• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Magic: The Gathering |OT|

Status
Not open for further replies.
The funny thing is that even with all the graveyard hate we're seeing, I don't think Zombies are going to be having a harder time than they are now.

I've been thinking about it, and the idea of a reanimator/zombie package actually sounds nuts. Run a zombie package with Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, and Lotleth Troll. Back it up with graveyard fillers: 4x Mulch, 4x Grisly Salvage. You can also use Lotleth Troll to move fatties from your hand to your yard and get some value from it, so you can probably do without Faithless Looting. 4x Unburial Rites of course.

Finish by reanimating Craterhoof Behemoth on your zombie army.
 
The funny thing is that even with all the graveyard hate we're seeing, I don't think Zombies are going to be having a harder time than they are now.

I've been thinking about it, and the idea of a reanimator/zombie package actually sounds nuts. Run a zombie package with Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, and Lotleth Troll. Back it up with graveyard fillers: 4x Mulch, 4x Grisly Salvage. You can also use Lotleth Troll to move fatties from your hand to your yard and get some value from it, so you can probably do without Faithless Looting. 4x Unburial Rites of course.

Finish by reanimating Craterhoof Behemoth on your zombie army.

Should be interesting at the very least. I still think zombies will want red for burn though
 
I feel the biggest thing is that by going b/g they have access to naturalize.

BG will likely use Abrupt Decay over Naturalize since it should hit all of the relevant artifacts and enchantments, as well as random creatures that get in the way.

The proposed deck already splashes white to flashback Unburial Rites. Maybe it runs Lingering Souls? So juicy with Behemoth...

On another note, the more I think about it, the less I think burn is a viable deck post rotation. I've been thinking that shocklands would make it easier since players are going to be routinely shocking themselves 1-2 times each game, but the burn quality just isn't there. Also the deck simply can't answer Geist of St. Traft, which is still going to be a thing.
 
The funny thing is that even with all the graveyard hate we're seeing, I don't think Zombies are going to be having a harder time than they are now.

I've been thinking about it, and the idea of a reanimator/zombie package actually sounds nuts. Run a zombie package with Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, and Lotleth Troll. Back it up with graveyard fillers: 4x Mulch, 4x Grisly Salvage. You can also use Lotleth Troll to move fatties from your hand to your yard and get some value from it, so you can probably do without Faithless Looting. 4x Unburial Rites of course.

Finish by reanimating Craterhoof Behemoth on your zombie army.

The thing is, when most of your stuff is getting exiled all the damn time by like, half the set, all that reanimation stuff is pretty useless. With B/R zombies on the upswing, there will be plenty of decks built around destroying that and delver simultaneously. This is different when AVR came out with all the anti-zombie specific hate. I learned that nobody will play decks specifically designed to counter one deck among a bunch, but when there are so many tools that hose the 2 top dogs in deck archtypes right now? There will be some play, for sure.

On a side note, I finally was able to hardcast Gristle and Avacyn in a single game. I have won AVR block.
 
Since zombies can run with undying only, I think it can survive the graveyard hate with abrupt decay and naturalize.

flashback (frites) and scavenge (and delver and snapcaster) will have problems.
 
Since zombies can run with undying only, I think it can survive the graveyard hate with abrupt decay and naturalize.

flashback (frites) and scavenge (and delver and snapcaster) will have problems.

Except a great many of those cards destroy undying. Remember, they have to go to the graveyard before they come back. And Messenger and Gravecrawler are the Wonder Twins of the zombie world. They need each other.


Do we think a form of Delver is even going to be T1 post rotation?

Snapcaster for sure isn't going anywhere. And the delver archetype is here to stay, even if the pieces change out. A 3/2 flyer on T2 in blue just isn't something that will disappear overnight.
 
Snapcaster for sure isn't going anywhere. And the delver archetype is here to stay, even if the pieces change out. A 3/2 flyer on T2 in blue just isn't something that will disappear overnight.

But the pieces aren't changing out, they're disappearing. The cheap cantrips are straight up gone, which I think is massive. Thought Scour is the only one that survives; Gitaxian Probe and Ponder leaving will really hurt that deck, as will the loss of Vapor Snag.

