BlewHedgehog
Member
I've played exactly 2 games of MTGO and accidentally buried my Knight of the Mists both games. Not a fan.
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Magic: The Gathering |OT|
- Thread starter The Technomancer
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I've played exactly 2 games of MTGO and accidentally buried my Knight of the Mists both games. Not a fan.
echoshifting
Banned
You learn real quick from those kinds of mistakes, though. I agree with what others have said; I don't play MTGO anymore but my time with it greatly enhanced my understanding of timing and priority. DotP, too.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Oh, but DotP gets priority all wrong! You can jump in and cast instants at any point in your opponents turn. There are moments which result in you mashing on the A button hoping to cast something before your opponent does. And they don't even give you an end step, which means that your opponent can respond to your White Suns Zenith with a Slagstorm because you have to cast it during his second main.
You shouldn't look to DotP to get the technicalities of the rules right at all.
You shouldn't look to DotP to get the technicalities of the rules right at all.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Ya, I stop the timer like right before it runs out and I'm usually ok but ya it's hard to tell how things are. Such a pain, hopefully it improves little by little like them letting you choose lands to tap now.
Edit: Why does the prerelease have to be the weekend before finals.
This is gonna be a rough weekend.Keru_Shiri
Member
If by budget you mean <$100, you could build mono-Red, or U/R Tron (sans Steam Vents). I remember pricing out some of the Death and Taxes builds a few months back, but those cards might have gone up since them. Are you looking at taking this to a tournament, or just at a local FNM?
Most of what drives up the cost of Modern is the shocklands, so you could feasibly find a deck that doesn't care about basic land types and sub in some dual lands you do have/can afford. Keep in mind, Wizards has stated time and again that they intend to reprint a lot of the modern staples, so you may just want to wait out until Return to Ravnica.
Enordash
Member
Which is truly too bad since they already have MTGO out there. You would think that MTGO would have been a pretty valuable resource for whoever was programming DotP.
Am I correct that I can permanently exile an opponent's creature with Fiend Hunter and a flicker spell?
- Play Fiend Hunter, put "Exile target creature" on stack after it enters the battlefield.
- Use Cloudshift (or whatever) on Fiend Hunter.
- This results in "Return creature from Exile" and another "Exile Target Creature" going on the stack.
- The return creature from Exile fizzles because nothing has been exiled yet.
- Once everything finishes resolving you'll have one creature exiled under Fiend Hunter and another creature (the one you originally picked) exiled forever.
Am I misinterpreting anything there?
- Play Fiend Hunter, put "Exile target creature" on stack after it enters the battlefield.
- Use Cloudshift (or whatever) on Fiend Hunter.
- This results in "Return creature from Exile" and another "Exile Target Creature" going on the stack.
- The return creature from Exile fizzles because nothing has been exiled yet.
- Once everything finishes resolving you'll have one creature exiled under Fiend Hunter and another creature (the one you originally picked) exiled forever.
Am I misinterpreting anything there?
Seems right to me, triggered abilities can be a tad confusing.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Sometimes the Gatherer really is the simplest way to answer these questions. 
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=222007
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=222007
Gatherer 9/22/11 said:
I discovered a foil Gush from Mercadian Masques in my collection the other day, which was a nice thing to come across. The thing is, the top 1/5 of the foil looks different, like it didn't get all the foil or something. Anyone know if this would be more valuable on the secondary market? I'll try to post a picture later.
Yep this works. I've done something similar with saving grasp.
Enordash
Member
That's how I understand it.
My gawd. Yeah, I'm not looking to spend that much. It's just to play against my other legacy buddies, but I know nothing about legacy.
That Fiend Hunter + Cloudshift combo is extremely awesome. I was already going to throw Cloudshift in my humans deck and this makes it all the better.
My preliminary testing is done, and it looks like Mage-Blade is still a major contender, as is RB zombies/burn. Both decks are friggin' incredible.
However, I still managed to make my "fun deck" for the format, and it's actually pretty competitive at FNM level...
despite being a 3-color tribal cloudshift deck.
First of all, my initial reaction with Kessig Malcontents was that it would be a format-defining uncommon. 3 power and a potential Lava Axe to the face for 2R seemed utterly absurd to me, and I immediately sleeved up decks to abuse it.
I was wrong. It's a very powerful card, but it leaves you -way- too prone to blowouts to be the format changer I thought it was. That said, it's still a very charming win condition, and it's ridiculously fun to cloudshift one in response to removal to get another 3-4 damage in, and in the right deck, it can win games.
