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[bigkrev]

I thought you were joking. That's not a rational reaction to more EDH jank being printed.

Also, commenting on the card's rarity isn't trolling.... The card feels mythic. It's really weird (and kind of awesome) how rarity is being re-evaluated in Born of the Gods.

Only meant to quote the first part- yeah, that card actually feels mythic.

And it's not just this card (which I wouldn't print at any cost, and would probably put the Progenitus "can't reanimate" shuffle effect on no matter what) was printed, but that I have lost all faith in R&D ever fixing the Hexproof problem. We live in a world with powerful auras and Swords now- Hexproof no longer has a place in it. It also leads to less interactivity, which is something I feel they have been pushing towards for a year now- spells are mostly awful.

 

[kirblar]

Only meant to quote the first part- yeah, that card actually feels mythic.

And it's not just this card (which I wouldn't print at any cost, and would probably put the Progenitus "can't reanimate" shuffle effect on no matter what) was printed, but that I have lost all faith in R&D ever fixing the Hexproof problem. We live in a world with powerful auras and Swords now- Hexproof no longer has a place in it. It also leads to less interactivity, which is something I feel they have been pushing towards for a year now- spells are mostly awful.

Um, you notice that all the HP cards have severe drawbacks/limitations in Theros? They're all trash or expensive or have windows where you can hit them.

 

[Yeef]

Deathtouch would actually have been a really good idea.

Bow of Nylea already gives all your creatures deathtouch. The only real options were reach, hexproof and flash.

 

[ultron87]

And Flash steps on Prophet of Kruphix's toes.

Also, it wouldn't be symmetrical text-wise with the other Archetypes since "Creatures your opponents control lose Flash" doesn't actually do anything.

 

[OnPoint]

Only meant to quote the first part- yeah, that card actually feels mythic.

And it's not just this card (which I wouldn't print at any cost, and would probably put the Progenitus "can't reanimate" shuffle effect on no matter what) was printed, but that I have lost all faith in R&D ever fixing the Hexproof problem. We live in a world with powerful auras and Swords now- Hexproof no longer has a place in it. It also leads to less interactivity, which is something I feel they have been pushing towards for a year now- spells are mostly awful.

I just don't think that THIS is the card to freak out and take a break over. It's an 8-mana 6/5 that dies to board wipes. It's a bullshit, fatheaded beater that isn't hard to deal with at all. C'mon man, you're knowledgeable about the game. It's not like TNN came to standard. Pick your battles.

 

[Sinatar]

8 mana is nothing to green these days, or have folks already forgotten how insane the ramp is in green devotion with nyx.

 

[bigkrev]

I just don't think that THIS is the card to freak out and take a break over. It's an 8-mana 6/5 that dies to board wipes. It's a bullshit, fatheaded beater that isn't hard to deal with at all. C'mon man, you're knowledgeable about the game. It's not like TNN came to standard. Pick your battles.

Actually, I think TNN would be a powerful but OK to print card in Standard. Supreme Verdict exists and is played, and there is less self inflicted damage in standard (no fetches Ancient Tombs, FOW, Phyrexian mana, ect) which makes him a longer clock.

My previus long break came from Coldsnap/Time Spiral- I hated Coldsnap limited, and the extra 100 some "rares" in TSP combined with me starting college made me feel priced out of Magic, so I left. I'm (likely) leaving now because the game has evolved into something that I don't enjoy. First they took away playable land destruction, then they hampered creature removal, and now they are printing creatures that CANT be removed. I'm the rare person who played in Mirroden standard pre-bannings who really enjoyed playing against Ravager Affinity, because I could run 4 main deck Detonates and Shatters, and curve out Land Destruction turns 1 (Detonate for 0), 2 (Shatter), and 3 (Stone Rain/Molten Rain). Now, you pay a minimum of 4 mana for a zero upside LD spell.

