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Magic: The Gathering |OT|

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I've faced little kids at tournaments before, thankfully never lost but all I can think when some 10 year old sits down is "man If I lose to some kid who is young enough to be my son my friends will never let me live it down".

This kid though is ridiculous, definitely a genius. The card flicking makes me want to kill them both though. Just your hand down you nubs, you are telling everyone what you have in your hand because the minute you are faced with a hard decision you stop flicking your cards.
 
siddx said:
I've faced little kids at tournaments before, thankfully never lost but all I can think when some 10 year old sits down is "man If I lose to some kid who is young enough to be my son my friends will never let me live it down".

This kid though is ridiculous, definitely a genius. The card flicking makes me want to kill them both though. Just your hand down you nubs, you are telling everyone what you have in your hand because the minute you are faced with a hard decision you stop flicking your cards.
Click to expand...

and if you put your hand down you'll have to pick them up as soon as you have to make a hard decision


FLAWED ARGUMENT BRO
 
I feel like I picked the right time to get into this. Every time I get the itch to pick up some new cards there seems to be some new pack or something designed to help out new players. I picked up a toolkit the other day and had fun overhauling my starter deck and building two (surely horrible) new ones. The only problem I run into is getting my buddies together to play. There's a place next to me that hosts the friday night magic thing but the owner of the joint has never been very friendly. I always feel like some sort of outsider going into that place, as if I'm being outnumbered & outclassed by an even higher rank of elitist nerds.

Does anyone have some links to some cheap/wide array of card sleeves? The local store has a really limited selection and they're usually sold out =/ I realize now that I only have enough sleeves for my first deck haha.
 
An-Det said:
That is an awesome one. A favorite that I heard was where player A played a turn one Jackel Pup, player B plays a mountain and passes, A plays 2 more Jackel Pups, then B uses Firestorm for 5 (targeting the 3 pups and each player) to deal 20 damage. I wish I could have seen the look on A's face.
Click to expand...

I once cast Triple Righteouness on my blocking Birds of Paradise to kill a player attacking with a Jackal Pup. He tried to cast Lightning Bolt on the Jackal Pup and I Force of Willed it. I used to play this really wonky Sword of the Ages deck... I had an obsession of defeating my opponent in strange ways.
 
Foxix said:
I feel like I picked the right time to get into this. Every time I get the itch to pick up some new cards there seems to be some new pack or something designed to help out new players. I picked up a toolkit the other day and had fun overhauling my starter deck and building two (surely horrible) new ones. The only problem I run into is getting my buddies together to play. There's a place next to me that hosts the friday night magic thing but the owner of the joint has never been very friendly. I always feel like some sort of outsider going into that place, as if I'm being outnumbered & outclassed by an even higher rank of elitist nerds.

Does anyone have some links to some cheap/wide array of card sleeves? The local store has a really limited selection and they're usually sold out =/ I realize now that I only have enough sleeves for my first deck haha.
Click to expand...
FNMs are made or broken by the crowd, from what I've read. I wouldn't care so much about the owner, it's more about the play group. I'd check it out at least once. I started going to FNMs as a total newbie and outsider (I don't look like the Magic-playing stereotype), and people were really cool about teaching me draft strategy and deckbuilding tips.

Regarding cheap card sleeves:

Troll and Toad's Random Dollar Packs

If you don't care about sleeve appearance/consistency, that's a great deal. From the comments, it appears that they sometimes oblige requests for particular colours if it isn't something ridiculous like "all black pls". They also sell random deck boxes for 0.35, which are great for carrying sleeved decks around. If I lived in the states, they'd get even more of my money - shipping is prohibitive for anything that isn't singles, and they don't ship sealed product to Canada due to Wizards' distribution policies.

