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[the_painted_bird]

How much do you guys stick with playing standard legal? I have two or three decks that are mostly standard legal but I've altered them with old cards but now i want to make them standard legal. Not playing SL feels kind of cheap in a way. But i understand people still play vintage and modern, so I'm not against older cards, I am just now seeing the distinction I suppose.

 

[echoshifting]

Changed my mind, going mono-white for AVR ;p

That card is going to...well. Vex me.

How much do you guys stick with playing standard legal? I have two or three decks that are mostly standard legal but I've altered them with old cards but now i want to make them standard legal. Not playing SL feels kind of cheap in a way. But i understand people still play vintage and modern, so I'm not against older cards, I am just now seeing the distinction I suppose.

I just try to bring at least one standard and at least one modern deck whenever we play. It depends on how serious and competitive you are about deck construction, really.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

VEGETA. WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY ABOUT AVR'S POWER LEVEL?

IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!

I want 5 now! It can work with stormblood, by turn 3. Turn 2, if they got nothing down. 4 damage on turn 1 is huge.
I've been using Thalia in my mono white deck. Mixed results. It slows my opponent down, but half the time, it slows me down too. 4 cmc o-ring and 5 cmc angelic destiny. Her with grand abolisher. Right now, the abolisher is so much more appealing with my Champion of the Parish.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Yes.

I'm sure it'll find a home in some decks but this isn't some massive power creep. This is a card that will see a lot of play in modern / legacy but I really don't think it's that hot for standard.

The problem with the card is it'll never reliably do what you want. Yes on turn 1 its more than likely going to be 4 to the dome unless your opponent deals with it with a Vapor Snag or whatever. But if you want a Lava Spike later on in the game, it's not going to be that. That's why I don't like this in burn. It's not even like Spark Elemental which was a crappy creature but at least had the benefit of haste to get damage in.

It's not really power creep. I don't think this would be considered as good as Goblin Guide in most decks honestly. Red decks right now want to hit Stormblood on turn 2. This card doesn't help at all in doing this. It's not a reliable 1 drop at all really, this card is best played on turn 3 / 4.

It could be crazy good in older formats where you can do all kinds of crazy shit with it and gain more reliability from the modular component of the card (because you can force either option to be a bad option easier). In standard though I think this card is being overhyped.

Either way I do like the design of the card itself. Most Browbeat cards are bad automatically, this one will be pushing it to the edge a bit.

Except I think it's better than those because it's one mana. I could see if it was more expensive but for a one drop, if they vapor snap it, who gives a shit? It's one you lose and that's pretty much only if you encounter a vapor snag.

What one drop is currently better?

 

[Haly]

I would rather they dump vapor snag on Vexing than, say, Stromkirk Noble or Stormblood Berserker.

If nothing else, it's a magnet for creature removal/bounce/chump blocking.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I would rather they dump vapor snag on Vexing than, say, Stromkirk Noble or Stormblood Berserker.

If nothing else, it's a magnet for creature removal/bounce.

Pretty much, I'll bounce him over those any day.

 

[ultron87]

The body on it is pretty crazy for a 1-drop. There's a lot of stuff that it will trade with even if you get it out later in the game.

 

[echoshifting]

It is going to be so fucking fun to bluff in this set

 

[joelseph]

B/R one drop deck would be fun with Vexing + Undying.

 

[The Technomancer]

The body on it is pretty crazy for a 1-drop. There's a lot of stuff that it will trade with even if you get it out later in the game.

Yeah, I see this one being best in the mid-game when four life is a big enough deal that its not an automatic decision and you have other cards you want to play on the same turn.

 

[Haly]

B/R one drop deck would be fun with Vexing + Undying.

Doesn't work, the sacrifice is part of the ETB trigger and resolves all in one go. If they know it has undying, of course they won't let you sacrifice it.

 

[Sinatar]

Hang on wouldn't the first set-up work best if one or both had First or Double strike?
EDIT: ...and does Soulbound require only 1 monster's mana cost for summoing or the combination of both?

The hound deals it's damage before combat starts, with deathtouch that means it kills anything it blocks or is blocked by before combat resolves.

You need to summon both creatures normally, no mana discounts.