One of the main reasons I came back around ROE was because of the Pyromancer Ascencion deck. I fell in love with the deck, which was a nice skill testing deck that ran zero creatures and zero Planeswalkers (although I did have 1-4 Baby Jace in the SB), and beat you by playing a long game, turning your spells into super-powerful versions and overpowering your opponent. Following the rotation, I moved on to the Gerry Thompson Desperate Ravings powered 5 color control, which is another deck that relied on just having powerful cards, playing a long game and eventually winning.

What do those 3 decks all have in common? None of them were the best deck in the format (one of them was a Tier 2 deck, one was a rouge deck I built, and one deck fell out of favor after a while), but they all allowed me to slowly win the game through sheer persistence and overall card quality. I don't ever want to play an Esper deck- it just seems souless to me! But we are now at a point where if you want to play anything other than a midrange or aggro deck, you have to lean towards tuned machines like Esper because the creatures are just too good to beat now if you just want to durdle around. I haven't played much Standard in a while, because there are just no decks that can hold my interest anymore.

So while I view Hexproof as the flag bearer of all that I feel is wrong with Magic now, it's not just the printing of this card. The game just isn't fun for me anymore.

 

[Firemind]

High five! I also played Pyromancer's Ascension during the two standard blocks it was legal in and almost reached top 8 at nationals (bubble boy). Curse you, squadron hawks!

 

[OnPoint]

lots of text

Makes sense. I understand completely man.

 

[kirblar]

Actually, I think TNN would be a powerful but OK to print card in Standard. Supreme Verdict exists and is played, and there is less self inflicted damage in standard (no fetches Ancient Tombs, FOW, Phyrexian mana, ect) which makes him a longer clock.

Stop posting, you're drunk. (hopefully.)

 

[OnPoint]

A big part of me wants to preorder Xenagos at $20.

Yay or nay

 

[kirblar]

A big part of me wants to preorder Xenagos at $20.

Yay or nay

Look at Thassa. Nay. They're not 4xes and they're not played in every deck.

 

[CorruptShadow]

A big part of me wants to preorder Xenagos at $20.

Yay or nay

No

 

[OnPoint]

Look at Thassa. Nay. They're not 4xes and they're not played in every deck.

Hm. Dang. Ah well.

 

[Keru_Shiri]

A big part of me wants to preorder Xenagos at $20.

Yay or nay

Prerelease hype might mean you can immediately flip him for >$20, but otherwise I wouldn't. Just about every expensive card I wanted out of Theros cooled off to reasonable levels after a month or so.

 

[Karakand]

My previus long break came from Coldsnap/Time Spiral- I hated Coldsnap limited, and the extra 100 some "rares" in TSP combined with me starting college made me feel priced out of Magic, so I left. I'm (likely) leaving now because the game has evolved into something that I don't enjoy. First they took away playable land destruction, then they hampered creature removal, and now they are printing creatures that CANT be removed. I'm the rare person who played in Mirroden standard pre-bannings who really enjoyed playing against Ravager Affinity, because I could run 4 main deck Detonates and Shatters, and curve out Land Destruction turns 1 (Detonate for 0), 2 (Shatter), and 3 (Stone Rain/Molten Rain). Now, you pay a minimum of 4 mana for a zero upside LD spell.

Sorry to nitpick, but that was an unusual situation--land destruction had been downplayed for some time prior to that. The manabases I was able to run more or less unpunished in Cunning Wake almost looked as asinine as your average Modern manabase.

Hopefully there's a new or heavily modified format for you when you come back. That's where the real strength of the game is.

 

[Firemind]

I still remember the time when Stone Rain, Pillage, Tangle Wire, Rishadan Port AND Opposition were legal at the same time. Fun times!

 

[Karakand]

I still remember the time when Stone Rain, Pillage, Tangle Wire, Rishidan Port AND Opposition were legal at the same time. Fun times!

We walked 15 miles--in the snow I might add--to play our painlands and we were damn well grateful to have them for the turn they were in play or usable.

 

[Firemind]

I had Ice Age Karplusan Forests that were dear to me. I miss the old land borders...

I also remember I opened more than a dozen Alliances packs to complete my Pillage playset. Dear lord, the rares are garbage. At least I got one FoW out of it.