I think I made that deck. It's not tier 1 by any means, it scoops to Mage-Blade, and it's probably reserved to FNM level competition, but sleeve it up. It is ABSURDLY fun to play with, and has tons of tricks up its sleeve. I should also mention that it's also theorycrafted quite a bit.
Decklist:
4 Cloudshift
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
3 Pillar of Flame
1 Gut Shot
4 Gather the Townsfolk
3 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Kessig Malcontents
2 Fiend Hunter
4 Blade Splicer
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Restoration Angel
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
3 Cavern of Souls
6 Plains
3 Mountain
2 Gavony Township
1 Slayers' Stronghold
SB:
2 Gut Shot
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Pillar of Flame
3 Timely Reinforcements
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Fiend Hunter
Explanations for individual cards coming soon... but it should be fairly self-explanatory.
However, I still managed to make my "fun deck" for the format, and it's actually pretty competitive at FNM level...
despite being a 3-color tribal cloudshift deck.
First of all, my initial reaction with Kessig Malcontents was that it would be a format-defining uncommon. 3 power and a potential Lava Axe to the face for 2R seemed utterly absurd to me, and I immediately sleeved up decks to abuse it.
I was wrong. It's a very powerful card, but it leaves you -way- too prone to blowouts to be the format changer I thought it was. That said, it's still a very charming win condition, and it's ridiculously fun to cloudshift one in response to removal to get another 3-4 damage in, and in the right deck, it can win games.
I think I made that deck. It's not tier 1 by any means, it scoops to Mage-Blade, and it's probably reserved to FNM level competition, but sleeve it up. It is ABSURDLY fun to play with, and has tons of tricks up its sleeve. I should also mention that it's also theorycrafted quite a bit.
Decklist:
4 Cloudshift
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
3 Pillar of Flame
1 Gut Shot
4 Gather the Townsfolk
3 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Kessig Malcontents
2 Fiend Hunter
4 Blade Splicer
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Restoration Angel
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
3 Cavern of Souls
6 Plains
3 Mountain
2 Gavony Township
1 Slayers' Stronghold
SB:
2 Gut Shot
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Pillar of Flame
3 Timely Reinforcements
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Fiend Hunter
Explanations for individual cards coming soon... but it should be fairly self-explanatory.
Yes, this is correct and actually the main focus of a fun, fairly competitive Legacy deck called Death and Taxes. It uses Mangara of Corondor and the land Karakas to basically say: 3 mana, wait a turn, tap this dude and tap this legendary land to exile target permanent. With Aether Vial + Flickerwisp as an alternate method of this same procedure, things get pretty silly.
OnPoint:
Mageblade is a type of deck that utilizes Snapcaster Mage to gain card advantage through spells like Ponder, Vapor Snag, Mana Leak plus any of the Scars of Mirrodin swords (usually War and Peace or Feast and Famine) to kill the opponent. Typically an example play would be something like during your opponents turn you would cast Snapcaster Mage to flashback Mana Leak on whatever he or she just tapped out for. Now when it's your turn you equip Snapcaster with a Sword and go to town.
divisionbyzorro
Member
I assume he means those obnoxious blue/white decks with spirits and/or hexproof guys carrying big nasty Swords.
EDIT: Ah, Hero clarified.
Are these decks going to start running Cloudshift now? Possibly get even more value out of Snapcaster in addition to everything else Cloudshift does?
Boogalogist
Member
Yup, if you want a cheap deck that is competitive in legacy with friends, mono red burn is your best bet.
I like the sound of that dredge deck since I already have a Standard red deck and dredge sounds different from anything I've played. Thanks for the suggestion!
I never thought of dredge as being "cheap", although I suppose in comparison with threshold or something like that.
A typical competitive dredge deck runs
4 lions eye diamonds ($60 bucks each)
4 Bridge from below ($15 each)
And all the little creatures and spells will probably set you back at least $100 if not more.
Not to mention the city of brass, gemstone mines, cephalid coliseums, and undiscovered paradises which will run you about $75 to get.
You are looking at around $500 probably for a good dredge deck. I suppose if you take out the lions eyes you can pay almost half that only, but without the lions eyes the deck isn't nearly as good.
A typical competitive dredge deck runs
4 lions eye diamonds ($60 bucks each)
4 Bridge from below ($15 each)
And all the little creatures and spells will probably set you back at least $100 if not more.
Not to mention the city of brass, gemstone mines, cephalid coliseums, and undiscovered paradises which will run you about $75 to get.
