• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Magic: the GAFering |OT2|

Probably the dirtiest 4 pack deck I've had in a while.

stHfX7Y.jpg
 

JulianImp

Member
I believe your list had 2 Turn // Burn in it, and that's probably the right number, with maybe one more in the board.

I don't support the Invisible Stalker plan; the Cipher cards just aren't very good, and you're not really running a list that supports him. He's a threat for a tempo deck with Runechanter's Pike, but you're kind of all-in on the burn plan.

I would drop Niv-Mizzet - he's sweet, but really expensive, and it looks like you want a low curve.

Cards to consider: Augur of Bolas (if you're going the control route) or Nivix Cyclops (if you want to go all aggro). Either of those guys is going to be better than Archaeomancer.

Would the Cyclops actually be alright? I fear it's a ridiculously bad topdeck, kind of forces me to play cheaper spells with it and can't do a thing on its own unless I build the deck around it, kind of like Travis Woo's UWR deck.

I probably won't be able to finish the deck in time for this week's FNM since we still have no M14 product, and Young Pyromancer is such an important card to the deck's gameplan. Hopefully, my LGS will have opened some packs by Friday so I can snipe some from their card folder, but even if they do open some product they'll most likely not have four copies of the card.

As far as going all-out on burn goes, I'm not sure if the deck can actually do it, since I'm only running six burn spells that can actually target players (Turn/Burn, Bonfire and Pillar). Perhaps I could add a singleton Imp's Mischief to close games out?

Talking about the curve, I goess you're right about removing Niv-Mizzet, but then again I want to hit six mana for overloaded Mortars, so the mana curve is still kind of high either way, which is why I included him. I have never played with Mortars before, so I think I might be overvaluing the overload ability (kind of liek Mark Rosewater's reluctance to playing an unkicked Kavu Titan).

By the way, does the phoenix make sense in the deck? I think a recurring threat could be great if the game drags on and my card drawing and burn reserves are depleted, but perhaps it's a bit too slow and/or doesn't have enough of an impact on the board state. Would Chandra's Phoenix be a better card here if I can get my hands on some, despite the lack of opponent-damaging spells and the fact that Guttersnipe triggers don't get it back either?
 

ultron87

Member
twitch.tv

Wizard's Youtube channel has videos from Pro Tours: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3rP64NRtmbgl-GMxi3ZBBZyoj-0LtAc4
GGsLive has Grand Prix videos: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=70595416
Channel Fireball has a lot of videos of pros commentating their MTGO play: http://www.channelfireball.com/videos

thanks a lot guys, especially channel fireball looks like what I've been searching for aside from live streams
looks like you accidentally linked my post instead of the grand prix link though
 
I might be out of the buying and selling game professionally, but I still come across goodies.

I have one of each of the GP Vegas playmats and a sealed box of MM. PM me with offers.
 

ultron87

Member
Finished up my Shock Land play set with a few Ebay purchases today. Probably won't use all of them in a deck right now, but it seems like a wise long term investment.

Also I've determined that I love having Zendikar lands on hand for trades. They might as well be dollar bills.
 

bunbun777

Member
Played in a 8 player tourney on Sun. Went 4-0 with B/W flyers, removal, Liliana's Reaver and Sengir Vampire. No enchantments except Divine Strength and a Pacify. Little bit of lifegain and deathtouch. It was the heavy removal and mostly low cost creatures that seemed to win it. Prize pool sucked...but then again there just doesn't seem to be that many good cards to chase after, should have just traded my packs for an angel of thune since that's about all I wanted.
 

zoukka

Member
Played in a 8 player tourney on Sun. Went 4-0 with B/W flyers, removal, Liliana's Reaver and Sengir Vampire. No enchantments except Divine Strength and a Pacify. Little bit of lifegain and deathtouch. It was the heavy removal and mostly low cost creatures that seemed to win it. Prize pool sucked...but then again there just doesn't seem to be that many good cards to chase after, should have just traded my packs for an angel of thune since that's about all I wanted.