RIP Pillage

 

[ultron87]

Whenever I read such nostalgic waxings of how Magic used to be it just sounds like it was always miserable for at least one of the players.

Admittedly that could probably be an apt description of how it is today as well.

 

[OnPoint]

Whenever I read such nostalgic waxings of how Magic used to be it just sounds like it was always miserable for at least one of the players.

Admittedly that could probably be an apt description of how it is today as well.

I hated land destro.

But man, did I love me those days.

 

[Karakand]

I had Ice Age Karplusan Forests that were dear to me. I miss the old land borders...

I also remember I opened more than a dozen Alliances packs to complete my Pillage playset. Dear lord, the rares are garbage. At least I got one FoW out of it.

RIP Pillage

But Inquest told me Balduvian Horde was an amazing creature.

Spoiler

For some reason it blew my mind when I found out Lovisa Coldeyes was a woman.

Whenever I read such nostalgic waxings of how Magic used to be it just sounds like it was always miserable for at least one of the players.

Admittedly that could probably be an apt description of how it is today as well.

Some stuff was never fun (Turbo-Stasis), but all of these powerful resource denial cards (sheesh is Pillage powerful now?) were balanced by the power level of spells. Bob Maher Jr. once finished turn 1 of a Pro Tour final match with a land in play and a card in hand but still won.

Spoiler

His opponent forgot to Wasteland and lost to a hard casted Force of Will lol.

 

[Firemind]

But Inquest told me Balduvian Horde was an amazing creature.

Spoiler

For some reason it blew my mind when I found out Lovisa Coldeyes was a woman.

dat flavour text doe

"Peace will come only when we have taken Varchild's head."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

"Were they to reduce us to ash, we would clog their throats and sting their eyes in payment."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

Red cards had the most badass flavour text. This is why I became a red mage, gentlemen.

 

[OnPoint]

But Inquest told me Balduvian Horde was an amazing creature.

Spoiler

For some reason it blew my mind when I found out Lovisa Coldeyes was a woman.

]

At the time it was really powerful.

 

[Firemind]

Balduvian Horde was about as powerful as Juzam Djinn.

But none could touch Force of Nature.

 

[Karakand]

dat flavour text doe

"Peace will come only when we have taken Varchild's head."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

"Were they to reduce us to ash, we would clog their throats and sting their eyes in payment."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

Red cards had the most badass flavour text. This is why I became a red mage, gentlemen.

"Daughter, on the day you have killed your Pale Bear, then will I give you your true name."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

metal as heck mom :bow

At the time it was really powerful.

It's hard to find data from those days, do you remember an event it was really big in? I remember it was a sideboard card in a few Invitational decks one year (1999 maybe?).

 

[bigkrev]

"Daughter, on the day you have killed your Pale Bear, then will I give you your true name."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

metal as heck mom :bow



It's hard to find data from those days, do you remember an event it was really big in? I remember it was a sideboard card in a few Invitational decks one year (1999 maybe?).

All I remember was that when this got reprinted in 6th Edition, people thought it was a big fucking deal.

 

[OnPoint]

"Daughter, on the day you have killed your Pale Bear, then will I give you your true name."
—Lovisa Coldeyes,
Balduvian Chieftain

metal as heck mom :bow



It's hard to find data from those days, do you remember an event it was really big in? I remember it was a sideboard card in a few Invitational decks one year (1999 maybe?).

I could go through some old Inquests or something... Lol

 

[aidan]

But Inquest told me Balduvian Horde was an amazing creature.

Spoiler

For some reason it blew my mind when I found out Lovisa Coldeyes was a woman.

I bought four Balduvian Hordes about a month ago. No regrets.

 

[Karakand]

I bought four Balduvian Hordes about a month ago. No regrets.

Hard to regret a 2 dollar purchase.

Whatcha putting them in?

 

[EsotericManiac]

BBD said TNN won't ever get banned. I believe him

 

[Keru_Shiri]

Man, I miss the antics of InQuest. Duelist and Scrye were okay, but InQuest had personality.