Technomayncer said:
Okay, the Commander decks look awesome, even if we only have the packaging.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazin...ily/arcana/683
Click to expand...
HOT. I spy sexy new Legendary Creature art. Did they upgrade the Planar Chaos dragons to mythic, I wonder, or are the mythics limited to the cards depicted on the right?(EDIT: Never mind, looks like all 3 of the oversized cards will be mythic)

$30 doesn't seem unreasonable. I'm picking up at least one, and possibly singles depending on the pricing. What are the chances that the new Commander legends see reprinting in the Innistrad block, I wonder?
 
Slim to zero. Part of the benefit of doing a stand alone product like this is that Wizards can make a variety of generals without needing any of them to be tied down to the particular flavor and/or mechanics of a block. Innistrad looks fairly dark and horror driven- weird Dinosaur oozes and kind Minotaur monks don't exactly seem like a fit to me. Also, they've specifically chosen wedge generals as wedge colors rarely jive with an actual set. (A point that's easy to see when you look at how many were printed before this product)

I spy a "skip your draw step" line on one card. That line has been followed by some mighty powerful things before. Doesn't hurt that GUB are probably the strongest 3 colors in EDH either. Guess I'll be grabbing Devour for sure and probably Political Puppets as well. (Always wanted a good Team America general so I could pair Kiki Jiki with the two best blink colors.)
 
traveler said:
Slim to zero. Part of the benefit of doing a stand alone product like this is that Wizards can make a variety of generals without needing any of them to be tied down to the particular flavor and/or mechanics of a block. Innistrad looks fairly dark and horror driven- weird Dinosaur oozes and kind Minotaur monks don't exactly seem like a fit to me. Also, they've specifically chosen wedge generals as wedge colors rarely jive with an actual set. (A point that's easy to see when you look at how many were printed before this product)

I spy a "skip your draw step" line on one card. That line has been followed by some mighty powerful things before. Doesn't hurt that GUB are probably the strongest 3 colors in EDH either. Guess I'll be grabbing Devour for sure and probably Political Puppets as well. (Always wanted a good Team America general so I could pair Kiki Jiki with the two best blink colors.)
Click to expand...
Interesting. I wonder what that means for singles pricing.

I just noticed that the Mimeoplasm has a T-Rex head for a hand. Devour get.
 
I'm hoping he'll have some sort of interaction with activated abilities. An Ooze Lord legend that will allow me to Necrotic Ooze and Experiment Kraj would be amazing. Always felt it was a bit of a tragedy I couldn't put Necrotic in a Kraj deck, given their flavor similarities and perfect synergy together.
 
I'm confused about the commander decks new cards. Are they like promo cards that can be used in any format?

Also is it even worth making an all artifact deck without Tezzeret? I was looking at all the myr cards i have and saw an awesome myr deck in the Denver GP. I know theres an infinite mana curve with using 4 myrs that ive been wanting to try.
 
They will be legal in Vintage and Legacy, but not in Standard or Extended iirc. Wizards doesn't expect (not that this is the best barometer by any means) any of the cards to be real tourney staples anyways.
 
alternade said:
I know theres an infinite mana curve with using 4 myrs that ive been wanting to try.
Click to expand...

Two Myr Galvanizer and two mana myr (or Palladium Myr)? I've been wanting to try that, too.
 
Takuan said:
FNMs are made or broken by the crowd, from what I've read. I wouldn't care so much about the owner, it's more about the play group. I'd check it out at least once. I started going to FNMs as a total newbie and outsider (I don't look like the Magic-playing stereotype), and people were really cool about teaching me draft strategy and deckbuilding tips.