 

[joelseph]

Doesn't work, the sacrifice is part of the ETB trigger and resolves all in one go. If they know it has undying, of course they won't let you sacrifice it.

True. But would still be good to have a 4 power w/ undying on turn 2.

 

[Pandaman]

I would rather they dump vapor snag on Vexing than, say, Stromkirk Noble or Stormblood Berserker.

If nothing else, it's a magnet for creature removal/bounce/chump blocking.

this.

i cannot imagine a way someone deals with vex without the vex player being at advantage.
your opponent either spends more mana than you or more cards, red players should love that since they don't typically match the other colours card for card and land for land.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Are there any places that are really good for trading?

 

[zethren]

The way I see Vexing Devil is that he's just versatile enough to be awesome.

-He's super cheap at (R), meaning you can turn 1 him if you want or you can throw him down later for mid-game pressure.
-He's not a terrible top-deck at all, because he has a 4/3 body that can contend with many other creatures your opponent will throw at you. Not to mention they still must make the choice between him and 4 life then too.

He's a card that I wouldn't mind top-decking mid-game. Birds? Avacyn's Pilgrim? Even Goblin Guide? Never really a fan of top-decking those mid-game. Vexing Devil is a 4/3 for (R) at any point. Sounds good to me.

Even the Browbeat comparisons are meh, I think. Browbeat costs 2(R), rather than (R). Browbeat deals 5 damage to your opponent or lets you draw 3 cards, whereas the Devil lets you deal 4 damage or have a nice 4/3 beater. It's much better than Browbeat in my opinion.

 

[Lucario]

So here's my finalized EDH deck, after trading off my Standard binder for legacy goodies. It's what I played at PAX, and I'm bringing it to EDH night tonight to wreck everyone's shit

.... Clocks in at around $1300 with minor-moderate pimping and a casualboard. @___@


tcgplayer link: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=999396

LMK if you have any critiques/suggestions.

Animar EDH
99 cards, 1 sideboard
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Flooded Grove
1 Forbidden Orchard
4 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Great Furnace
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
5 Island
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mosswort Bridge
2 Mountain
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Shivan Reef
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Coast
35 lands


1 Dryad Arbor
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Gilded Drake
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 AEther Adept
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fierce Empath
1 Man-o'-War
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Wood Elves
1 Goblin Settler
1 Mystic Snake
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mischievous Quanar
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Duplicant
1 Primeval Titan
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Great Whale
1 Palinchron
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
34 creatures


1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Mana Vault
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Counterspell
1 Land Grant
1 Life from the Loam
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Capsize
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Crystal Shard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Aluren
1 Birthing Pod
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Desertion
1 Force of Will
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Warp
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Time Stretch
30 other spells


Sideboard
1 Animar, Soul of Elements
1 sideboard cards

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

The way I see Vexing Devil is that he's just versatile enough to be awesome.

-He's super cheap at (R), meaning you can turn 1 him if you want or you can throw him down later for mid-game pressure.
-He's not a terrible top-deck at all, because he has a 4/3 body that can contend with many other creatures your opponent will throw at you. Not to mention they still must make the choice between him and 4 life then too.

He's a card that I wouldn't mind top-decking mid-game. Birds? Avacyn's Pilgrim? Even Goblin Guide? Never really a fan of top-decking those mid-game. Vexing Devil is a 4/3 for (R) at any point. Sounds good to me.

Even the Browbeat comparisons are meh, I think. Browbeat costs 2(R), rather than (R). Browbeat deals 5 damage to your opponent or lets you draw 3 cards, whereas the Devil lets you deal 4 damage or have a nice 4/3 beater. It's much better than Browbeat in my opinion.

Ya, the browbeat makes ZERO sense. 3 mana for potentially 5 damage, or 1 mana for 4 damage, hmmm I wonder which is better....

So here's my finalized EDH deck, after trading off my Standard binder for legacy goodies. It's what I played at PAX, and I'm bringing it to EDH night tonight to wreck everyone's shit

.... Clocks in at around $1300 with minor-moderate pimping and a casualboard. @___@


Animar EDH

$1300? Ya, I hate people like you when playing EDH.

 

[Lucario]

Ya, the browbeat makes ZERO sense. 3 mana for potentially 5 damage, or 1 mana for 4 damage, hmmm I wonder which is better....