You are looking at around $500 probably for a good dredge deck. I suppose if you take out the lions eyes you can pay almost half that only, but without the lions eyes the deck isn't nearly as good.
I would disagree. I play LEDless Dredge and while it's not as explosive as LED Dredge it definitely has more resiliency against hate. With the printing of Faithless Looting LED Dredge has gotten more popular.
Keru_Shiri
Member
Plus he specified Modern, wouldn't that rule out LED or am I missing something?
Little Old Man
Member
The wait for next week is killing me. Wish I was going the pre release this weekend!
Boogalogist
Member
Initially, he mentioned he wanted a Modern deck...then he says he's playing with friends in Legacy. So I just recommended him some Legacy decks.
And...I was referring to the LEDless Dredge for a budget option. Most of the other Legacy decks aren't cheap due to the mana base.
I have to warn you...if you're relatively new to Magic...Dredge is really hard to play. Dredge deck is such strange deck...in that it isn't even playing in the normal realm of Magic rules, which makes it difficult for opponent to interact with...and that's also where the deck gets a lot of heat.
SystemShark
Member
So I picked up a Dark Ascension Intro Pack - Dark Sacrifice, and would like some advice on what cards I should remove and what cards I should add to make this deck better.
I was lucky enough to get a Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed in the booster that came with it which seems like a fun replacement for the Fiend of the Shadows.
As well, I have an old mono blue Merfolk deck I made long ago before tribes were a thing, and just wondering if there is a good resource to view all the Merfolk cards out there.
Thank you!
I was lucky enough to get a Ravenous Demon/Archdemon of Greed in the booster that came with it which seems like a fun replacement for the Fiend of the Shadows.
As well, I have an old mono blue Merfolk deck I made long ago before tribes were a thing, and just wondering if there is a good resource to view all the Merfolk cards out there.
Thank you!
divisionbyzorro
Member
If you're looking for a card database, the Gatherer really is the best resource: http://gatherer.wizards.com
It is finally Snarky Set Review season! I'm so happy.
SystemShark
Member
Thanks a ton. There are a ton more Merfolk since I used to play. Wow.
This database is great though!
Haha, wow. Got pictures of the pimped out deck?
Karsticles
Member
I attempted to make a fun and interesting deck in the current Standard format. What do you think, GAF? I tried to keep costs at a reasonable level.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/indestructible-27/
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/indestructible-27/
Tizoc
Member
Wow that deck of yours is interesting, I'd really like to try it out myself.
The old school Mirrodin block cards aren't legal, unfortunately. If you're going for Metalcraft, you may want to take a look at Puresteel Paladin.
BlewHedgehog
Member
Seems like it used to be a cardinal sin of deck building to include single copies of a card in your deck. It's understandable in Pod or other toolboxy strategies, but it seems like a lot of top-tier decks are playing a ton of 1 and 2-ofs. U/W Delver lists that are winning SCG Opens, for instance... I understand a single Gitaxian Probe since you can't run 5 Ponder, but what's the deal with the 2x Invisible Stalker? And single copies each of Sword/Pike/Batterskull? Is this protection against Surgical Extraction or did people just grow accustomed to it when they could Stoneforge Mystic for them and decided they could handle a 1-of?
Yeah, Dredge doesn't sound budgeted and if it's no fun then I'll pass. Scary what's budget in Modern lol.
I think it's just more of what they could make room for. It's just damn hard to cut down to 60 cards. The deck above usually runs 4 Delvers because it's a cheap 1 drop and is just an evasive beatdown if flipped. The deck has a lot of draw cards so that it can get to its creatures, so not that many are needed. Also, Moorland Haunts kinda increases the creature count.
Other decks that do not have the privileged of drawing cards tends to run a lot of 4 ofs. You need a higher chance of drawing your card since you don't have draw cards to help you get to it.
Enordash
Member
I'll definitely give you that it's interesting. I'm sure it would be fun to play, but there would have to be some major tweaks to make it competitive.
Karsticles
Member
Thanks!
Hmm, I picked everything in the deck by going on Gatherer and selecting White/Artifact + "Standard" for the format. Help me understand the problem?
What do you think would need to change? I've thought about playing down the 3-cost artifacts for more 1-mana plays. In doing practice draws, it seems like I often don't have a lot going on until turn 3, which I know is a big flaw.
Because drawing 3 swords and no other action in your opening hand would be awful.
Also Snapcaster Mage gives extra copies of all your spells.
