in to anything before at least this weekend's Pro Tour, if not longer. Still no idea of where Faeries and Zoo are going to land, and who/what's going to get crowded out for it. I like the idea of the TinFist lists, but I can't justify the hilariously high pricetag on Griselbees and Em for a deck that might just fold to Spellstutter Sprite.

bv310 · Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:25 am

I play WU Heroic in Block Con, and it's only viable in there because it's got a half-decent matchup with GR Monsters because of Aqueous Form. I would definitely never play it in a format that has Supreme Verdict.

bv310 · Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:59 am

I think I would have maindecked Nylea's Presence over Sip of Hemlock, but I like the deck with the Red splash. Xenagod is insanely strong

bv310 · Sat Mar 01, 2014 2:11 pm

I'm sad that I can't go to Richmond. I want to play either mono-B devotion or Boggles.

bv310 · Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:20 am

In post 4199, Thestatusquo wrote:Modern is probably better than vintage but not worse than legacy. If they just reprinted force of will and brainstorm they could remove everything on the modern ban list right now and the format would be awesome.

Then it would just be Legacy without the weirder combo and aggro decks. Modern's pretty good as it is, though I wish they'd quit fucking tinkering with it and lighten up on the banlist. I want to play ThopterSword, damn it.

bv310 · Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:32 am

Some Limited Formats are fun, others have Pack Rat in them.

bv310 · Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:14 am

Triple-Innistrad is my favourite draft format I've played ever. Rise is close, but Innistrad just has more fun strategies. I even built a Draft Cube for Innistrad to keep the fun going.

bv310 · Sat Mar 08, 2014 2:17 pm

Any idea what he ended up running?

bv310 · Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:55 pm

Dude, Day 1's still running, but he's dropped according to the standings

bv310 · Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:26 pm

They won't. Ajani will trade his soul for Elspeth's with Athreos or something. The first ebook set up a pretty strong case for Daxos to do something similar, too.

bv310 · Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:22 am

She's not bad, but I don't see a home for her in current Standard

bv310 · Sat Apr 19, 2014 1:57 am

I think she'd be decent in a BG Rock shell or something. Doomwake Giant at 5cmc is probably relevant, and BG has some really nice solid cards to back her up/turn on devotion.

bv310 · Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:19 pm

Legacy is expensive as hell, and different staples keep spiking. Wastelands went from $50 to $110 a few weeks ago, and Sneak Attacks went from $25 to $80 last week. I'm no longer looking to buy into MUD, it's just too expensive for me.

bv310 · Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:06 pm

True, but I've had to come back to my original thought process on Legacy. If I can't afford to buy in except over a really long period of time, how many people are even going to bother vs how many people are going to just buy in to Modern instead? Legacy is going to die if they can't keep prices down, simply because the format becomes inaccessible for a huge swath of players. Or it'll half-die, prices will plummet, and then enjoy a renaissance because suddenly it's viable again.

bv310 · Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:54 am

I've been interested in Legacy for about a year, and there's been about a dozen key cards that have spiked hugely. I'm expecting Force of Wills to go to $120 next. SCG's listing Tundras at $250 now, and I would be shocked if the rest of the duals don't follow suit pretty quickly

bv310 · Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:21 am

If they rose and fell, then it would be logical, but there's so much price memory locked up in a lot of these that once they spike once, they never come back down. Look at something like Dark Depths. The card was $25 for a long time. Then at the start of January a guy took a Depths deck to the top 8 of an SCG open. Depths spiked to $60, then fell back to a mid of $50, and won't drop below that point again.

bv310 · Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:05 pm

The sad part is, I really really love Legacy. MUD is an incredibly fun experience, and being able to play 12 rounds and never see the same deck twice is hugely appealing. It sucks that so many potential players simply can't do it because of the stupid cost.

bv310 · Mon May 05, 2014 11:18 pm

Modern does weird things to card prices. Hatebears is doing well, and runs 3-4 Canopies (or used to when I played it)

bv310 · Mon May 19, 2014 6:56 am

In post 4262, xRECKONERx wrote:man this new set looks just as boring as Theros

aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm done

There's been literally nothing released besides a name and a few pieces of art. At least wait until you see mechanics before you abandon ship. (also, play Modern not Standard if it actually does suck. Modern's better anyway)

bv310 · Mon May 19, 2014 9:50 am

Modern's not that bad if you don't invest in Fetches right now, but fair enough.

