Magic the Gathering!

[Daemoniac]

I actually managed to put together a reasonably well rounded infect deck

EDIT: By my 80 card fluff standards that is anyway... It's actually just over 60 cards

 

[PyramidSmasher]

About to build a new deck... I dont play in tournaments so no restrictions.

Was thinking about doing a black deck built around lim-dul. Anyone heard of a good necromancer deck?

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

I've only been able to find 30 or so cards, most of them are blue or black and I've only found three lands...

What would you recommend along the lines of a theme/starter deck?

 

[PyramidSmasher]

I've only been able to find 30 or so cards, most of them are blue or black and I've only found three lands...

What would you recommend along the lines of a theme/starter deck?

Alot of the intro decks arent very good IMO... I think there was an Elf theme deck in Lorwyn called Elvish Predation. Elf decks are very easy to modify without fucking up and elves are fun to play (my main deck is elves even to this day).

 

[Daemoniac]

^ Some of the newer theme decks are a great place to start IMO, the M10 decks were great, same with Alara Reborn and the New Phyrexia ones (again, IMO )

 

[powerofze]

I have a few decks going right now. By format ...

Standard-
Vampires
Elfs
All in Red
Grixis Control
Pyromancer Ascension

Legacy-
Merfolk

EDH-
Damia, Sage of Stone


Don't care for extended and don't ant to budget for Vintage.

Just wondering, what kind of deck did you build around Damia?

 

[Xaios]

Just wondering, what kind of deck did you build around Damia?

Damia - The only imaginable General with which One With Nothing might not be completely useless.

 

[PyramidSmasher]

^ Some of the newer theme decks are a great place to start IMO, the M10 decks were great, same with Alara Reborn and the New Phyrexia ones (again, IMO )

The only new Phyrexia deck I got was the one with Victory's Herald (Red/White), and I didnt see what their goal was at all (I thought red/white was supposed to be burn with some protection) so I dismantled it instantly. There's that one infect one but infect is so gay

Damia - The only imaginable General with which One With Nothing might not be completely useless.

You could seriously control your deck with this combo. You'd thin through the cards you dont need super fast.

 

[Vostre Roy]

Jumping in the thread, but I haven't bought any cards in the past... 5-6 years. Almost sold all of them but one. I used to have a Graveyard Deck, a Zombie Deck and an Elves Deck, but I sold them all.

The only deck remaining is a Dragon Deck, mostly built around the Kilnmouth Dragons (I played mostly through the Unslaught block and the one after, don't remember his name). About 80 cards, I got some original series Lightning Dragons, Two-Headed Dragons, erm... well quite a bunch, if someone is interested (not necesserelly to buy it, but out of curiosity), I can list them, I got quite a bunch, over 40 rare cards.

 

[Xaios]

I mocked myself up as a planeswalker:

(Marty is a guy who works at my games shop and is always playing the most rousing viking metal over the stereo.)

 

[Xaios]

So, attended the M12 prerelease at my LGS yesterday, had a fair amount of fun even though I did quite poorly. I was actually really skeptical of this set, but I think I've come around after yesterday, especially with regards to limited. This is probably the first core set that favours a beatdown strategy in limited, as opposed to a control/midrange strategy, mainly because of the Bloodthirst mechanic, which is really quite powerful. Being as the packs I opened favored control, I of course didn't do as well as I'd hoped, even though I got to play with some interesting new cards:

Skinshifter: this card is really flexible and efficient, and more importantly, fun to play with. Plus, he could actually see play in a Doran EDH deck.

Jace, Memory Adept: I can't really evaluate it for constructed right now as it doesn't fit into the current metagame. If Innistrad is graveyard based like the rumours say, then it will be great there as well. However, in limited it's a beast. Drop this and your opponent absolutely must kill it in 2 turns or they're dead. Too bad the art is basically "Jace, the Wrist Slasher."

Garruk, Primal Hunter: Will be great in constructed and IS great in limited.

Garruk's Horde: This isn't constructable with the titans still around, but in limited things can get out of hand pretty quickly. In one game my opponent resolved this. Next turn he proceeded to play four more creature cards right off the top of his library, giving him huge card advantage. It didn't end well for me.

