Magic: The Gathering C/D

either that*

i am giving up on modern.

Bleh, there goes all the effort I sunk into Pod. I get the rationale and even agree with it, but it's annoying to have spent all that time and money. At least I still have Affinity

i don't mind modern as banlist-curated format though it does suck when your deck is the one that gets hit. this felt like a long time coming though, imo melira pod was the best deck in the format for the full 3 years since the punishing fire ban

i would expect GBx midrange decks to be the most popular choice again going forward. i think these decks mostly suck without bloodbraid elf and you should pick up one of the ramp decks if you want a lot of free wins (valakut, tron, amulet)

anyone have prerelease tales to share?

i had 3 of the rare dragons in my pool so i played them all and crushed people

despite the format being really heavy on the small set (i think it was like 4.5 packs of the new set and 1.5 of khans?) it seemed to play well

played 2 prereleases. the first was Temur, which I struggled with as I had way too many 5 drops slowing down my curve, ended up 2-2-1. The second, at a different store, went Jeskai and had a much more consistent deck, went 3-0 without dropping a game along the way. Really loved the manifest auras, especially hexproof flyer. Had a fun blowout where my opponent tried to Arcbond me and wipe my board, so I sacked my targeted creature in response for Collateral Damage.

Overall, I pulled 4 fetchlands, so I guess they are being fairly generous with them at least in the initial print run. Otherwise, didn't pick up much that was notable besides a copy of the new phoenix.

also saw a guy open an alternative art Ugin in one of those little Ugin packs. Didn't even realize these existed.

another one I really like is Frost Walker. Thinking of jamming a couple copies in my temur deck instead of Elvish Mystic.

That "when (x) becomes targeted, sacrifice" mechanic seems so terrible at first but it's really not much of a downside on a creature like this is it?

if it can get 1 or 2 hits in, it's great, if it can trade with a creature or eat a piece of removal, it's still pretty good. I love playing creatures like this or Heir of the Wilds because opponents often are loathe to spend a card on them when Knuckleblade, Ashcloud Phoenix, and Stormbreath Dragon are waiting in the wings, so you get to sneak in some free damage.

one funny thing about that ability is that Bile Blight can only kill one at a time, Drown in Sorrow on the other hand...

not being able to put runemarks on it is a pretty big downside imo

there are definitely many more random things that could target it in limited than in standard

yeah but how many of those would kill it anyway?

like, that was my main argument for playing the Phantom dudes in limited, just cuz cards that target creatures but don't kill them generally aren't so good. though I do concede they have a number of random ability dudes these days

it dies to abilities too, so for example, I lost a Frost Walker to a dashed Goblin Heelcutter attack

ah yeah, that's the sort of thing I'm thinking of

bannings really contributed to 'format diversity' huh?

pretty depressing. there already is a format for junk midrange siege rhino battles.

I wonder how much of it is 'top players are really risk-averse'?

im sure thats part of it - probably a reason for the high % of burn decks in the field too tbh

its hard to argue that the bannings dindt just kill two decks w/o adding anything new to the format though

yep. more than that no more t1 delver means no real tempo presence...and control builds, which weren't even prominent before the ban, also lost their only toy they've been given since sphinx's rev. so we're left with midrange vs burn vs combo?

that said I have been testing grixis delver for a bit recently and it actually feels pretty strong. I think it's too soon to totally discount the deck, like delve is a powerful mechanic and ur cantripy decks have the deepest graveyards.

i think 'top players are really risk-averse' is an important point here, i've long been of the opinion that GBx rock decks are bad for most players because they have absolutely no upside, they are always going to be 45-50% vs any field and you need to rely on being a lot better (or luckier) than the field to get your equity up high enough to win an event.

but on the flipside you're never going to lose to a hate card which seems to outweigh any negatives for a large amount of players

i want to get into this again but like w/ cards not on a computer

is there a pt somewhere in this or another thread where re-entry into the game is discussed
btw i havent played since ~1995

idk if we've discussed that in here

best way is obviously if you have a friend who's played more recently and can field yr questions about new cards/sets/rules etc. i started playing again because i had a roommate who played and i started going to the game store with him and got hooked again.

if you want to play in actual events, like at your local game shop or w/e, booster draft is probably the best format for new/re-entering players since you don't need to own any cards beforehand and if you do it regularly you'll build up a collection over time just from the cards you draft. plus its just the most fun way to play the game in general if you can afford to drop the $10-15 entry per draft.

if you just want to play casual w/ friends they make a bunch of prefab products that are good for that, like there's duel decks which are a set of 2 themed preconstructed decks that are designed to play against each other, and there's commander which is a multiplayer format w/ 100-card decks and some special rules, etc etc.