$1300? Ya, I hate people like you when playing EDH.

To be fair, I always let myself be the first person eliminated, take out every combo in my deck, take out all of my time magic, and never attack with my general at a casual table -- I pretty much just act as a "hug" deck. I've been trading up to get this thing for a few years, and it's a great way to consolidate value into usable cards that aren't going to drop in value any time soon.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

To be fair, I always let myself be the first person eliminated, take out every combo in my deck, take out all of my time magic, and never attack with my general at a casual table -- I pretty much just act as a "hug" deck. I've been trading up to get this thing for a few years, and it's a great way to consolidate value into usable cards that aren't going to drop in value any time soon.

I guess that's not bad. There's always one person with an overpowered deck when everyone else has a casual deck and it pretty much ruins the games.

 

[Lucario]

I guess that's not bad. There's always one person with an overpowered deck when everyone else has a casual deck and it pretty much ruins the games.

With my casualboard in, my deck pretty much does nothing but dick around. If I were playing to win I'd have a different general

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

With my casualboard in, my deck pretty much does nothing but dick around. If I were playing to win I'd have a different general

Haha, like I said that's probably not bad. It just sucks when we all play casual and then someone who is obsessed with edh and has a super expensive deck plays and it's just not even fun.

 

[echoshifting]

I am trying the hard sell on commander with my group. We typically have four or five people but thus far people typically prefer "attack to the left," even over 2-headed giant. These games are growing longer and more obnoxious week after week as everyone at the table realizes that the best strategy is almost always turtling.

So, I'm in the process of building 4 commander decks out of my own cards, as I haven't been able to convince half the group to build one for themselves. Hopefully it takes, I'm not sure how many more 4p "attack left" games I can stand.

 

[OnPoint]

I am trying the hard sell on commander with my group. We typically have four or five people but thus far people typically prefer "attack to the left," even over 2-headed giant. These games are growing longer and more obnoxious week after week as everyone at the table realizes that the best strategy is almost always turtling.

So, I'm in the process of building 4 commander decks out of my own cards, as I haven't been able to convince half the group to build one for themselves. Hopefully it takes, I'm not sure how many more 4p "attack left" games I can stand.

That's been a huge problem with my group of friends. Not a big fan of 1.5 hour games.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

That's been a huge problem with my group of friends. Not a big fan of 1.5 hour games.

Yup, and then if you try to break the stalemate they all go after you.

 

[zethren]

EDH was a pretty easy sell for my group, though I'm not personally a big fan of the format. Too random for my tastes, though it might just be the deck I built. Have a pseudo-completed (started taking cards out for other decks) Mayael EDH.

That's been a huge problem with my group of friends. Not a big fan of 1.5 hour games.

You don't even know the half of it, lol. It's not uncommon for 4-5 player games in my group to last at a minimum of 2 hours. Minimum. Shit gets pretty epic.

 

[joelseph]

Yup, and then if you try to break the stalemate they all go after you.

Same thing happens at my Magic night too.

 

[zoukka]

Devil might see play in the whatever latest 'DERP-DECK-WINS' pile, but otherwise it's just useless.

 

[kirblar]

Devil might see play in the whatever latest 'DERP-DECK-WINS' pile, but otherwise it's just useless.

Correct. It's only good in burn/RDW style decks.

 

[WanderingWind]

Devil might see play in the whatever latest 'DERP-DECK-WINS' pile, but otherwise it's just useless.

A 4/3 or 4 damage for 1cc is useless in a block that loves to bring things back from the grave?

 

[zethren]

I like him, especially for a starter rare. Demon tribal, here I come.

 

[ThLunarian]

So here's my finalized EDH deck, after trading off my Standard binder for legacy goodies. It's what I played at PAX, and I'm bringing it to EDH night tonight to wreck everyone's shit

.... Clocks in at around $1300 with minor-moderate pimping and a casualboard. @___@


tcgplayer link: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=999396

LMK if you have any critiques/suggestions.