 

[ThLunarian]

With all this nostalgia talk... has anyone given Historic Standard a try? That's a format where you pick a Standard format past or present, and build a deck with only cards legal in that particular format. Then you play against other Historic Standard decks.

It sounds like a blast. When I can afford to start building my collection back up again, I want to build Counter Rebels (Masques and Invasion), Napster (Saga and Masques), and Kibler's PT Chicago-winning four-color insanity (green/red/white with Armageddons, Blastoderms, FTKs, mana dorks, and splash black for Tsabo's Decree - also Masques and Invasion).

 

[An-Det]

I've never played it myself, but the concept never seemed fair at all to everything that wasn't Urza's-block combo winter insanity. I'm curious to see if it's that bad in practice though.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I briefly mentioned it earlier, but yesterday at FNM I drafted the "Limited Resources Special;" boring, efficient creatures, that somehow just always get there.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/fnm-draft-17-jan-2014/

I'm only re-posting it because I thought the sideboard plan was actually kinda sweet. Green was underdrafted, so by the end of the draft I'd picked up 8 playable green cards in the dregs of each pack. I ended up siding out blue for green in the third match to have access to the tools necessary to beat my opponent who was on BR Minotaurs. The rest of the night was just a testament to how efficient creatures like Ill-Tempered Cyclops and Borderland Minotaur are good enough to get there on their own (sometimes). Fortunately I didn't get matched up against anybody doing anything degenerate, and the boring creature package was enough.

 

[red13th]

With all this nostalgia talk... has anyone given Historic Standard a try? That's a format where you pick a Standard format past or present, and build a deck with only cards legal in that particular format. Then you play against other Historic Standard decks.

It sounds like a blast. When I can afford to start building my collection back up again, I want to build Counter Rebels (Masques and Invasion), Napster (Saga and Masques), and Kibler's PT Chicago-winning four-color insanity (green/red/white with Armageddons, Blastoderms, FTKs, mana dorks, and splash black for Tsabo's Decree - also Masques and Invasion).

Build your own Standard seems more fun. Two blocks, 1 core set.
You can have amazing stuff like Kamigawa+Masques+8th Edition!

 

[Hero]

BBD said TNN won't ever get banned. I believe him

BBD?

 

[blindrocket]

BBD?

Brian Braun-Duin

 

[CorruptShadow]

BBD?

Brian Braun-Duin

Edit: ^Beaten, I should remember to refresh the browser every now and then

 

[Karakand]

I've never played it myself, but the concept never seemed fair at all to everything that wasn't Urza's-block combo winter insanity. I'm curious to see if it's that bad in practice though.

There are banned lists, but they probably aren't substantial enough, I think Mirrodin Standards only ban Skullclamp.

 

[keeblerdrow]

There are banned lists, but they probably aren't substantial enough, I think Mirrodin Standards only ban Skullclamp.

And the artifact lands, I believe. Wasn't there also a ban on Disciple of the Vault while it was standard legal, too?

 

[Karakand]

And the artifact lands, I believe. Wasn't there also a ban on Disciple of the Vault while it was standard legal, too?

Yes along with Arcbound Ravager, it was really kind of surreal to play through those Standard seasons.

But I think we might be talking about different things--to my knowledge Historic Standard does not preserve the banned lists of past Standard seasons (and that's not necessarily wrong).

 

[keeblerdrow]

Yes along with Arcbound Ravager, it was really kind of surreal to play through those Standard seasons.

But I think we might be talking about different things--to my knowledge Historic Standard does not preserve the banned lists of past Standard seasons (and that's not necessarily wrong).

Ah. Yeah, it sounds like it. Don't know why anyone would ever allow artifact lands to be legal in anything that allows affinity, though.

 

[blindrocket]

Artifact Lands are not banned in Pauper!

 

[Firemind]

If anything's fair game, I think Fairies and Jund have a fighting chance against Tolarian Academy decks. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek weren't printed back then (only Duress which got reprinted in later core sets). Their strategy basically revolved around mulliganning until they had Windfall/Time Spiral and a critical mass of mana ramp in their opening hand I believe. If you can strip away their key card, you can amass an army to end the game fairly quickly while disrupting their hand/mana.