You crazy if you crack m14 packs.
 

ultron87

Member
I think I want to build a Delver + Young Pyromancer RU deck. I have no idea if this can actually be a thing. Maybe throw in some Black for Duskmantle Seer since everything else will be cheap? Though I guess if I'm doing that Falkenrath Aristocrat is probably a better 4-mana flyer.

What's the best place to order singles from?

Various Ebay sellers have worked out pretty well for me.
 

kirblar

Member
It's not just M14 packs. Cracking packs is fun but, in general it is a bad if you are looking at value. It's better to just buy the set. (If you want it) Or just buy an individual card if it's what you are looking for.
If the set's dense enough (RTR, MBS) it can be fine.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
I think I want to build a Delver + Young Pyromancer RU deck. I have no idea if this can actually be a thing. Maybe throw in some Black for Duskmantle Seer since everything else will be cheap? Though I guess if I'm doing that Falkenrath Aristocrat is probably a better 4-mana flyer.

Delver just isn't a card without real deck manipulation spells like ponder & brainstorm.
 

JulianImp

Member
Delver just isn't a card without real deck manipulation spells like ponder & brainstorm.

Yeah, I've never even considered running him in the Izzet deck I'm brewing because of that. Whenever I played with it, it would flip very rarely, despite having lots and lots of instants and sorceries, completely unlike how it played back when Standard had good library manipulation cards, which nearly always got them to flip within a turn or two of casting them.
 

zoukka

Member
It's not just M14 packs. Cracking packs is fun but, in general it is a bad if you are looking at value. It's better to just buy the set. (If you want it) Or just buy an individual card if it's what you are looking for.

It's never worth it financially, but with m14 it's just not worth it period.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Yeah, I've never even considered running him in the Izzet deck I'm brewing because of that. Whenever I played with it, it would flip very rarely, despite having lots and lots of instants and sorceries, completely unlike how it played back when Standard had good library manipulation cards, which nearly always got them to flip within a turn or two of casting them.

As a Tier 2, fuck around at FNM and maybe catch the meta off guard if you're lucky, Delver still has a spot in what has become known as TWoo's Izzet Cyclops deck. I run it and it almost always flips. Delver, Guttersnipe and Cyclops are the creatures and they all matter on spells. I win more games with Snipe than Delver, but Delver more than Cyclops.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if you cut Cyclops all together for Geist, you may have a legit deck of sorts.
 

Grimsen

Member
Is 79$ tax-in a good price for a M13 booster box?

I just started playing magic, mostly to see my friends and get out of the house once a week, and I have 5 decks, made mostly from 3 intro packs, single cards and a builder's toolkit. I'm just looking for more cards to fuck around with.

I don't plan on playing Standard, either.
 
Is 79$ tax-in a good price for a M13 booster box?

I just started playing magic, mostly to see my friends and get out of the house once a week, and I have 5 decks, made mostly from 3 intro packs, single cards and a builder's toolkit. I'm just looking for more cards to fuck around with.

I don't plan on playing Standard, either.

Do you friends like to draft? M13 is a fantastic set to draft, but not a great set for opening for value.
 

joelseph

Member
Man, I am tilting hard in 8-4 limited.. Been losing constantly lately. Today for exampe: Freaking lost Match 1 playing a esper detain deck against bant stuff. Beat him game 1. Was 21-1 the 2nd game with 2 mana up. He progenitor mimics, I hold the 2/2 flash bounce human thinking I have a second response after he declares target but it goes straight to him having copied my 3/1 that detains on entry. Eventually lost. Game 3 he nut draws, I flood. He slams a Tristoni on top of the 2/3 green weenie that gives counters out like candy. Next turn gridlocks for the win. Rage inducing.
 