Animar EDH
99 cards, 1 sideboard
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Flooded Grove
1 Forbidden Orchard
4 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Great Furnace
1 Grove of the Burnwillows
5 Island
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mosswort Bridge
2 Mountain
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Riptide Laboratory
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Shivan Reef
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
1 Tropical Island
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Yavimaya Coast
35 lands


1 Dryad Arbor
1 Shrieking Drake
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Gilded Drake
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Voidmage Prodigy
1 AEther Adept
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fierce Empath
1 Man-o'-War
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Wood Elves
1 Goblin Settler
1 Mystic Snake
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mischievous Quanar
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Duplicant
1 Primeval Titan
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Great Whale
1 Palinchron
1 Tidespout Tyrant
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Myojin of Seeing Winds
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
34 creatures


1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Mana Vault
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Counterspell
1 Land Grant
1 Life from the Loam
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Capsize
1 Cloudstone Curio
1 Crystal Shard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Aluren
1 Birthing Pod
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Desertion
1 Force of Will
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Time Warp
1 Walk the Aeons
1 Time Stretch
30 other spells


Sideboard
1 Animar, Soul of Elements
1 sideboard cards

Definitely take out Great Whale. If you leave Palinchron in, then I'd find room for Mana Reflection and/or Vorinclex, because otherwise the 'Chron is just a mediocre flier.

 

[ultron87]

That demon is just mad he isn't a Grave Titan.

 

[zethren]

That demon is just mad he isn't a Grave Titan.

He'll feel better in October. lol

 

[The Technomancer]

See, that is the power level I'm comfortable with on a six mana black creature

 

[echoshifting]

No hexproof no sale

...how long before this is a banned meme?

I will definitely try him out in my demon/human deck.

 

[zethren]

No hexproof no sale

...how long before this is a banned meme?

 

[OnPoint]

[imghttp://geek-news.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/harvester-of-souls1.jpg[/img]

I like him, especially for a starter rare. Demon tribal, here I come.

He's pretty cool. Not super impressive, but a comfortable six drop.

 

[OnPoint]

No one excited about this?

 

[zethren]

[]http://static.starcitygames.com/sales/cardscans/MAG_AVR/ArcaneMelee.jpg[/img]

No one excited about this?

It's a pretty expensive enchantment, and I'm not much of a blue player anyway so it didn't get me too excited. Plus it really helps your opponent, as well. :/

Curious to see the applications of this card in the future.

 

[ultron87]

Arcane Melee seems out of place flavorwise.

 

[Wichu]

I can see my brother running Arcane Melee in his Riku EDH... Neither of my decks use many sorceries/instants though, so it's not for me

 

[Venfayth]

Does it apply to flashbacks?

 

[Sinatar]

That's cool but most of the blue instants I cast are 1 or 2 mana anyways so unless AR adds a bunch of expensive ones that seems kinda weak.

 

[zethren]

That's cool but most of the blue instants I cast are 1 or 2 mana anyways so unless AR adds a bunch of expensive ones that seems kinda weak.

Well it makes Temporal Mastery a bit more reasonable if you don't cast it for it's Miracle cost.

 

[f0rk]

Well it makes Temporal Mastery a bit more reasonable if you don't cast it for it's Miracle cost.

But you just wasted a turn casting the enchantment lol

 

[siddx]

Descendants path:

At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library, if it's a creature card that shares a creature type with a creature you control, you can cast this card without paying its mana cost. Otherwise, put it at the bottom of your library

Amazing art.

Incredible art, and I really really like this card since I like playing tribal decks. Perfect casting cost.

 

[zethren]

But you just wasted a turn casting the enchantment lol

Right, lol.

Hey, never said I was a fan of the card. haha

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Is anyone looking for these cards? I figured I'd list them here before I just ebay them. I'm pretty much just looking for m12/innistrad block

I have:
2x Phyrexian Obliterator
2x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of War and Peace
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Phantasmal Images
2x Mox Opal
1x Karn
3x Birds of Paradise

I have other rares but those are the most expensive.

 

[WanderingWind]

Is anyone looking for these cards? I figured I'd list them here before I just ebay them. I'm pretty much just looking for m12/innistrad block

I have:
2x Phyrexian Obliterator
2x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of War and Peace
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Phantasmal Images
1x Mox Opal
1x Karn
3x Birds of Paradise

I have other rates but those are the most expensive.

What is it you're looking for? I want the oblits, birds and swords