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

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kirblar

Member
Sowing Salt is a bad card that does nothing useful, why are you even mentioning it
You know nothing, Angry Grimace.

Look at how the 4cc decks (Jeskai/B, etc) are structuring their manabases. It's normally a pair, plus an splash that hits both necessary colors. For Jeskai, this is W+R+U/B.

If you sowing salt the U/B land they fetch up, their mana gets a billion times worse.

Sowing Salt is a very good card that's (sadly) best in red aggressive decks.
 

Hackworth

Member
So the fatpack situation in NZ is still a shitshow, but there's apparently a shipment arriving today. I'm probably going to go looking.

It would have made perfect sense for the Eldrazi to hate on non-basic lands too, they could have had a blood moon like card which hates on fetchlands or lands that don't have basic types.
I really hope something like that shows up in Oath of the Gatewatch, but I can see it not appearing until the set after.

Obviously the later version won't be an Eldrazi, but some kind of Witch of the Bloodmoon would fit in the fairytale set, right?
 
A link to this, now complete, collection of Reid Duke's "Level One" articles might be helpful somewhere in the OT: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/level-one/level-one-full-course-2015-10-05

Really good series for introducing a lot of the higher level concepts of the game.

Added to the OP as one of the bullet points in "Getting Started".

As for 4 mana land destruction, there's also this card:
Image.ashx


And while I was looking for that, I came across this. Too good for Standard/Modern?
Image.ashx
 

y2dvd

Member
Couldn't find any fat packs at Walmart or Target last night. My buddy told me to check Barnes and Nobles. Here goes nothing after work.
 
Fat Pack situation here in Island BC looks Grim. Every store I've been to had none left on Launch day, which was super disappointing. I'm hoping the next wave comes soon as both my LGSes have alluded to them expecting another Wave.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
You know nothing, Angry Grimace.

Look at how the 4cc decks (Jeskai/B, etc) are structuring their manabases. It's normally a pair, plus an splash that hits both necessary colors. For Jeskai, this is W+R+U/B.

If you sowing salt the U/B land they fetch up, their mana gets a billion times worse.

Sowing Salt is a very good card that's (sadly) best in red aggressive decks.

Making their mana kinda worse on Turn 4 isn't a worthwhile play, and if it was, the instant speed version of that card is a lot better even without the extraction effect.
 

ElyrionX

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";180779720]Speaking of Commander, here's my list if any of you EDH nuts have advice or fun ideas for me. It's got tokens and Dark Confidant so I'm sure Grimace would like it if he liked Commander.

Teysa, Orzhov Scion(altered)

Creatures(14):

  • Herald of Anafenza
  • Blood Artist
  • Zulaport Cutthroat
  • Suture Priest
  • Dark Confidant
  • Stoneforge Mystic
  • Skirsdag High Priest
  • Pack Rat
  • Vampire Hexmage
  • Thraben Doomsayer
  • Frontline Medic
  • Xathrid Necromancer
  • Marsh Flitter
  • Geist-Honored Monk
Instants/Sorceries(28):

-Token Makers:
  • Spoils of Blood
  • Raise the Alarm
  • Gather the Townsfolk
  • Midnight Haunting
  • Spectral Procession
  • Lingering Souls
  • Cenn's Enlistment
  • Battle Screech
  • Conqueror's Pledge
  • Triplicate Spirits
  • Decree of Justice
  • Martial Coup
  • Launch the Fleet
-Control Spells:
  • Retribution of the Meek
  • Council's Judgement
  • 2013 Vindicate (the only acceptable version)
  • Utter End
  • Day of Judgement
  • Wrath of God
  • End Hostilities
  • Hour of Reckoning
-Synergy/Other:
  • Vampiric Tutor
  • Demonic Tutor
  • Zealous Persecution
  • Sign in Blood
  • Read the Bones
  • Obzedat's Aid
  • Return to the Ranks

Artifacts(6):

  • Skullclamp
  • Sol Ring
  • Sensei's Divining Top (altered)
  • Meekstone
  • Orzhov Signet
  • Batterskull
Enchantments(9):

  • Leyline of the Meek
  • Darkest Hour
  • Luminarch Ascension
  • Intangible Virtue
  • Bitterblossom
  • Curse of Shallow Graves
  • Oblivion Ring
  • Banishing Light
  • Spear of Heliod
Planeswalkers(4):

  • Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
  • Sorin, Solemn Visitor
  • Elspeth, Knight-Errant
  • Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Land(38)

  • Opal Palace
  • Evolving Wilds
  • Temple of Silence
  • Orzhov Basilica
  • Orzhov Guildgate
  • Scoured Barrens
  • Godless Shrine
  • Isolated Chapel
  • Caves of Koilos
  • City of Brass
  • Mana Confluence
  • Tainted Field
  • 9 Swamp
  • Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • Mortuary Mire
  • 7 Plains
  • Remote Farm
  • Spawning Bed
  • Foundry of the Consuls
  • Thespian's Stage
  • Blighted Steppe
  • Kjeldoran outpost
  • Vault of the Archangel
  • Dark Depths



I'm missing an Elspeth :-(

My rule on powerful, expensive Standard cards is that I don't use them for EDH until rotation so no Drana or Gideon for now.

I have all the tokens except Faerie Rogues and Marit Lage, nobody wants to trade me one.[/QUOTE]

My first impression is that you should have more mana ramp in there. A few more rocks or even stuff like Weathered Wayfarer/Land Tax/Knight of the White Orchid could be useful.
 

hort

Neo Member
My fat packs should be arriving today. Super happy I ordered early for less than MSRP and don't have to go hunt down any overpriced ones.

My local Target and Hastings had plenty on release day but I'm not sure if that is still the case.
 

Socat

Member
Fat Pack situation here in Island BC looks Grim. Every store I've been to had none left on Launch day, which was super disappointing. I'm hoping the next wave comes soon as both my LGSes have alluded to them expecting another Wave.

No mention of another wave of fat packs as far as I have seen, so good luck to you
 

Kacar

Member
Channel Fireball shipped me 3 ruination guides instead of 3 ruinous paths.....

So lame, its like a $22 difference. I probably won't get it fixed/shipped in time for FNM also. wtf.
 
My first impression is that you should have more mana ramp in there. A few more rocks or even stuff like Weathered Wayfarer/Land Tax/Knight of the White Orchid could be useful.
I've been doing my best to keep the mana cost down. I don't really wanna try to compete at the 6-7 drop level.
 

Jhriad

Member
Fair points! Im just using some cheepo sleeves for now.

Is there a popular online store for magic stuff that I could look at getting reasonable prices or do you guys generally just buy from your local shop.

Amazon, Channel Fireball, CoolStuffInc, StarCityGames, Card Kingdom, Troll and Toad, and TCGPlayer are the big ones I've used for various reasons in addition to a few LGS sites for singles. I happened to buy my playmat at CoolStuffInc because I like their rewards program and the mat was cheap as heck. It turned out to be a pretty nice playmat. It's the plain red one here if you're curious.
 

bigkrev

Member
I found Fat Packs at two places today- a Barnes and Noble (had 4), and at a Target that had not put out Battle for Zendikar stuff as of Sunday (had close to 10).

Keep looking, they are out there!
 

Firemind

Member
holy shit the first time I got both sneak attack and emrakul

it is glorious

people just scoop on the spot lol

it did help i also got through the breach, summoner's trap, primal command and ulamog

fuck the guy who took the tooth and nail though
 

Haines

Banned
I found Fat Packs at two places today- a Barnes and Noble (had 4), and at a Target that had not put out Battle for Zendikar stuff as of Sunday (had close to 10).

Keep looking, they are out there!

Too bad all of the targets closed here in canada.
 

y2dvd

Member
Haha got the last fat pack at Barnes and Nobles. Can I get lucky and open as well as yall?

Edit: bleh disappointing pack. Only got a Drana really.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
holy shit the first time I got both sneak attack and emrakul

it is glorious

people just scoop on the spot lol

it did help i also got through the breach, summoner's trap, primal command and ulamog

fuck the guy who took the tooth and nail though

My favorite archetype. I mean, other than mono black :-V
 

Haines

Banned
Kust watched boogie open his box. Got loke 4 mythics in his first 10 packs. One being a planeswalker.

Me and my newbie wife were like...woah why is getting so many? Then he started raving how good the box was minus any expeditions and we were like oh ok cool.

Now were going to play pack warz. Got some sleeves from my buddy so im better prepared tonight, lol

Also saw a stream on twitch where people were using an app for life counter which will come in handy tonight since we lack dice right now.
 
Also saw a stream on twitch where people were using an app for life counter which will come in handy tonight since we lack dice right now.

IMO, using a piece of paper or notepad is much better, since it's easier to keep track of the history of the life totals.
 

Haines

Banned
That could be a good point. Ill have to consider that.

Newb question

Reckless cohort

Is having a vapiric cleric ally on the field play into its ally benefit. I would say yes, but unsure so checking with you guys

Also colorless spells. I know of devoid. What else is colorless?
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
That could be a good point. Ill have to consider that.

Newb question

Reckless cohort

Is having a vapiric cleric ally on the field play into its ally benefit. I would say yes, but unsure so checking with you guys

Also colorless spells. I know of devoid. What else is colorless?

If you play the Vampire Cleric Ally cards that care about Allies entering the battlefield trigger yes

Devoid cards are colorless. So are any of the other Eldrazi that don't have color in their mana cost and artifact creatures (and all artifacts really)

Also Morph creatures but you probably haven't encountered those
 

traveler

Not Wario
So I think I'm going to make the jump back into standard with Michael Major's GW Megamorph list from the Open. It performed well, contains a lot of cards that will be good outside it if the deck itself falls behind the meta, seems less addressable through tweaks and sideboarding than the red beatdown deck it lost to, and, most importantly, is exactly the style of deck I enjoy playing- a resilient, interactive aggro deck with plenty of decisions to make.

In doing a little testing last night, I ran into trouble with opposing cracked Hangarbacks, Silumgar, and flyers in general. I think, in the case of Silumgar, I was trying to play too grindy instead of playing it as the aggro deck it is. Silkwrap from the board would have addressed the hangarback, had it been drawn, but that brings me to my actual question.

Majors said he wouldn't change the main deck too much, but he didn't like the sideboard as is. Do you guys have any thoughts on how the sb might be improved, both in light of the above and this weekend's top 8/the likely meta?

For those unfamiliar, here's the list:

Maindeck:

Artifact Creatures
4 Hangarback Walker

Creatures
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
4 Warden of the First Tree
3 Wingmate Roc

Instants
4 Dromoka's Command
3 Valorous Stance

Legendary Creatures
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer

Planeswalkers
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Basic Lands
6 Forest
4 Plains

Lands
1 Blighted Steppe
3 Canopy Vista
3 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard:
3 Arashin Cleric
2 Whisperwood Elemental
3 Evolutionary Leap
1 Mastery of the Unseen
2 Silkwrap
1 Radiant Purge
1 Valorous Stance
2 Tragic Arrogance

Thought about Celestial Flare for Silumgar, but there's little use for it outside of him and he's just one creature in one specific matchup. More Tragic Arrogance could also suffice if they actually have other guys on the board.

Also considering pulling the fourth stance. The deck has plenty of ways to kill Siege Rhino, so I feel like it needs a little more balance in dealing with other threats. Come to think of it- what exactly does Stance deal with in this meta than Radiant Purge does not? Granted, you lose out on the option to make a guy indestructible.

Also want to test stasis snare. It's 1 more than silkwrap, but handles hb just as well, hits way more targets and has flash. Seems like a potential upgrade.

Lastly, I want to try out Lantern Scout. Arashin Cleric is a safer choice, but it seems like the Scout would have bigger upside 80% of the time. Could even be retriggered off Gideon's tokens.

Can't find the red matchup anywhere, or I'd evaluate how the deck did there. Can't tell if it was a bad mu, close mu, or if the deck needs tweaks to handle it.
 

Haines

Banned
Holy crap. Playing packwars

My opening hand

Shiny canopy and gideon

I dont even know how to play a planeswalker lmao
 

Jhriad

Member
Had all my decks stolen from my car last night. 10 of em. Hold me. :(

D:

I know some folks renters/homeowners insurance will cover this even though they were stolen from your car. Make sure to check if you have either of those. Call all your local gaming stores and give them a head's up so they know what to look for and can alert the authorities.
 
Month's up tomorrow. :p
Two things, then:
* Title change for the move? I suggest "Magic: the Gathering |OT| Lands Matter (and nothing else)"
* For the Commander 2015 spoilers, could we move back to OT for that week?

Holy crap. Playing packwars

My opening hand

Shiny canopy and gideon

I dont even know how to play a planeswalker lmao

How Planeswalkers work
* This is a card type that stays on the battlefield (a permanent)
* It enters the battlefield with a number of loyalty counters equal to the number on the bottom right.
* Once during each of your turns, at any time you could cast a sorcery, you can activate one of a planewalker's loyalty abilities. To activate an ability, you add or remove the number of loyalty counters specified (you can't remove more than you have), and then perform the action in the box of text next to the number.
* When Planeswalkers are damaged, you remove that many loyalty counters. When they have no counters, you put them into the graveyard.
* Planeswalkers can be attacked as though they were players, meaning your opponent will say "I attack Gideon" instead of "I attack you".
* With any spell that can damage a player, you can redirect that damage to a planeswalker controlled by that player. So a red spell that deals 2 damage to a target player can instead deal the damage to that player's Gideon. Note that a spell that makes a player lose life is not the same as damaging that player.
 
Does your insurance cover theft? :(

I'm looking into it, for sure. I contacted all the local shops and gave them a heads up if someone trys to offload some stuff. Im keeping an eye on craigs list, as well. I've only been playing a year so I don't have crazy expensive stuff, its more sentimental. A lot of those decks were built and played talking life with buddies; freinds and family passing away, reconnectimg with people, etc. Though, i will miss my two playsets of swiftspears....
 
This is the best Vindicate.

If Mr. Leather Daddy Knight and his shoulderless Folsom Street Fair costume straddling a red-hot phallic symbol while standing in front of a metaphoric orgasm are what get your juices flowing, then by all means. Enjoy your artwork.
 
So I think I'm going to make the jump back into standard with Michael Major's GW Megamorph list from the Open. It performed well, contains a lot of cards that will be good outside it if the deck itself falls behind the meta, seems less addressable through tweaks and sideboarding than the red beatdown deck it lost to, and, most importantly, is exactly the style of deck I enjoy playing- a resilient, interactive aggro deck with plenty of decisions to make.

In doing a little testing last night, I ran into trouble with opposing cracked Hangarbacks, Silumgar, and flyers in general. I think, in the case of Silumgar, I was trying to play too grindy instead of playing it as the aggro deck it is. Silkwrap from the board would have addressed the hangarback, had it been drawn, but that brings me to my actual question.

Majors said he wouldn't change the main deck too much, but he didn't like the sideboard as is. Do you guys have any thoughts on how the sb might be improved, both in light of the above and this weekend's top 8/the likely meta?

Also considering pulling the fourth stance. The deck has plenty of ways to kill Siege Rhino, so I feel like it needs a little more balance in dealing with other threats. Come to think of it- what exactly does Stance deal with in this meta than Radiant Purge does not? Granted, you lose out on the option to make a guy indestructible.
.

Flyers in general, especially in a GW Deck like Majors can be hurt hard by Windstorm as a broad Answer. It can kill Thopters for 2 Mana and Scales upwards at a nice rate.
 

Haines

Banned
Two things, then:
* Title change for the move? I suggest "Magic: the Gathering |OT| Lands Matter (and nothing else)"
* For the Commander 2015 spoilers, could we move back to OT for that week?



How Planeswalkers work
* This is a card type that stays on the battlefield (a permanent)
* It enters the battlefield with a number of loyalty counters equal to the number on the bottom right.
* Once during each of your turns, at any time you could cast a sorcery, you can activate one of a planewalker's loyalty abilities. To activate an ability, you add or remove the number of loyalty counters specified (you can't remove more than you have), and then perform the action in the box of text next to the number.
* When Planeswalkers are damaged, you remove that many loyalty counters. When they have no counters, you put them into the graveyard.
* Planeswalkers can be attacked as though they were players, meaning your opponent will say "I attack Gideon" instead of "I attack you".
* With any spell that can damage a player, you can redirect that damage to a planeswalker controlled by that player. So a red spell that deals 2 damage to a target player can instead deal the damage to that player's Gideon. Note that a spell that makes a player lose life is not the same as damaging that player.


Hey thanks. Pretty sure after reading that i understand it. When his negative effect says i get an emblem.. Do i just write that on a piece of paper?

I cant believe i opened 70 bucks worth of cards in my first ever 6 magic packs. My plan is to sell them to help fund my drafts. My buddy says the local stores usually give 70% does that sound right to you guys and is that what you guys would do or would you hold on to them, i have to assume they only decrease in value as more packs are opened?
 
Hey thanks. Pretty sure after reading that i understand it. When his negative effect says i get an emblem.. Do i just write that on a piece of paper?

You can represent that any way you want. Some packs come with actual emblem cards, but those aren't necessary, just like with tokens.
 
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