Regarding cheap card sleeves:

Troll and Toad's Random Dollar Packs

If you don't care about sleeve appearance/consistency, that's a great deal. From the comments, it appears that they sometimes oblige requests for particular colours if it isn't something ridiculous like "all black pls". They also sell random deck boxes for 0.35, which are great for carrying sleeved decks around. If I lived in the states, they'd get even more of my money - shipping is prohibitive for anything that isn't singles, and they don't ship sealed product to Canada due to Wizards' distribution policies.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! That's sort of the thing I'm worried about though, everyone in the comments say that they really only ship out random packs of 50 which wouldn't cover a whole deck =/
 
Foxix said:
Thanks for the link! That's sort of the thing I'm worried about though, everyone in the comments say that they really only ship out random packs of 50 which wouldn't cover a whole deck =/
Click to expand...
Blame manufacturers for that. Most sleeve makers only sell in packs of 50.
 
alternade said:
I'm confused about the commander decks new cards. Are they like promo cards that can be used in any format?

Also is it even worth making an all artifact deck without Tezzeret? I was looking at all the myr cards i have and saw an awesome myr deck in the Denver GP. I know theres an infinite mana curve with using 4 myrs that ive been wanting to try.
Click to expand...

I built a myr decking using that infinite mana trick right after scars dropped, it's a decent enough deck, I should try updating it.
 
The_Technomancer said:
Blame manufacturers for that. Most sleeve makers only sell in packs of 50.
Click to expand...

Draft is much bigger pusher of sleeve sales than constructed. No reason to sell the majority of your customers more product then they need.
 
Yeah, that clip was completely different than the Magic I know. I have zero idea what the fuck happened.

I won my first game ever by an opponent running out of cards. Somehow it feels like cheating. Though, later with a red deck that I threw together in 2 minutes out of commons, I de-fucking-stroyed in 2 games. I think I spend too much time worrying about individual cards, because I've had better success with commons and umcommons than with rares/mythics.
 
WanderingWind said:
Yeah, that clip was completely different than the Magic I know. I have zero idea what the fuck happened.

I won my first game ever by an opponent running out of cards. Somehow it feels like cheating. Though, later with a red deck that I threw together in 2 minutes out of commons, I de-fucking-stroyed in 2 games. I think I spend too much time worrying about individual cards, because I've had better success with commons and umcommons than with rares/mythics.
Click to expand...
One day you will build your first mill deck. Then it won't feel like cheating. Then you will lose your soul.
 
WanderingWind said:
Yeah, that clip was completely different than the Magic I know. I have zero idea what the fuck happened.

I won my first game ever by an opponent running out of cards. Somehow it feels like cheating. Though, later with a red deck that I threw together in 2 minutes out of commons, I de-fucking-stroyed in 2 games. I think I spend too much time worrying about individual cards, because I've had better success with commons and umcommons than with rares/mythics.
Click to expand...

I'm jealous :( I still have yet to win a game against my friends.
 
I'm not sure about the MTG scene locally and I don't really know any friends that still play, so I was wondering how viable/enjoyable MTGO is... Does anybody have any experiences to tell?
 
The other day a player at my local shop commented on how I position my cards on the "battlefield" After some though I realized this was something I acquired very early in my game playing years due to non other than Choas Orb. I don't know exactly when the Orb was banned but it I remember the Power 10, not 9... later I heard they tried to get Library of Alexandria as the 10th but today it's still considered the Power 9.

I don't stack my lands or any other cards for that matter besides Enchantments cast on a creature or land which I would put under the permanent. My lands are spread out in the front row and any creatures I cast will be "below" the lands. Global Enchantments and Atrifacts will be put on the sides, non-stacked on both sides.

Back in the day you didn't want lose more than 2 cards to the Chaos Orb, so this is how I set my play-field and it's stuck ever since. So how does everyone set-up their "battlefield"?
 
WanderingWind said:
What's a mill deck?
Click to expand...
It makes it so people will wonder why your opponent's library is turned face up.
It's that every card in his library is now in his graveyard.
Think of cards like mind funeral, decimator web, hedron crab, nemisis of reason, grind clock, traumatize etc.
 
Oh. Um. Yeah. That's what I made. Jace's Erasure, and Hedron Crabs and a mess load of counters, unsummons and redirects.

I think I still have my soul, though. Guess I'll know for sure when I try to walk into the 7-Eleven for coffee this morning.
 