I think we're going to see the decks go back to the way they used to look 6-8 months ago. Look at Finkel's Spirit Delver deck from PTDA; Delver was there for value and to steal games occasionally, but the spirit package is what won most games. Or maybe they go back to the mage/blade route with Invisible Stalker holding a Runechanter's Pike.
 
But the pieces aren't changing out, they're disappearing. The cheap cantrips are straight up gone, which I think is massive. Thought Scour is the only one that survives; Gitaxian Probe and Ponder leaving will really hurt that deck, as will the loss of Vapor Snag.

I think we're going to see the decks go back to the way they used to look 6-8 months ago. Look at Finkel's Spirit Delver deck from PTDA; Delver was there for value and to steal games occasionally, but the spirit package is what won most games. Or maybe they go back to the mage/blade route with Invisible Stalker holding a Runechanter's Pike.

I agree that Ponder leaving is major. But again, blue just shouldn't be hitting you in the face for 3 T2. Blue players know this, and will find a way to keep abusing him. Snapcaster is really the issue and he will never, ever leave play.

Until he is summarily banned next year.
 
awq2m.jpg
 
Golgari Charm is a little underwhelming; I honestly think it's the worst of the bunch.

Sweep ability (grave crawlers, blood artists, unflipped delvers, champion of the parish

Enchantment removal to get rid of the new o-ring and many others

And Regen all your creatures which makes you rather immune to board wipes

All at instant speed, all without having to use multiple slots, all for two mana?


No hate, but if that is underwhelming I am not sure how you can play the game.
 
Sweep ability (grave crawlers, blood artists, unflipped delvers, champion of the parish

Enchantment removal to get rid of the new o-ring and many others

And Regen all your creatures which makes you rather immune to board wipes

All at instant speed, all without having to use multiple slots, all for two mana?


No hate, but if that is underwhelming I am not sure how you can play the game.

Pretty much nullifies Supreme Verdict singlehandedly.
 
So last night, I realized that I had drafted M13 so much that I had to be close to a full set for redemption. I checked, and I was only missing 5 cards- Ajani, Sublime, Index (?), Faith's Reward, and Nicol Bolas. So I bought them this morning and hit the redeem button. Gonna host some M13 Rotisserie drafts soon!
 
It's not a reliable answer to Verdict or Bonfire imo, but could see some sideboard play.



Doesn't save you from mutilate.

He was responding to the Terminus post with mutilate I believe.

But it does not have to be a reliable answer, the point it that it is a hell of a utility card that will almost always have a use in a deck and lets you do multiple things with one slot.
Now that being said, I do not think I would splash a color for any of the charms but if I am already running the colors I really like this one and the izzet one.
Hell and the Selesnya charm. And the Azorius lol.
 
The -1/-1 is not good in any golgari deck I'd reckon and maindeck enchantment hate is a no-go. I don't see maining these in my future B/G zombies and the side slot is not given either.

Needs playtesting of course.
 
Sweep ability (grave crawlers, blood artists, unflipped delvers, champion of the parish

Enchantment removal to get rid of the new o-ring and many others

And Regen all your creatures which makes you rather immune to board wipes

All at instant speed, all without having to use multiple slots, all for two mana?


No hate, but if that is underwhelming I am not sure how you can play the game.

I'm just taking the long view of the metagame. I don't see how anyone can justify slotting this into their deck over Abrupt Decay. I just can't.

  • Abrupt Decay will deal with all of the enchantments that matter.
  • -1/-1 sweepers just aren't strong enough; odds are that you'll only hit one guy, and Abrupt Decay would probably have done that for you (not many one-toughness creatures are 4cc or higher), plus be able to take care of creatures with higher toughness.
  • That just leaves regenerating your side.

So the upside of Abrupt Decay is that it can't be countered and can destroy a hell of a lot more things than Golgari Charm can. The upside of Golgari Charm is that it can occasionally get you a 2-for-1 on creatures (assuming your creatures aren't dying too) and lets you protect your creatures from a single attack/boardwipe/kill spell (this is nuts if you can make it work in combat, otherwise it just reads "counter target spell that would kill one or more creatures you control").