Timely Reinforcements: This card is absolutely, unambiguously fantastic against mono red burn decks. Once Kor Firewalker rotates out, this will take its place in the sideboard. It provides lifegain to thwart red's burn/fast creature strategy, and blockers to either eat more burn or take one for the team. It's simply amazing against red and not too shabby against other colours as well, if you're in a tight spot.

Doubling Chant: My allies deck simply needs this card. I can't see any other possible reason to play this, but it synergizes so incredibly well with allies, it's impossible to pass up. It's basically Clarion Ultimatum for all your creatures. Pretty useless in EDH though.

Dungrove Elder: Throw Spirit Mantle on this sucker and you've got yourself a hell of an efficient beatstick. This will be great in a Green deck with a white splash, because it can't be targeted by opponents and can also be brought back with Sun Titan.

Grand Abolisher: One of the better hate bears they've printed in a long time. This might actually see some play in Legacy as it totally hoses counterspells on your turn. However, it won't see play in Standard or Limited. M12 limited is too focused on beatdown for this to matter, and there's too many ways to deal with this in Standard, even if you have to kill it on your own turn.

Primordial Hydra: There's just too many ways to deal with this in constructed, but this is definitely going in my Ghave, Guru of Spores EDH deck, as his self-replicating counters really synergizes with Ghave's ability.

Quicksilver Amulet: This card is good in various situations, terrible in others. Unless you've got 8 mana open when you play this, you completely sacrifice tempo in hopes that you'll be able to stay alive long enough to make use of it. The only constructed application I can see for this card is in a mono-blue or mono-green ramp deck, and there are better ways to accomplish both, not to mention the fact that artifact kill is so prevalent these days, I don't think I'd even want to try. Throwing down Caged Sun seems like a better option for getting your fatties out, even though it costs two more mana. However, it doesn't put such a huge target on its head and it also pumps your existing creatures.

Sorin's Vengeance: Insane if it resolves, but that's easier said than done. I had one of these at my pre-release and I was running White/Blue/Black. The problem I was having related more to luck than anything. I was running 6 of each colour of land that I needed. I would consistently finish the game with 5 plains and 5 islands but only 2 swamps. It was just uncanny, not to mention SUPER annoying. There were two games that I lost with this in hand that I could have won had I drawn one more black mana, even though I had drawn all the mana of both other colours. Luck of the draw. Unfortunately, I have a distinctly unlucky streak, while certain people at my local LGS have horseshoes in their asses as far as card draw goes.

________________________


Those are the new cards that I either played with or against over the course of the pre-release tournament. I abstained from reviewing cards that I didn't get to see. Overall though, there's actually some pretty cool stuff.

 

[powerofze]

you forgot visions of the beyond. In a sealed event (6 boosters), I got Visions of the beyond, Grave Titan, Garruk (planeswalker), Time reversal and Druic Satchel

I kinda derped it tho so i wound up doing really bad. Got 1 booster out of it tho, and it had a Sorin Markov. Talk about some insane luck (or skill)

 

[PyramidSmasher]

I was so excited about Goblin Grenade that my Type 2 deck is now goblins. Too bad its about to get fucked when Zendikar goes out...

I disagree about the uselessness of Grand Abolisher. It's a 2 drop 2/2 which absolutely fucks so many control decks. If nothing else it lets your titans abilities resolve when they come into play.

 

[Xaios]

Just as I thought, there weren't any Grand Abolishers anywhere to be seen at the Top 8 at the Cincinnati Open over the weekend. As I said, it *might* see play in Legacy, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be good in Standard. Control is simply too weak in the current metagame to justify having it, and there are *so* many ways to get rid of it, being as ANY deck can run Dismember.

 

[Xaios]

So yeah. On Sunday, at about 3PM I decided to build a mono-green EDH deck that my buddy could use that evening, as he was just getting back into MTG and didn't have the card base to build an EDH deck. He ended up having to leave anyway, so after my Rafiq deck fizzled game one, I decided to give it a try.