The_Technomancer said:
One day you will build your first mill deck. Then it won't feel like cheating. Then you will lose your soul.
Click to expand...

It's too late for me. I love the look on my opponents face when I pull out a third and fourth Hedron Crab and a second Jace's Erasure.

rayner said:
So how does everyone set-up their "battlefield"?
Click to expand...

Exactly how it is on Duels of the Planeswalkers.
 
Keru_Shiri said:
You get both oversized and regular versions of the generals.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was thinking you'd have to. Just last week my general got shuffled into my library.

Board setup: Creatures center-forward, like usual. Lands center-rear, stacked up by type with just the name bar showing. Deck on the lower right, graveyard on the upper right, artifacts and enchantments in a general pool on the left.
 
Help me, guys : )

We have been having fun with our basic decks in the last week, but I made the mistake of actually socializing with the guys in the store who played magic, and it all came back to me! The 15+ years of card gaming, all the Legend of Five Rings tourneys and grudge matches, the 2 hungarian card game madness between 98 and 02, and the Magic before that (lol, I was like 11... :D).

I got sucked in, will register to pre-release tourney cause it is WORTH IT, gonna join the league, and will try and attend to beginner tourneys also (until my deck becomes too strong for that : D)

Anyways, I kinda have a control blue/red now, with direct damage, mind control and counter focus - but it does not feel like a too strong concept. So I have been thinking and I am struggling between concepts. What deck should I build and is it viable enough in a semi-hc local tourney enviroment?

I want an infect-based play to work.
The basic idea is this:

- I was browsing the card list of the new sets, and I realized that while Infect in itself is NOT a strong idea if your opponent has just one more creatures, because the creatures are more costy than non-infect versions, so they can just keep blocking, and not taking any poison counters on them. So my idea is this:

- Open up with cheap, non infect creatures.
- When there is an opportunity for a player hit, enchant them with infect, and GG.

So, let us see what we can do about it:
1) Tainted Strike. B, +1/+0 to target creature, and infect until end of turn. Perfect for my needs. I will need four of this.
2) Painsmith 1B, When I cast an artifact spell, target creature can get +2/+0 and deathtouch. Alright, he is cheap, and resonates well with the 0/1 cost artifact creatures out there.

So, how do I get to 10 poison counters relatively fast and cheap? Well, I had another idea for this: it revolves around creatures with awesomely high hp and then a Twisted Image to suddenly have a lethal attacker instead of a solid defender. But to be more precise:
3) Twisted Image B, Reverse power/damage on target creature until end of turn.
4) Plated Seastrider - 1/4 for two blue mana, nothing to see here.
5) Accorder's Shield - Artifact, 0 cost first, 3 cost for equip, +0/+3. Again, looks defensive, but it is not - especially not when a Painsmith or two is on the field!

This is the basic concept. What I gotta ask myself, I guess, is what happens when I do not get the Tainted Strike or the Twisted Image - one of them will be needed. Also, I will need some draw spells, and some creatures with a sacrifice need because I will have cheap artifacts to sac (maybe get 2-3 of the "draw a card when it enters and leaves battlefield artifact). Is this any way a valid concept, or should I just copy/paste a deck from Wizards tourney articles? :P Thanks for the feedback, if there is any :D
 
V_Arnold said:
Help me, guys : )

We have been having fun with our basic decks in the last week, but I made the mistake of actually socializing with the guys in the store who played magic, and it all came back to me! The 15+ years of card gaming, all the Legend of Five Rings tourneys and grudge matches, the 2 hungarian card game madness between 98 and 02, and the Magic before that (lol, I was like 11... :D).

I got sucked in, will register to pre-release tourney cause it is WORTH IT, gonna join the league, and will try and attend to beginner tourneys also (until my deck becomes too strong for that : D)

Anyways, I kinda have a control blue/red now, with direct damage, mind control and counter focus - but it does not feel like a too strong concept. So I have been thinking and I am struggling between concepts. What deck should I build and is it viable enough in a semi-hc local tourney enviroment?