The way my friend taught me to allocate the number of times a card should be in your deck is to weigh the following things about the card:
Mana cost / efficiency
Topdeck potential
Opening hand potential
I don't have any hard-set rules about what makes something a 4 3 2 or 1, but generally:
4s: Staple cards that are useful at any time during the game, but you'd ideally want one or two in your opening hand.
3s: Useful during most of the game, tends to shine during the mid game, but you really wouldn't want more than one in your opening hand.
2s: Strong late game potential after you've run your opening hand and you've got plenty of mana available. Not ideal to get one in your opening hand.
1: Useful to have purely as a threat in your deck, must have strong late game potential, but you'd never want it in your opening hand.
Of course that changes if you've got tutors or whatever, and I'm not the most experienced player, but it's just how I feel about it right now.
Mana cost / efficiency
Topdeck potential
Opening hand potential
I don't have any hard-set rules about what makes something a 4 3 2 or 1, but generally:
4s: Staple cards that are useful at any time during the game, but you'd ideally want one or two in your opening hand.
3s: Useful during most of the game, tends to shine during the mid game, but you really wouldn't want more than one in your opening hand.
2s: Strong late game potential after you've run your opening hand and you've got plenty of mana available. Not ideal to get one in your opening hand.
1: Useful to have purely as a threat in your deck, must have strong late game potential, but you'd never want it in your opening hand.
Of course that changes if you've got tutors or whatever, and I'm not the most experienced player, but it's just how I feel about it right now.
The deck is legal, it is all Scars of Mirrodin and forward.
There are no old school Mirrodin cards in it.
Edit: Actually Reactor and Darksteel Ingot are not in Standard right now, Also the Darksteel Citadel
echoshifting
Banned
divisionbyzorro
Member
Okay guys: I need some advice here. Up to this point my magic playing has come either from Duels of Planeswalkers on 360, or casual booster drafts with some old college/work friends. I'm going to be moving to Australia in a couple of months, and I'm seriously considering making an MTGO account.
- Should I do this or not?
- How much does it cost to enter a draft?
- How does it "work;" are there just open lobbies based on formats to jump in and play random people?
Enordash
Member
Like Hex was saying, you'd have to remove Ingot, Reactor, and Citadel for standard legality. Without the Ingot, your mana base doesn't allow Gavony or Vault to ever activate (this could obviously be fixed with certain dual lands). Platinum Emperion and Elbrus both seem far too high costing to include. If you wanted to, though, you could use Quicksilver Amulet to get the Emperion in. Perhaps consider adding blue for consistency's sake. Treasure and Trinket Mage could make the deck a little more stable while allowing you to get away with the one-offs. Grand Architect can allow you to get artifact creatures out faster. Wurmcoil Engine has really decent synergy with Worldslayer. Sphere of the Suns may allow you to ramp a little faster. I may be wrong, but it seems like you really want Worldslayer to activate. I know it would die along with everything else, but Invisible Stalker could be used to push the Worldslayer through. Consider Oblivion Ring or more Dispatches to ensure Worldslayer goes off. You would probably want to add more Indomitable Archangels as well.
I don't think this is really the end of the discussion on the deck. Darksteel Plate plus Indomitable Archangel is a good combo, but the numbers of each are far too weird to get regularly. You would probably want to tick Puresteel Paladin up to 4 copies as it is really the driving force behind the deck currently.
I think that we could really get a hive mind type of thing going here that could produce some real solid results in general. It's nice to get multiple takes on a deck.
You click a play button, it loads up a list of games that are going. It lists the type of game being played and whether or not the match is in progress or waiting to be joined, etc.
I've never done any drafts, so I couldn't tell you much about that
Enordash
Member
Sorry for the double post if it occurs...
MTGO is a lot of fun. It can be frustrating when someone is being a jerk/taking too long/disconnects. To draft, you just buy the necessary boosters then pay a couple of tickets ($1 each) to actually enter. You are pretty much correct on how it works. You can create a lobby of your own or join someone else's. They all have criteria like format, time duration, number of games, etc. Everything you'd expect. In the end, I believe it is actually less expensive than paper Magic because the cards generally cost less in that economy and trading is far easier.
One thing that you will have to understand, though. The GUI isn't the best thing in the world. You will have miss-clicks that will cost you a game while getting used to everything. It does ensure people aren't cheating and from my experience, handles all rules accurately. Honestly, it is really only a ten dollar accident if you give it a try and then hate it, so I say go for it, man.
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