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[Spades]

Hello MagicGAF. I don't know why, but I've suddenly had an urge to play MTG. I don't have a clue what I'm doing, so I just went out and bought a 2014 Core Set for a tenner.

Did I do the right thing? Is there anything else I should get in the meantime?

I love trading cards and opening new packs and so I think this was a big part of the appeal to me. I'm not really planning on going to my local game store any time soon as I'd like to learn the basics myself first. My wife is up for getting involved also, so I'll have someone to play against as we both learn.

I assume buying booster packs are a waste of time at the moment?

 

[ultron87]

That is a perfectly fine place to start if you just wanna play casually. Boosters aren't the best use of your money, as just buying individual cards online is better, but they sure are fun to open.

I really have no idea if the rule insert that comes with those things is actually sufficient for learning how to play. I'd assume so.

You could also look at the various "Duel Decks" they have which are two decks that are built to play reasonably well against each other. Most recent one. These do have cards that are a little more complicated than the ones in the intro decks.

 

[WanderingWind]

Hello MagicGAF. I don't know why, but I've suddenly had an urge to play MTG. I don't have a clue what I'm doing, so I just went out and bought a 2014 Core Set for a tenner.

Did I do the right thing? Is there anything else I should get in the meantime?

I love trading cards and opening new packs and so I think this was a big part of the appeal to me. I'm not really planning on going to my local game store any time soon as I'd like to learn the basics myself first. My wife is up for getting involved also, so I'll have someone to play against as we both learn.

I assume buying booster packs are a waste of time at the moment?

You don't happen to live in Germany, do ya? Cause if so...boy do I have a box of free cards with your name on it.

But, if not, I would say pick up the Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska. It comes with two complete decks that you guys can play together with. The fat packs have rules and stuff inside, with a complete step-by-step breakdown of everything Magic. They also come with several packs of cards and a good stack of basic lands.

You can also pick up the Duels of the Planeswalkers video game. It's a great entry in the game. 2014 version is super cheap right now, too.

 

[Spades]

That is a perfectly fine place to start if you just wanna play casually. Boosters aren't the best use of your money, as just buying individual cards online is better, but they sure are fun to open.

I really have no idea if the rule insert that comes with those things is actually sufficient for learning how to play. I'd assume so.

You could also look at the various "Duel Decks" they have which are two decks that are built to play reasonably well against each other. Most recent one. These do have cards that are a little more complicated than the ones in the intro decks.

Good advice, thank you!

I'll certainly rip some packs once I get into things. I appreciate you can probably buy individual cards but as I said, half of the appeal (at the moment) is buying and opening packs.

 

[Spades]

You don't happen to live in Germany, do ya? Cause if so...boy do I have a box of free cards with your name on it.

But, if not, I would say pick up the Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska. It comes with two complete decks that you guys can play together with. The fat packs have rules and stuff inside, with a complete step-by-step breakdown of everything Magic. They also come with several packs of cards and a good stack of basic lands.

You can also pick up the Duels of the Planeswalkers video game. It's a great entry in the game. 2014 version is super cheap right now, too.

Wow that's very kind of you! But I'm based in the UK, sadly.

Excited about this game already!

 

[The Technomancer]

"Reign in the Eldrazi" is what I fear given the power level of the originals.

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if the "big ones" don't get cards, or at least don't get creature cards this time around.

 

[OnPoint]

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if the "big ones" don't get cards, or at least don't get creature cards this time around.

It would be such a shame if they didn't get new cards.

 

[The Technomancer]

It would be such a shame if they didn't get new cards.

They'll probably do something offbeat like the Gods, since they don't want to do better then Emmy in power level but something directly comparable in design would just be disappointing in comparison.

 

[bigkrev]

They'll probably do something offbeat like the Gods, since they don't want to do better then Emmy in power level but something directly comparable in design would just be disappointing in comparison.