I want an infect-based play to work.
The basic idea is this:

- I was browsing the card list of the new sets, and I realized that while Infect in itself is NOT a strong idea if your opponent has just one more creatures, because the creatures are more costy than non-infect versions, so they can just keep blocking, and not taking any poison counters on them. So my idea is this:

- Open up with cheap, non infect creatures.
- When there is an opportunity for a player hit, enchant them with infect, and GG.

So, let us see what we can do about it:
1) Tainted Strike. B, +1/+0 to target creature, and infect until end of turn. Perfect for my needs. I will need four of this.
2) Painsmith 1B, When I cast an artifact spell, target creature can get +2/+0 and deathtouch. Alright, he is cheap, and resonates well with the 0/1 cost artifact creatures out there.

So, how do I get to 10 poison counters relatively fast and cheap? Well, I had another idea for this: it revolves around creatures with awesomely high hp and then a Twisted Image to suddenly have a lethal attacker instead of a solid defender. But to be more precise:
3) Twisted Image B, Reverse power/damage on target creature until end of turn.
4) Plated Seastrider - 1/4 for two blue mana, nothing to see here.
5) Accorder's Shield - Artifact, 0 cost first, 3 cost for equip, +0/+3. Again, looks defensive, but it is not - especially not when a Painsmith or two is on the field!

This is the basic concept. What I gotta ask myself, I guess, is what happens when I do not get the Tainted Strike or the Twisted Image - one of them will be needed. Also, I will need some draw spells, and some creatures with a sacrifice need because I will have cheap artifacts to sac (maybe get 2-3 of the "draw a card when it enters and leaves battlefield artifact). Is this any way a valid concept, or should I just copy/paste a deck from Wizards tourney articles? :P Thanks for the feedback, if there is any :D
Click to expand...

I would take out the Tainted Strike and replace it with Distortion Strike. Makes your infect creatures unblockable plus you get if back for free next turn.

Also a MUST for any infect deck is Hand of the Preators. I run 4 in my deck. An easy combo to do is cast Ichor rats. Cast Hand of the Preators. boom 2 poison. Then Unsummon Ichor Rats and recast him for 4 poisoin counters.

Some other spells I run are:
Neurok invismancer - Makes one creature you control unblockable when it hit the field. Use a Corrupted Conscience to make him infect.
Inexorable Tide - Whenever I cast a spell, give my opponent a counter
Fuel for the cause - Counter and proliferate
Spread the sickness - Destroy creature and proliferate
 
alternade said:
Also a MUST for any infect deck is Hand of the Preators. I run 4 in my deck. An easy combo to do is cast Ichor rats. Cast Hand of the Preators. boom 2 poison. Then Unsummon Ichor Rats and recast him for 4 poisoin counters.
Click to expand...

In this scenario your opponent will only get 1 poison counter. The Hand of the Preators says "Cast" and it's already on the battlefield so the opponent will only get 1 counter from the 1st Ichor Rats, and if you unsommon it and recast it while the Hand of the Preators is on the battlefield then the opponent will get 2 couters, 1 from HoP & 1 from the Rats.

A funny combo I've used is a Mimmic Vat with Ichor Rats, also works well with Putrefax as it will sac itself to be imprinted.
 
alternade said:
I would take out the Tainted Strike and replace it with Distortion Strike. Makes your infect creatures unblockable plus you get if back for free next turn.

Also a MUST for any infect deck is Hand of the Preators. I run 4 in my deck. An easy combo to do is cast Ichor rats. Cast Hand of the Preators. boom 2 poison. Then Unsummon Ichor Rats and recast him for 4 poisoin counters.

Some other spells I run are:
Neurok invismancer - Makes one creature you control unblockable when it hit the field. Use a Corrupted Conscience to make him infect.
Inexorable Tide - Whenever I cast a spell, give my opponent a counter
Fuel for the cause - Counter and proliferate
Spread the sickness - Destroy creature and proliferate
Click to expand...