Man, I am tilting hard in 8-4 limited.. Been losing constantly lately. Today for exampe: Freaking lost Match 1 playing a esper detain deck against bant stuff. Beat him game 1. Was 21-1 the 2nd game with 2 mana up. He progenitor mimics, I hold the 2/2 flash bounce human thinking I have a second response after he declares target but it goes straight to him having copied my 3/1 that detains on entry. Eventually lost. Game 3 he nut draws, I flood. He slams a Tristoni on top of the 2/3 green weenie that gives counters out like candy. Next turn gridlocks for the win. Rage inducing.

I posted about it earlier, but the DGR block draft format really turned out to be disappointing for me. RTR and GTC were intricate, skill-testing formats, but the block format feels remarkably more prone to variance. I feel like whether I lose or win, it's often because of the way the cards fell, not because of how well I played or how well I drafted. Even though you get to play with some sweet cards and build some sweet decks, I would honestly rather draft RTR or GTC again than DGR.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Can we whine about how utterly shit the new sliver art is again, I just saw the art on this...

Image.ashx


The fuck?

No really. The. Fuck?
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Vanilla tribe for newbies.

RIP most iconic Magic creature type.
 

Yeef

Member
The new slivers play fine in limited. Most of them are fair creatures for their cost, even if you don't play slivers.

During the pre-releases, I've found that act of treason is a bomb if you steal another player's slivers when you have even just one or two of your own. Especially Battle, Bonescythe, Thorncaster or Megantic slivers.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Making food, then most likely writing, either on rarity/accesibility issues or M14, since I have no f'n idea what to do with Standard.

M14 will be a bloodbath.

Go get em kirbs.

(You finally fixed the stray white pixels around your avatar. Nevermind this is just a side effect of the dark theme.)
 

ultron87

Member
And they don't even play well. They're not the same. I'm the biggest Timmy here, and those things are just garbage

How do they not play well? Full disclosure: I wasn't playing back in the day so I have no sentimental attachment to old slivers. And I do understand the art complaints.

I had plenty of great moments at the prerelease where I go to do cool stuff like playing the mana sliver to suddenly be able to produce all the mana I ever wanted, or getting to bash in with my new 6/6 with haste and first strike that just pumped all my other guys as well. Is this not the fondly remembered sliver experience? With the template change there just isn't any moment where I had to consider siding out my fewer slivers in case I faced a guy with all of them or where I literally couldn't play a sliver because it would make my opponent kill me with his. Is that the super fun gameplay we are missing out on here besides the "suddenly make having a bunch of slivers a negative sliver"? Or I guess the slivers being in all colors equally.
 

Kacar

Member
Quick question, can Boros Battleshaper's set people to block be used on someone who has hexproof? Since it doesnt say "target creature" would hexproof not work against it?
 

ultron87

Member
Quick question, can Boros Battleshaper's set people to block be used on someone who has hexproof? Since it doesnt say "target creature" would hexproof not work against it?

The "target creature" part of its ability applies to both the attacking and the blocking. The 'or' doesn't make it not count. So it can't get around hexproof.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
It does say target creature?

A simple check for "does hexproof work here" is this:

Does it say "target" anywhere?
Yes: Then hexproof probably blocks it
No: Then hexproof doesn't do anything to it

Maybe they should change the name of hexproof to targetproof.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
How do they not play well? Full disclosure: I wasn't playing back in the day so I have no sentimental attachment to old slivers. And I do understand the art complaints.

I had plenty of great moments at the prerelease where I go to do cool stuff like playing the mana sliver to suddenly be able to produce all the mana I ever wanted, or getting to bash in with my new 6/6 with haste and first strike that just pumped all my other guys as well. Is this not the fondly remembered sliver experience? With the template change there just isn't any moment where I had to consider siding out my fewer slivers in case I faced a guy with all of them or where I literally couldn't play a sliver because it would make my opponent kill me with his. What classic moments are we missing out on here besides the "suddenly make having a bunch of slivers a negative sliver"? Or I guess the slivers being in all colors equally.