Give them all the "If you didn't cast this from your hand" text

 

[WanderingWind]

Let's be honest, Emrakul just needs to be reprinted with Return of the Eldrazi. Hell, make it a special promo give away or something, but without Emrakul it's not just the Eldrazi.

 

[bigkrev]

Let's be honest, Emrakul just needs to be reprinted with Return of the Eldrazi. Hell, make it a special promo give away or something, but without Emrakul it's not just the Eldrazi.

You can print a super splashy emrakul card without breaking it.

Example
Emrakul 18
18/18
Trample, whatever the new Eldrazi Keyword is, Flying, Hexproof
When Emrakul enters the battlefield, Exile all non-Eldrazi permanents and discard your hand. Sacrifice Emrakul if you did not cast it from your hand.

 

[WanderingWind]

You can print a super splashy emrakul card without breaking it.

Example
Emrakul 18
18/18
Trample, whatever the new Eldrazi Keyword is, Flying, Hexproof
When Emrakul enters the battlefield, Exile all non-Eldrazi permanents and discard your hand. Sacrifice Emrakul if you did not cast it from your hand.

But Emrakul already exists. You can't undo it. I say either reprint, or just out crazy Emrakul.

 

[ultron87]

Emrakul, The OH SHIT SHE'S A PHYREXIAN

(15)

15/15

Flying, Protection from colored spells and abilities, Trample, Infect

When Emrakul TOHSSAP enters the battlefield put 15 -1/-1 Counters on all other creatures.

 

[WanderingWind]

Emrakul, The OH SHIT SHE'S A PHYREXIAN

(15)

15/15

Flying, Protection from colored spells and abilities, Trample, Infect

When Emrakul TOHSSAP enters the battlefield put 15 -1/-1 Counters on all other creatures.

Is it wrong that I pre-ordered a playset of this on CFB already

 

[OnPoint]

Let's be honest, Emrakul just needs to be reprinted with Return of the Eldrazi. Hell, make it a special promo give away or something, but without Emrakul it's not just the Eldrazi.

I agree with you, especially given the card's success in both Modern and Legacy. It's the kind of card that is going to continue to go up in price otherwise. I say this as someone who own like 6 Emrakuls -- I don't care about the value. Print more.

 

[An-Det]

Every single deck in Vintage is super fucking broken:

Mana Drain deck -----> Play every single Power Nine card and try to tinker Blightsteel Colossus onto the battlefield or get Voltaic Key and Time Vault out at the same time for infinite turns.

Dredge ----> Bazaar of Baghdad, dredge up Golgari Grave-Troll and sacrifice Bloodghast/Narcomeba to get 20+ Zombies from Bridge from Below and then Dread Return Flame-Kin Zealot to deal 50 damage on Turn 2. Vintage Dredge is almost unbeatable without graveyard hate or a combo win on turn 1-2. A Dredge game basically involves hate cards and anti-hate cards to the point that the entire sideboard of Dredge is artifact/enchantment destruction and the large majority of Vintage sideboards are cards like Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Yixid Jailer, etc.

MUD/Stax ---> Use Mishra's Workshop to play as many Trinisphere effects as possible to prevent opponent from doing anything at all. Sometimes you see Smokestack (hence the name "stax") to kill everything you have.

The Perfect Storm ---> The most broken Storm deck ever featuring Yawgmoth's Will and Tendrils of Agony.

God I love Vintage. Such a bonkers format. A nearby store is starting a proxy Vintage thing, so hopefully I'll be able to play in real life a bit. I'll finally be able to use my Mana Drains.

 

[red13th]

I hate Emrakul. Actually, I hate Zendikar in general, fuck Zendikar 2.

 

[WanderingWind]

I ultimate'd my first JTMS today and it was everything I hoped it could be.

 

[rexor0717]

I'll be playing some Zendikar 2. Its the set I started on, so I feel like I'd have to go back.

 

[WanderingWind]

Zendikar 2, the set with creatures so powerful, they had no choice but to reprint good counterspells! Also, they have to reprint Fetchlands and full art lands!

A free baby unicorn with every booster box sold, too.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Zendikar 2, the set with creatures so powerful, they had no choice but to reprint good counterspells! Also, they have to reprint Fetchlands and full art lands!

A free baby unicorn with every booster box sold, too.

I'm gonna laugh and laugh the day Fetches just get banned in modern instead.

 

[WanderingWind]

I'm gonna laugh and laugh the day Fetches just get banned in modern instead.

Shit, since I own zero copies I would only be against this for the fuck "SCG buy up types" angle.

 

[kirblar]

I'm gonna laugh and laugh the day Fetches just get banned in modern instead.

Will never happen, despite lazy MTGO players wanting it to happen.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Shit, since I own zero copies I would only be against this for the fuck "SCG buy up types" angle.

I'm not a Modern player so it doesn't really bother me. Granted, all my competitive play is online too, so I don't really have a problem with the shuffling aspect and I'd still see them just as much in Vintage. They aren't generally as big of a deal in Vintage as they are in Legacy and Modern though, mostly because land in general isn't a huge deal.

 

[bigkrev]

Will never happen, despite lazy MTGO players wanting it to happen.

I'm down to thinking they just reprint the Zendikar 5, and not the Onslaught ones.

 

[ultron87]

If they put them in Standard they will do all ten. But they might also just toss them in Moderner Masters.

 

[narcosis219]

If they banned fetches then maybe I'd finally be able to afford a set for cube.

 

[WanderingWind]

Will never happen, despite lazy MTGO players wanting it to happen.

Wait, MTGO players want the Fetches banned? But they don't even have to shuffle....

I'm down to thinking they just reprint the Zendikar 5, and not the Onslaught ones.

Nah, they've said several times that they're done breaking up cycles like that. They'll spread them over the block, but not in separate ones.

 

[OnPoint]

If they put them in Standard they will do all ten. But they might also just toss them in Moderner Masters.

I'd be shocked if they put the Fetches from Onslaught in MM2 without having them pass through Standard first. But we'll see.

 

[kirblar]

It's because they hate shuffling in IRL events all the time after having MTGO do it for them.

 

[ultron87]

I'd be shocked if they put the Fetches from Onslaught in MM2 without having them pass through Standard first. But we'll see.

Oh yeah, definitely. Wasn't suggesting that. If they just put fetches in MM2 it'll just be the Zendikar ones. It'd be the height of confusion to put non modern legal cards in there.

 

[WanderingWind]

It's because they hate shuffling in IRL events all the time after having MTGO do it for them.

Ah. That explains it.

 

[OnPoint]

Oh yeah, definitely. Wasn't suggesting that. If they just put fetches in MM2 it'll just be the Zendikar ones. It'd the height of confusion to put non modern legal cards in there.

I think that if they were going to skip putting fetches in standard, they would ONLY reprint the Zendikar ones in MM2. I think they would feel weird about printing the full cycle in MM2 to make the Ons ones all of the sudden Modern legal. Maybe I'm wrong. But I'd love to have fetches in Standard.

It's because they hate shuffling in IRL events all the time after having MTGO do it for them.

Cry me a river. Just print them.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Oh yeah, definitely. Wasn't suggesting that. If they just put fetches in MM2 it'll just be the Zendikar ones. It'd be the height of confusion to put non modern legal cards in there.

I can't imagine there are a lot of players who actually play Modern competitively who can't understand the concept of "this is modern legal."

 

[WanderingWind]

Can we also have Kiki Jikki reprints?

Does anybody have any modern or legacy staples online they're trading off, btw?

 

[bigkrev]

If they put them in Standard they will do all ten. But they might also just toss them in Moderner Masters.

Nah, they've said several times that they're done breaking up cycles like that. They'll spread them over the block, but not in separate ones.

They could do the 5 Fetches in the first 2 sets, and a different cycle of 5 on-color lands in the 3rd, large expansion with a diffent theme from the first 2 sets. Landfall is too good a mechanic to not use again if you are returning to Zendikar

 

[kirblar]

If next block isn't actually 3 sets we could easily see the 5/5 split.