Thank you. Sadly, the majority of those cards are pretty expensive - what I am looking for is a way to kill your opp with poison at turn 4 or 5 max. And that might be too slow in certain situations also, but it cant be helped :D
 
V_Arnold said:
Thank you. Sadly, the majority of those cards are pretty expensive - what I am looking for is a way to kill your opp with poison at turn 4 or 5 max. And that might be too slow in certain situations also, but it cant be helped :D
Click to expand...

Unfortunately all the infect creatures are overcosted outside of Phyrexian Crusader, Green Pump helps or maybe A Tempered Steel, Inkmoth Nexus with green pump... + Contested WarZone + Signal Pest? Maybe Green for Pump, White for Tempered Steel and then Artifact Creatures with infect? I think the cheapest Artifact Creature with infect is 2 mana though... might be too tough to pull off by turn 4 or 5.
 
rayner said:
In this scenario your opponent will only get 1 poison counter. The Hand of the Preators says "Cast" and it's already on the battlefield so the opponent will only get 1 counter from the 1st Ichor Rats, and if you unsommon it and recast it while the Hand of the Preators is on the battlefield then the opponent will get 2 couters, 1 from HoP & 1 from the Rats.

A funny combo I've used is a Mimmic Vat with Ichor Rats, also works well with Putrefax as it will sac itself to be imprinted.
Click to expand...

I shouldve been more clear

The HotP is already on the field -> cast Ichor rats -> 2 poison counters -> unsummon Ichor rats -> cast him next turn -> 2 more poison counters

Surely HotP can't mean that it will no longer trigger for the specific infect card that was cast?
 
V_Arnold said:
Thank you. Sadly, the majority of those cards are pretty expensive - what I am looking for is a way to kill your opp with poison at turn 4 or 5 max. And that might be too slow in certain situations also, but it cant be helped :D
Click to expand...

Idk what your local shop single prices are but I put this together for like under $40.

Yeah infect can be kinda slow but with some proliferate spells it should run faster. Thummingbird is a cheap way to get more counters, also contagion clasp and contagion engine.
 
alternade said:
Idk what your local shop single prices are but I put this together for like under $40.

Yeah infect can be kinda slow but with some proliferate spells it should run faster. Thummingbird is a cheap way to get more counters, also contagion clasp and contagion engine.
Click to expand...
Thrummingbird and Inexorable Tide are two of my favorite cards from this block. Then again, my all time favorite card is Doubling Season, so you may notice a pattern...
 
alternade said:
I shouldve been more clear

The HotP is already on the field -> cast Ichor rats -> 2 poison counters -> unsummon Ichor rats -> cast him next turn -> 2 more poison counters

Surely HotP can't mean that it will no longer trigger for the specific infect card that was cast?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the first post you had the order wrong. What I like about Hand of the Preator is that even if say it's in play and the Ichor Rats were countered, it was still cast... and the opponent will get 1 poison counter. Mimmic Vat imprinted with Ichor Rats with a Hand of the Preators in play was probably too powerful to have the HotP count "enters the battlefield" 3 mana for 2 reusable poison counters... and potential attacker or blocker.

Infect is difficult to base a deck around it's either you go all infect or no infect. Most cards don't have synergy.
 
alternade said:
Idk what your local shop single prices are but I put this together for like under $40.

Yeah infect can be kinda slow but with some proliferate spells it should run faster. Thummingbird is a cheap way to get more counters, also contagion clasp and contagion engine.
Click to expand...

Nah, not expensive money-wise, but mana-wise. I was looking at a way to add infect on a creature which is already cheap, and that is why that 1 black mana +1/+infect for one turn comes in. I want a one-shot in 4-5th turn with one hit, not a few infects here and there. Although I might have to include some of those as of sime kind of threat.
 
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