if booster draft interests you, it would be worthwhile getting familiarized with the most recent sets, Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged. The full sets can be pulled up on Wizard's Gatherer tool:

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Default.aspx

If you are looking to brush up on some of basics of the game, Reid Duke has a fantastic set of articles that are worth checking out:

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/columns/level-one-archive

deej you live in ny right?

you should just come w/ me to some draft

yeah theres kindof a bewildering number of ways to play physical magic cards so everyone is otm you should find someone you know irl to play with to get a sense of what options are like. there are some bars here that do casual magic nights - sealed and draft - and if you can find someone to take you to something like that its a great reintroduction to the game

absolutely - I think the social aspect of the game is the best thing about it, if you're playing with cool people that is

I'm cool

Iatee you have my email right?

Yeah the social part is 100% why I want to do it ... Any excuse to avoid a computer tbh

yeah I'll email you

http://www.idealistrevolution.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/1413.jpg

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/267785#online

I've been playing variations of this list post-tc and honestly it feels almost as strong as cruise-delver. got 2nd in a local gpt today (had opp on 1 life both games in the finals :(

really think the deck is secretly t1. you don't have the insane acceleration you got from cruise, but you also get a decent share of t2 tasigurs and actually have an answer for a resolved tarmogoyf. also can play discard spells and other fun stuff in the sb.

that looks pretty sweet, i might try it. haven't really played a delver deck since standard delver but i enjoy them in theory

i guess dragons previews start next week? that is pretty crazy. maybe counter-intuitive but i actually have really enjoyed FKK draft despite not being very good at it. maybe because of, it has been interesting to me to try to figure out what was going on. the weird thing is i have usually felt like i drafted good decks but the results too often haven't backed that up. although i am in a bit of a resurgence right now, which is also one reason i will be a little sad to see it move on, but i had a real gross run in the middle there. and this was after khans went super well for me, i was basically playing for free thru that format.

agreed - Fate Reforged seems to add a lot of real interesting stuff to an already fun draft format, it does way more than Born of the Gods did for Theros

previews started today btw, theyre already up

rebound returns as the UW keyword. good call imo, one of the best ones from recent years
UB keyword is exploit (when this creature enters the battlefield you may sacrifice a creature) + some bonus effect if you do
GR is formidable which is just like ferocious except 8 total power instead of 4 power on one creature. kinda lame

morph variant is just morphs that get a +1/+1 counter when unmorphed, also less exciting than i was hoping for

+1/+1 counters for everyone

xp

yeah as weird as it sounds, the deck kinda plays like jund! you one for one their best things and get incremental value from your power cards (snap, live tasigur, pyro). unlike previous modern delver builds it isn't totally dependent on an aggro start, in fact it keeps up really well in any attrition game cause you're drawing cuts instead of vapor snags and tasigur instead of swiftspear. the bad matchups are basically jund's bad matchups for the same reason (murderous cut is bad against lingering souls) / you do a lot of damage to yourself so you can get burned out.

nu-sidisi seems quite broken

http://media.wizards.com/2015/dftyuvbd564776rvf/en_hbwolfCGV6.png

kinda surprising she's not mythic

right?

idk i feel like its probably a worse card than the one from dark ascension? i guess it beats all the other b/g big stuff creatures.

wonder if we can get to a place were the legends artifact from journey (or born?) is playable...

http://media.wizards.com/2015/dftyuvbd564776rvf/en_Q21slVTGSa.png

seems like a really nice control piece mostly for the first two abilities. then i guess any kind of mirror becomes a race to the ultimate.

This is going to be pretty nuts. Rebounding Treasure Cruise or Dig is basically game over.

so I'm going to the SCG Standard Open in Dallas the weekend after next. This is my first large, competitive event. What should my expectations be? Any particular tips?

scg opens are pretty chill in my experience, just have fun & always call a judge if you're unsure about something since the rules get a bit stricter at competitive REL

i like carrying a small notebook and taking quick notes about my opponents decks, how i won/lost each game, etc so that i have a sort of record of the tournament afterwards & it helps me remember better what i did well and poorly so that i can learn for next time

also always pack in healthy food & water for big events, if you do well you'll be there for 8+ hours and there's generally no breaks unless you finish a round fast

i think at competitive rel you're required to use pen + paper to keep track of your (and your ops) life totals. dont check your phone during matches.

cider v otm about the snacks - at the gps ive been too eating is kind of rushed and options are usually limited and unhealthy. having an apple and some trail mix is really vital.

its kind of corny but i always try to bring some music that i can zone out to btw matches. its nice to talk to friends and check in on them but its also fraught and kind of exhausting? theres a high possibility that i take magic too seriously tho