Affinity is unstoppable though, yeah, but without disruption, the Tolarian Academy decks can win before they do, so it all balances out.

 

[Karakand]

Ah. Yeah, it sounds like it. Don't know why anyone would ever allow artifact lands to be legal in anything that allows affinity, though.

Well, it is a format with Gorilla Shaman.

Artifact Lands are not banned in Pauper!

Neither is Gush lol.

COINCIDENTALLY I'M SURE, Delver Blue and Affinity are 2 of the top decks in the format.

 

[blindrocket]

Well, it is a format with Gorilla Shaman.



Neither is Gush lol.

COINCIDENTALLY I'M SURE, Delver Blue and Affinity are 2 of the top decks in the format.

Yeah, I'm not a fan going up against them. I hate seeing Islands just because of the counter spells, really.

 

[red13th]

Caleb Durward playing Modern Skred, does some hilarious stuff with Boros Reckoner but has too many bad matchups.

 

[An-Det]

Played in a Legacy all-foils tournament today (the prizes for top 8 were MM Bob, FTV Jace, Deathrite, Top, Rav Loam, Prere Emrakul, FTV Maze of Ith and Textless Bolt, all foil), playing Punishing Jund of course. About 30 people, so 5 rounds and cut to top 8.

Round 1: Dredge
I lose the die roll and keep a solid hand. He goes LED, Careful Study, win. Game 2 was a bit slower, but I got rolled.

Round 2: Lands
Game 1 was really close, going back and forth. He gets low and drops a Chasm to hold me off, but I have just enough damage and DRS life loss to finish it. Game 2 he stalls a bit, which gave me the opening I needed to seal the deal.

Round 3: Imperial Painter
Game 1 I dont know what he's on and get screwed by Blood Moon. Game 2 I have basics but nothing really going on, so he drops a blood moon and then a painter (naming blue), with nothing left in hand. EOT, I Red Elemental Blast his Blood Moon (taking him by surprise and approval) and then Decay the Painter, drop a Goyf and get there. Game 3 was similar, I got an early big goyf and enough removal to keep him off balance.

Round 4: UR Delver
I take a close game 1. I think he's on straight burn at first and get worried, but UR delver is easier since my removal staves off a lot of damage. Game 2 I'm in a good position (15 life, 6 lands, 1 being a Wasteland). I play Bloodbraid into Goyf. He dazes and I dont pay so I can next play a Hymn to Tourach (he has 3 cards in hand). Since I'm tapped out, he responds to the Hymn with 2 Price of Progress to kill me (I figured even if he had 1 I was safe, woops). Game 3 I'm playing the long game but pull it out.

Round 5: Enchantress
I knew he was on enchantress, and I have a lot of practice with this matchup since a friend has played it for ages. I won the die roll and went fetch-> Deathrite, turn 2 Hymn, turn 3 Hymn Hymn (leaving 1 card in hand and 1 land), turn 4 Goyf Goyf. It felt damn good. Game 2 was a bit more interactive, but since I played my 4 thoughtseizes 4 turns in a row (getting Enchantress, 2x Green Sun's Zenith, and the GW tutor thing) it wasn't really close.

Standings were announced, and at 4-1 I was in 2nd place. Yay being on the play!

Quarterfinals: Esper Affinity (tezz and stoneforges along with normal affinity things).
This was the dude I drew with at the GPT I won to get into top 8 then, so I knew his general build. I take game 1 pretty handily. Game 2 he gets a quick Etched Oracle with Plating that gets there. Game 3 he had 3 Tezz's in a row and I couldn't deal with the 3rd, so it was over for me.

I ended up in 5th place and left with a foil Ravnica Life from the Loam. Had a good time, and looking forward to a legacy 1k at another nearby store tomorrow.

 

[Karakand]

Game 2 I have basics but nothing really going on, so he drops a blood moon and then a painter (naming blue), with nothing left in hand. EOT, I Red Elemental Blast his Blood Moon (taking him by surprise and approval) and then Decay the Painter, drop a Goyf and get there.