The upside of Abrupt Decay is just so much higher that I would always run it first. And I can't ever imagine running 4 Abrupt Decays, and then thinking that I need Golgari Charm on top of that.

TL;DR: Golgari Charm isn't terrible. It's just horribly outclassed by another GB instant in the same set.

EDIT: Unless the metagame warps to where expensive enchantments matter. In which case I'd reconsider.
 
The -1/-1 is not good in any golgari deck I'd reckon and maindeck enchantment hate is a no-go. I don't see maining these in my future B/G zombies and the side slot is not given either.

Needs playtesting of course.
The last two abilities are geared towards the U/W matchup.

The "regenerate everything" is highly relevant now that Wrath is a real card again.
 
Golgari Charm has so many uses in zombies.

It's a finisher on a board of x/1 creatures with Blood Artist, and it hoses mana dorks and Lingering Souls.

It cuts the power of Bonfire down massively and totally neuters Divine Verdict, and gives you some massive power in the combat phase.

Don't even get me started on the problem enchantments that you will want more answers to when RTR hits.
 
Didn't Dauntless Escort see play when it was Standard-legal? Either way, this answers Bonfire, Verdict, and Detention Sphere, as well as potentially enabling Blood Artist or Scavenge shenanigans.
 
I'm just taking the long view of the metagame. I don't see how anyone can justify slotting this into their deck over Abrupt Decay. I just can't.

  • Abrupt Decay will deal with all of the enchantments that matter.
  • -1/-1 sweepers just aren't strong enough; odds are that you'll only hit one guy, and Abrupt Decay would probably have done that for you (not many one-toughness creatures are 4cc or higher), plus be able to take care of creatures with higher toughness.
  • That just leaves regenerating your side.

So the upside of Abrupt Decay is that it can't be countered and can destroy a hell of a lot more things than Golgari Charm can. The upside of Golgari Charm is that it can occasionally get you a 2-for-1 on creatures (assuming your creatures aren't dying too) and lets you protect your creatures from a single attack/boardwipe/kill spell (this is nuts if you can make it work in combat, otherwise it just reads "counter target spell that would kill one or more creatures you control").

The upside of Abrupt Decay is just so much higher that I would always run it first. And I can't ever imagine running 4 Abrupt Decays, and then thinking that I need Golgari Charm on top of that.

TL;DR: Golgari Charm isn't terrible. It's just horribly outclassed by another GB instant in the same set.

EDIT: Unless the metagame warps to where expensive enchantments matter. In which case I'd reconsider.

I do agree that Abrubt Decay is sexy time and better in 99.9% of situations.
 
He was responding to the Terminus post with mutilate I believe.

But it does not have to be a reliable answer, the point it that it is a hell of a utility card that will almost always have a use in a deck and lets you do multiple things with one slot.
Now that being said, I do not think I would splash a color for any of the charms but if I am already running the colors I really like this one and the izzet one.
Hell and the Selesnya charm. And the Azorius lol.

Yup
 
It just seems like its going to be a straight aggro deck. They'll probably activate unleash early on in the match to get as much damage in as fast as possible, and not use unleash mid-late game if it comes to that.

The Devil seems pretty good for this. But I don't think what rakdos has right now is enough to make it a viable aggro build.

As for me, Orzhov, Izzet, and Selesnya shirts up in here!
 
Is anyone else annoyed that theorized staples like Abrupt Decay are rare, and priced as high as they are? I know prices are inflated right now and they'll go down after release, but $18 for a card you probably want at least 3 of in any GB deck you play this season is silly.

Also, is anyone else excited about Blustersquall? Instant speed Sleep baby.
 
I really wish populate was just a little more aggressively costed. Stuff like 6CMC for 2 3/3s or 8CMC for 2 4/4s just depresses me.

EDIT: Armada wurm makes me happy.

Armada Wurm
2GGWW

Creature - Wurm
Mythic

Trample
When Armada Wurm enters the battlefield put a 5/5 Wurm creature token with trample onto the battlefield.
5/5
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom