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Magic: the Gathering - Battle for Zendikar |OT| Lands matter (but nothing else does)

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You need your lands to bring other lands into play. The only spot you have to play with is the single Sejiri Steppe. If you actually wanted to use the mana you're pulling up you'd probably have to play Battlelands over Shocks because you can't afford to pay the life to get them all into play untapped + fetch stuff.

My bad I missed the ghost quarter in the list and yeah if you just get fetches for multiple landfall triggers you should have enough to tap down all creatures of the opponent and get a seijiri steppe to get through hexproof creatures even.

If you're hurting on life you can even get out the ghost quarter to destroy your own nonbasic.
 

JulianImp

Member
I wonder why they changed the rules, that card limit being dependent on rarity thing seems like a really bizarre modification of the rules.

This is a restriction that only exists within that game. You can still run up to four copies of anything anywhere else.

The rules that might've changed since you last played (depending on when that was) could be:
  • Damage no longer "goes on the stack", so creatures like Mogg Fanatic or Sakura-Tribe Elder lost most of their value. This change also made Aquamoeba a sad, sad card that sucks
  • If you mulligan down to less than your initial seven cards you get to scry 1 right after both players decide to keep their hands (I'm not sure about the exact timing though, since I haven't played since that change went live)
  • You can play with the prerelease promo card you're given, which now comes as part of the prerelease kit, rather than being a card the organizers have to hand out separatedly
  • Magic Player Rewards have been discontinued, and nothing has showed up to replace them (there's some crappy Planeswalker Points site which tracks your player level and awards you achievements, but that's all it's good for)
  • Non-competitive rules enforcement level events (think FNMs) now have a way more relaxed penalty guide than the full-fledged IPG, and the latter have been reworked to avoid having REL-dependent penalties
 
I just joined my first Legacy Cube of this go-around. I hadn't been able to find time to play until tonight. First match was unplayably laggy; I had to restart my computer after taking 20 minutes off of my clock to win the first game, and I managed to lose the next two because I didn't have enough time to play properly. The second match I just got rolled by a deck I wasn't equipped to beat. The third match hasn't started yet, but I'm still salty from the first one.

I'm an addict. I love this game, but I can't actually play it in a way I enjoy anymore. I keep chasing the high, but I keep getting let down.
 

Firemind

Member
I just lost to mono red in the final. Had a nail-biting first game, but then lost the next two games to bad draws. Oh well.

If it wasn't for BFZ being a total shit format, I wouldn't have played cube so much.
 
Sounds like Shadowmoor meets Innistrad.

I'm in.

You mean Kingdom and Castle? Dragons kidnapping the Princess?

Berserk?

I'd love to see them get back to the general roots of magic, very based on classical stuff. Innistrad was a good set for that. Seems fairly obvious if Liliana is ever to matter again. I only really wonder when Muraganda is going to happen, next year or the year after.
 
Only things I took away from the AMA were a Nissa PW card being confirmed in Oath and that the switch to the 2 set block happened halfway through BfZ design.

Also dark Central European fairy tale world sounds great. Too bad it won't happen anytime soon or otherwise he wouldn't be talking about it.
 
Has there ever been a set with an underground theme, like DnDs underdark? Just have the above ground be complete scorched earth and all the people be underground at all times, digging into the plane.

I'd also like a plane that only featured animals or humanoid animals. No elves, goblins, humans, etc.
 

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
I'm gonna play a draft tomorrow with a bunch of friends. I know how to get around the game in terms of core concepts and gameplay, but I have seen barely any spoilers on this set. So, with that in mind, any cards I should look for an aggro deck?
 
I'm gonna play a draft tomorrow with a bunch of friends. I know how to get around the game in terms of core concepts and gameplay, but I have seen barely any spoilers on this set. So, with that in mind, any cards I should look for? I like to hit fast and hard, so I guess I'm an aggro type of player.

red/white and black/blue seem nice for agro draft decks. Red/white would be more centered around allies, blue/black around eldrazis/ingest mechanics
White black seems really nice but you need too much luck for specifice rares/uncos for it to work in a draft I feel...
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
You know, you could make a reasonably competitive RG deck that was entirely elementals with Undergrowth Champion, Woodland Wanderer, Whisperwood Elemental, Greenwarden of Murasa and Omnath, Locus of Rage.

Of course, the only real support for doing it is Omnath. I wonder if Omnath is leading somewhere with that.
 

ironmang

Member
After much soul searching and reflection I've decided to build Death and Taxes for the post-dig legacy world. I believe Shardless BUG will be king but it costs 2-3x as much and I don't think the extra boost in win percentage would be worth the worrying of carrying around a $4k deck.

I'm pretty excited though to try this deck out. I've danced around most of the other decks with similar strategies like aggro loam and maverick so it won't take me much to get in a groove with d&t. Anybody else make a legacy deck change after dig got axed? (or even something spicy with black vise)
 

Firemind

Member
After much soul searching and reflection I've decided to build Death and Taxes for the post-dig legacy world. I believe Shardless BUG will be king but it costs 2-3x as much and I don't think the extra boost in win percentage would be worth the worrying of carrying around a $4k deck.

I'm pretty excited though to try this deck out. I've danced around most of the other decks with similar strategies like aggro loam and maverick so it won't take me much to get in a groove with d&t. Anybody else make a legacy deck change after dig got axed? (or even something spicy with black vise)
You don't like brainstorming? :(

I actually have Grixis Control half-complete (missing the volcanics), but now with both Treasure Cruise and Dig banned, it's completely not viable anymore. I'll probably sell off the cards now, but if I were to choose, I'd play either U/B Control or Merfolk. Merfolk can always win tournaments for some reason in my experience and U/B is just fun to play with JTMS. I would also consider RUG were it not it's almost as expensive, or even moreso, than Shardless BUG.
 

OnPoint

Member
I'd love to see them get back to the general roots of magic, very based on classical stuff. Innistrad was a good set for that. Seems fairly obvious if Liliana is ever to matter again. I only really wonder when Muraganda is going to happen, next year or the year after.

Her being one of the 5 'walkers they chose as the backbone of the story says she will matter again. I still expect her to provide the black portion in the Council of the Fence Menders.
 
I'm kinda noob at drafting, done a few with friends, but how many lands do you generally go for in a 40 cards deck ? I aim at 14-16 but I really don't know
 

ironmang

Member
You don't like brainstorming? :(

I actually have Grixis Control half-complete (missing the volcanics), but now with both Treasure Cruise and Dig banned, it's completely not viable anymore. I'll probably sell off the cards now, but if I were to choose, I'd play either U/B Control or Merfolk. Merfolk can always win tournaments for some reason in my experience and U/B is just fun to play with JTMS. I would also consider RUG were it not it's almost as expensive, or even moreso, than Shardless BUG.

Naw Shardless is most expensive deck or at least more than RUG Delver by 800+. It basically runs the same number of blue duals, goyfs, forces, wastes, and fetches but has lotv, jtms, and random expensive ass cards like shardless agent over cheap cards like spell pierce.

Merfolk isn't a terrible idea though. I do have a set of forces and with the vials and wastelands from D&T I'm more than half there. Would be a fun deck to have around to audible in to.

4k deck? Jesus christ. Thats way too much money for some paper cards. Thats a nice car.

Eh, people spend a lot of money on their hobbies. At least with magic cards they can be sold to recover most of the cost. Only problem I have with decks like that is the paranoia of carrying it around and knowing if a thief is going to risk stealing a deck they're probably going to try for one like shardless.
 

ultron87

Member
I'm kinda noob at drafting, done a few with friends, but how many lands do you generally go for in a 40 cards deck ? I aim at 14-16 but I really don't know

17 lands is the baseline for 40 with a standard mana curve. If you're drafting Battle for Zendikar in particular 18 is probably a good place to start (for landfall, various utility lands, casting Eldrazi) unless you have a low curve.
 

Socat

Member
I'm kinda noob at drafting, done a few with friends, but how many lands do you generally go for in a 40 cards deck ? I aim at 14-16 but I really don't know

18 is what I ran in the prerelease, but that was in a 42 card deck. 17 is the norm for previous sets but with eldrazi , extra land is encouraged.
 

Rolfgang

Member
Bought a Booster Box for a draft next week. Curiosity got the best of me, so I already opened a booster. A Desolation Twin and a foil Kiora. I like this.
 

Matriox

Member
I'm going for a BFZ draft tonight, you guys got any tips (for this set)?

Haven't personally drafted yet, but see what archetypes are open, white Red Aggro allies/black red eldrazi Aggro were both super powerful in sealed from my experience, but draft is a different monster. Try to stick to an archetype that's open and go for it. I think white black lifegain seems strong, but I could see a red green landfall deck being op. Look up the archetypes and go from there Imo.

Bought a Booster Box for a draft next week. Curiosity got the best of me, so I already opened a booster. A Desolation Twin and a foil Kiora. I like this.
Lol nice!
 

rainy_day

Member
Haven't played in awhile. Going to go pick up about 6 boosters and head to a FNM at a friends house. Lets see if i catch the magic bug again!
 

SGRemy

Member
My local Fnm is going to be drafting tonight. I'll probably do it once but I wanna spend my evening testing the new standard. First deck of choice, Abzan Blue. Wanna see if 4 or 5 color could be viable.
 

OnPoint

Member
It should be mandatory that any Gaffer who opens an Expedition land posts pics. So pretty.

LIke this?

RgRpiLx.jpg
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
 

Jhriad

Member
Decided to go out and see if I could find a Fat Pack somewhere in town. Two Super Targets, two Super Walmarts, Hastings, and a TRU later I come home empty handed. Looks like one dude went around town and bought everything out. Hooray. This will be the first set since coming back that I don't end up with at least one fat pack of.
 

Socat

Member
Decided to go out and see if I could find a Fat Pack somewhere in town. Two Super Targets, two Super Walmarts, Hastings, and a TRU later I come home empty handed. Looks like one dude went around town and bought everything out. Hooray. This will be the first set since coming back that I don't end up with at least one fat pack of.

Where are you from?
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
These people have a problem.

It's one thing to buy lottery cards but another to rip up half of them just to reduce your odds.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
The story as told in the Fat Pack book:

Gideon successfully retakes Sea Gate with the help of his Allies.

Ob Nixilis loses a fight with Nissa at Khalni Heart (she gets her powers back); Ob was trying to use it to reignite his spark.

Jace heads for the Eye of Ugin and when he gets there, Ugin is already there trying to fix it - they have smart alecky conversation.

Gideon figures out he can trap Ulamog with an Aligned Hedron Network. He traps Ulamog in it, but then Ob Nixilis flies out and directs the hedron power to himself to reignite his spark.

Oh noes, Ulamog is free!
 
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