bv310 · Mon May 19, 2014 2:18 pm

You don't want to know man.

http://magiccards.info/query?q=o%3Asacr ... rd&s=cname

Arid Mesa - $45
Marsh Flats - $43
Misty Rainforest - $76
Scalding Tarn - $79
Verdant Catacombs - $51

and that's fallen by a bit since last time I checked. Prior to GP Minneapolis a few weeks ago, Scalding Tarns were $100 each

bv310 · Mon May 19, 2014 4:57 pm

Yeah, it was about 2 weeks ago. The next one's Boston-Worcester in the end of July.

bv310 · Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:11 pm

Speaking of GP Boston, I'm preparing well in advance for the deck I'm going to play. Right now I either want to go BW Tokens: http://deckstats.net/deck-4253725-730da ... b84d9.html or Merfolk: http://deckstats.net/deck-4253721-821bb ... e33fd.html

Both offer an aggro deck with control elements to clear big threats out, and resiliency against WUR and co. through either Aether Vial or the innate resiliency of Tokens. What do you guys think would be the better choice?

bv310 · Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:58 am

Okay, your list is a lot nicer than mine. The only card I don't like is Cursecatcher, but that's only because I have been constantly disappointed with that card from either side of the table. In a proper environment, that's probably the better card. I think I like splitting 3 Cursecatcher/2 Cosi's Trickster a bit more, but I'll have to test either way and see which one's better for me.

This is some excellent reading. Thank you!

bv310 · Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:54 am

Damn it, you sold me. Now I have to find a fourth one somewhere (preferably less than $10

)

bv310 · Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:43 am

Hey Nat, have you tried Exhaustion in the Sideboard?

bv310 · Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:37 am

If I had known how my summer would have landed, I would have planned for Chicago instead of Boston. Now it's looking like I won't get to do either. Still happy with my choice of Fish though. Went 5-0 at FNM last week (though I should have lost to the Jund match. He just played it horribly)

bv310 · Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:26 pm

If anyone's going to be at GP Boston tomorrow, come hit me up. I'll be wearing my mafiascum shirt, and probably swearing loudly at my deck.

bv310 · Mon Aug 04, 2014 5:20 am

Mutavault and TS are some of the strongest cards in Modern, let alone Standard. Ditching those from the list costs you a free creature, and the ability to shut down your opponents immediate plans. You lose a fair bit.

bv310 · Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:06 pm

In post 4331, Thestatusquo wrote:I'd probably play with you in Detroit. Of the ones you listed Detroit, Indy and Cleveland are all on my list.

If you need a 3rd, I know a very nice Canadian fellow who may be looking for a team. Detroit's close enough to tempt me, especially for the Griselbrand promo as icing.

bv310 · Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:01 am

Since I didn't actually post it before, I went 5-4 at GP Boston. X-2 made Day 2, so I was out at Round 8. Merfolk with White Sideboard was surprisingly good, but I dropped two rounds to Burn, 1 to a mirror, and 1 to Storm. Would have killed for Leyline of Sanctity and Echoing Truth in my sideboard every round.

Played 2 Win-a-boxes on Sunday, between watching Featured Matches, using a friend's Affinity deck. Ensoul Artifact was insanely good. Lost the first one to Storm, and the second one to a slightly different Storm. Stony Silence hurts when your board is a Mox Opal, 2 Darksteel Citadels, 2 Cranial Platings, and an unequipped Ornithopter

bv310 · Mon Aug 11, 2014 12:19 pm

Yep, had two out of the board. Problem was, I couldn't beat Eidolon of the Great Revel on T2 every game.

bv310 · Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:59 am

That list looks legitimately fun. I'm psyched for the winter, when I'm not out working at summer camp every week and can play competitive stuff again.

bv310 · Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:01 am

Nah, all 5 have collector's numbers for this set. They spoiled it at the PAX party

bv310 · Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:56 pm

It'll probably bring down Fetch prices, but cause basically every other Modern card to rise

bv310 · Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:56 am

I've already decided my big goal for the new set is to cast Sarkhan as many times as humanly possible. I really like his card design, and I've gotten into a weird Red kick lately.