It smashed face. Big time. This is how it is currently:

General (1):
- Omnath, Locus of Mana

Planeswalkers (3):
- Garruk Wildspeaker
- Garruk, Primal Hunter
- Karn Liberated

Creatures (30):
- Acidic Slime
- Ant Queen
- Arashi, the Sky Asunder
- Artisan of Kozilek
- Avenger of Zendikar
- Brawn
- Deadwood Treefolk
- Dosan, the Falling Leaf
- Dungrove Elder
- Eternal Witness
- Fauna Shaman
- Fierce Empath
- Gaea's Herald
- Garruk's Horde
- Glissa Sunseeker
- Hornet Queen
- Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
- Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- Loaming Shaman
- Primeval Titan
- Primordial Sage
- Sakiko, Mother of Summer
- Sakura-Tribe Elder
- Tornado Elemental
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- Vigor
- Viridian Zealot
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
- Wolfbriar Elemental
- Yavimaya Elder

Artifacts (8):
- Brittle Effigy
- Caged Sun
- Eldrazi Monument
- Extraplanar Lens
- Mind's Eye
- Quicksilver Amulet
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Sol Ring

Equipment (3):
- Lightning Greaves
- Skullclamp
- Sword of Feast and Famine

Enchantments (8):
- Asceticism
- Bear Umbra
- Mana Reflection
- Nature's Will
- Wild Pair
- Survival of the Fittest
- Sylvan Library
- Vernal Bloom

Instants (2):
- Beast Within
- Krosan Grip

Sorceries (9):
- All Is Dust
- Cultivate
- Genesis Wave
- Green Sun's Zenith
- Harmonize
- Kodama's Reach
- Overwhelming Stampede
- Praetor's Council
- Time of Need

Land (36)
- Eye of Ugin
- Mystifying Maze
- Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
- Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
- Temple of the False God
- Tranquil Thicket
- Forest x 30

There are still some cards I want to add that I don't own. The big ones are Seedborn Muse, Genesis and Vedalken Orrery. I also certainly wouldn't mind having Rofellos, Gaea's Cradle and Yavimaya Hollow either.

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

The only new Phyrexia deck I got was the one with Victory's Herald (Red/White), and I didnt see what their goal was at all (I thought red/white was supposed to be burn with some protection) so I dismantled it instantly. There's that one infect one but infect is so gay

That's the one I was looking at. So would it be a good basis to start with? The cards, in theory, look good.

 

[Xaios]

I'm confused. The starter deck with Victory's Herald is from Mirrodin Besieged, not New Phyrexia.

Also, Starter Decks are never really very good to being with. They basically serve as an introduction to the mechanics of the set. Event Decks are a good deal better, but they're still not near strong enough to see Standard play. If the people at your LGS are running finely tuned decks (as the people at mine tend to do, even though we also have quite a rogue metagame), you're going to have to invest in the necessary cards to make a competitive deck if you really want to win. Look over the results from recent pro tour tournaments, national tournaments and grand prix tournaments, and start emulating the decks you see there.

Don't underestimate your local metagame either though, because if you decide to play Valakut only to discover that everyone at your LGS is running anti-Valakut decks at FNM, it won't matter if you're playing a Tier 1 deck, you will die horribly.

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

My mistake, I meant Life for Death, also Red/White.

New Phyrexia Intro Packs : Daily MTG : Magic: The Gathering

What exactly is an Event Deck?

 

[Xaios]

What exactly is an Event Deck?

Basically a starter deck, but of a much higher caliber than regular starter decks from a given set. They feature cards from all sets that are legal at the time of their release, not just the set they represent. Also, you won't get completely destroyed playing one, unlike a starter deck. These ones are good.

Mirrodin Besieged Event Deck: Into the Breach (Magic Sealed Product: Event Decks)

New Phyrexia Event Deck: War of Attrition (Magic Sealed Product: Event Decks)

Consequently, running the New Phyrexia "War of Attrition" event deck is the one exception they made to the Stoneforge Mystic banning, so long as you run it exactly as it comes in the box, sideboard and all. If you want to change it, the first thing you have to do is remove Stoneforge Mystic.

 

[Slayer89]

My buddy and I like to make videos for him to throw up on YouTube. Here's our most recent game. GW Quest (him) against me on Br Vamps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3eyDeqjxcg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCz5C8FFpsw&feature=channel_video_title