Dude, I started playing again in Scars of Mirrodin/end of Zendikar. I have no attachment to slivers. But they play so damn slow and the two most useful ones are in colors that only have one each. But time you get 3 slivers on board, you're fucking dead. Unless you're playing against a control deck and then lol verdict your face and watch the tears flow because slivers cannot come back from board wipes
 

Kacar

Member
My bad I didnt mean Boros, it was some 3/4 first strike who set the combat, Im certain it didnt say "target" so I guess it would of worked. Thanks for the replies.
 

ultron87

Member
Dude, I started playing again in Scars of Mirrodin/end of Zendikar. I have no attachment to slivers. But they play so damn slow and the two most useful ones are in colors that only have one each. But time you get 3 slivers on board, you're fucking dead. Unless you're playing against a control deck and then lol verdict your face and watch the tears flow because slivers cannot come back from board wipes

Well you said they're "not the same" so I assumed you were comparing them to the old ones. Wouldn't they have all these same problems?
My bad I didnt mean Boros, it was some 3/4 first strike who set the combat, Im certain it didnt say "target" so I guess it would of worked. Thanks for the replies.

Odric, Master Tactician? Yeah, hexproof doesn't do anything against his ability.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
My bad I didnt mean Boros, it was some 3/4 first strike who set the combat, Im certain it didnt say "target" so I guess it would of worked. Thanks for the replies.

If it says "choose", it bypasses hexproof.
 

Yeef

Member
Unless you're playing against a control deck and then lol verdict your face and watch the tears flow because slivers cannot come back from board wipes
Slivers are primarily in Naya colors this go-round. The same colors that can play all of the indestructible effects in standard (Rootborn Defenses, Boros Charm, Ready & Willing).
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Need to sucker some SDCC guys into picking some up for me.
 

GoutPatrol

Forgotten in his cell
The SDCC promos are foil.

Welp, looks like I'll never have the hundreds upon hundreds of dollars needed to get one.

Has anyone thought about making a standard Merfolk deck for the summer? With Master of the Pearl Trident, Door of Destinies, and Mutavault around, it makes for a pretty dun deck.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Can you imagine the looks you'll get if you ever slam those down on the table?

Or the reaction of the crowds if they show up on a GP/PT stream?

GOT DAM.
 

unreon

Member
I'm about to enter my first draft this weekend with M14.

Anyone able to give any quick tips on strategies in drafting in this release? I'm kind of new to the concept of drafting, but have been watching some Channel LSV's stuff on MM and DGR to understand what's going on, heh.

Much appreciated!
 

zoukka

Member
Think of curve first and foremost and draft two colours maybe splashing a third. Don't try to splash cards with two coloured mana costs or higher. Pick removal highly.

Basic stuff.
 

scoot3r

Member
I always draft using this priority:

1. Bombs first of course

2. Removal second

3. Evasion creatures

4. Artifacts

5. K is for crap lol

It needed to spell something lol
 

Wichu

Member
Make sure you pick plenty of creatures. In my first couple of drafts, I had too few creatures and had to resort to using pretty bad ones just so I had something to defend with. I try to have roughly twice as many creature spells as non-creature spells.

And yeah, grab as many Pacifisms/Doom Blades/other removal as you can. I put my 5-1 at my prerelease down to having something like 8 removal spells in my deck (two of those were creatures with ETB effects).

Also, those Planeswalkers look niiice.

EDIT: Also, you want to have some big creatures. A common problem I've seen in our casual drafts is that people sometimes get run over by large creatures that don't die to damage-based (i.e. red/green) removal. If it flies, even better. Even something like a Serra Angel will leave opponents scrambling for an answer - there are only two non-rare creatures in the set that can always attack into it without dying (Groundshaker Sliver and Minotaur Abomination), while you get to keep hitting them for 4 thanks to vigilance (only one non-rare, Wall of Swords, can block it without dying!).
 
Top Bottom