 

[ultron87]

I can't imagine there are a lot of players who actually play Modern competitively who can't understand the concept of "this is modern legal."

I don't think they'd make a one time exception just to make them legal without putting them in Standard first. "Everything from Mirrodin forward" is an easier line to stick to. And oh god, there'd be so many articles like "Add these cards in to fix Modern, Wizards!"

Can we also have Kiki Jikki reprints?

The Modern Masters reprint wasn't good for you?

 

[WanderingWind]

The Modern Masters reprint wasn't good for you?

No, because they need to do MMA2 like VMA do the prices go down some on the good cards.

...shit, they'll just make Bob, Goyf and the like the new Super Duper Mythic rarity, won't they

 

["God's Beard!"]

Fuck it

Terraform
Land

, Pay 2 life: Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
"The Eldrazi ravaged the landscape of Zendikar. But total annihilation only created room for new beginnings."
ill.Terese Nielsen

 

[An-Det]

No, because they need to do MMA2 like VMA do the prices go down some on the good cards.

...shit, they'll just make Bob, Goyf and the like the new Super Duper Mythic rarity, won't they

Probably. At this point we'd be lucky if they just kept them at Mythic.

 

[bigkrev]

No, because they need to do MMA2 like VMA do the prices go down some on the good cards.

...shit, they'll just make Bob, Goyf and the like the new Super Duper Mythic rarity, won't they

They also reprinted it in FTV

 

[Angry Grimace]

Priceless Treasures rarity. 1 card per pallet load of cases.

 

[WanderingWind]

I'll try not to thing of that. I'm too pleased at WotC for finally allowing me to own a full set of Volcanic Islands to be negative this week.

So, modern players. What do you think of this? I can't afford Spellskite or Clique at this point. What changes would you make that aren't "buy fetches."

 

[ultron87]

No, because they need to do MMA2 like VMA do the prices go down some on the good cards.

It probably did help Kiki quite a bit, since he was at rare. The fact that he is played pretty regularly in Modern and is around 20 with Modern PTQ season in full swing speaks to that.

Not to say I also don't agree that they should print way more of MM2 if they do it.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Maybe move the Counterfluxes into the sideboard, add a Spell Snare and two Lightning Helixes, turn the mutavaults into Tectonic edges and add a single Colonnade over a basic island?

 

[WanderingWind]

It probably did help Kiki quite a bit, since he was at rare. The fact that he is played pretty regularly in Modern and is around 20 with Modern PTQ season in full swing speaks to that.

Not to say I also don't agree that they should print way more of MM2 if they do it.

Well, he started at around 8 bucks with MMA, but is back up to 20. I always forget the season swing though.

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";117299690]Maybe move the Counterfluxes into the sideboard, add a Spell Snare and two Lightning Helixes, turn the mutavaults into Tectonic edges and add a single Colonnade over a basic island?[/QUOTE]

Okay, good point on Colonnade. I swapped out a Mutavault and a basic with two of those. Changed out the Charms for Helixes too. (Forgot all about those, thanks mate). I dunno about spell snare. I might change out a Flux with 1 snare.

 

[ultron87]

Why Peek over Probe, out of curiosity?

 

[WanderingWind]

Why Peek over Probe, out of curiosity?

Snapcaster'able at the end of their turn. I played with Probe at first because I already had it, but once I tried Peek I never wished I had probe instead.

Not sure if it's right or now, but that's my train of thought.

 

[OnPoint]

Well, he started at around 8 bucks with MMA, but is back up to 20. I always forget the season swing though.



Okay, good point on Colonnade. I swapped out a Mutavault and a basic with two of those. Changed out the Charms for Helixes too. (Forgot all about those, thanks mate). I dunno about spell snare. I might change out a Flux with 1 snare.

He's been at 20 for probably 5 months or so.