Support NeoGAF

[Chorazin]

Cycle Gempalm Polluter. Target player loses X life. Draw a card.
At the end of the turn before you, activate the Unholy Grotto.
Draw the Gempalm Polluter aat the beginning of your turn.
Cycle Gempalm Polluter. Target player loses X life. Draw a card...

Still pretty damned powerful. Really fun with stuff like Skirk Ridge Exhumer, Carrion Feeder and Zombies with the Madness ability.

Well, yeah. That's how use it in my deck.

 

[Hex]

I randomly read an article the other day about why, in a lot of cases, Surgical Extraction isn't that great: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/in-development-how-to-waste-two-life-at-instant-speed/

Seemed to make sense to me. It's good in some cases where a particular card is extremely integral to a deck's winning plan (though with this card they have already managed to cast it once unless you get lucky and they discard it or you mill it), while in a lot of cases it doesn't do much.

With flashback and other graveyard shenanigans, it is probably slightly better now than it was when that article was written.

A good deck will be made knowing that one road can always be shut down and you can not rely on one gimmick.
Extraction will always make an impact but it should never be able to cripple you.

 

[siddx]

I think it's overpowered, but I hate 'in-game banning' in general. If you run 4 Surgical Extractions you can take 16 cards out of somebody's deck for four mana. I guess it needing to come out of a graveyard is for the sake of balance, but coupled in a discard deck... ugh.

Wait... then you could Snapcaster it... Oh God. What an awful deck that would be to play against.

Theres also that card, I think its from M11, that exiles all non land cards in a players graveyard and every copy of those cards in the players deck. I use to a run an aggro mono black legacy discard deck with four of those that could fuck up a library pretty quickly.

 

[OneEightZero]

Well, yeah. That's how use it in my deck.

Whoops. Sorry. ^_^

 

[Enordash]

I haven't posted in forever so I hope this hasn't been completely discussed already: Did anyone see how the Star City Open turned out. Mono red took first and second. I was really hoping that it would kind of disappear after Zendikar cycled. It and Vampires has dominated my FNM for as long as I can remember. It seems that Humans didn't do as well as everyone expected it to (even though I don't know how many Humans decks were played) Any thoughts on the whole mono red situation?

 

[Takuan]

I haven't posted in forever so I hope this hasn't been completely discussed already: Did anyone see how the Star City Open turned out. Mono red took first and second. I was really hoping that it would kind of disappear after Zendikar cycled. It and Vampires has dominated my FNM for as long as I can remember. It seems that Humans didn't do as well as everyone expected it to (even though I don't know how many Humans decks were played) Any thoughts on the whole mono red situation?

My only thoughts are that I'm happy about Stormkirk Noble's rise in price. Very happy.

Liliana's price spike is lulzy, too. Trying to get rid of my foil before she falls back down to earth.

 

[Hex]

I haven't posted in forever so I hope this hasn't been completely discussed already: Did anyone see how the Star City Open turned out. Mono red took first and second. I was really hoping that it would kind of disappear after Zendikar cycled. It and Vampires has dominated my FNM for as long as I can remember. It seems that Humans didn't do as well as everyone expected it to (even though I don't know how many Humans decks were played) Any thoughts on the whole mono red situation?

Noble and Waif are far too good for Red to not be strong.

 

[f0rk]

Noble and Waif are far too good for Red to not be strong.

Waif isn't that strong IMO, she has to be in your opening hand while you are on the play and your oppenent has no 1 drops. And then if she doesn't flip turn 1 I'd rather have the 2 drop in an aggro deck than give up my turn. Also no evasion means its dead weight as a card after openings.

 

[OnPoint]

My only thoughts are that I'm happy about Stormkirk Noble's rise in price. Very happy.

Liliana's price spike is lulzy, too. Trying to get rid of my foil before she falls back down to earth.

Seventy bucks? Are they fucking kidding? Is there a combo or something I don't know about?

I might go buy a box today in hopes of getting one, just so I can sell her.

 

[y2dvd]

Had a scenario come up last night. Say I have Grimgrin and attacks and he taps due to attacking. The opponent assigns two blockers that do just enough damage to kill Grimgrin off. If I sac a creature to give it one more defense to live, it untaps. Am I still attacking even though it untaps before receiving the defenders dmg, thus killing his two defenders off? Or did I not attack do to untapping it with the sac ability even after blockers are assigned?

 

[Hex]

Had a scenario come up last night. Say I have Grimgrin and attacks and he taps due to attacking. The opponent assigns two blockers that do just enough damage to kill Grimgrin off. If I sac a creature to give it one more defense to live, it untaps. Am I still attacking even though it untaps before receiving the defenders dmg, thus killing his two defenders off? Or did I not attack do to untapping it with the sac ability even after blockers are assigned?

Still attacking and does damage.
Untapping does not remove from combat (which made Copperhorn Scouts fun)

 

[siddx]

Had a scenario come up last night. Say I have Grimgrin and attacks and he taps due to attacking. The opponent assigns two blockers that do just enough damage to kill Grimgrin off. If I sac a creature to give it one more defense to live, it untaps. Am I still attacking even though it untaps before receiving the defenders dmg, thus killing his two defenders off? Or did I not attack do to untapping it with the sac ability even after blockers are assigned?

Yes, once he enters the attack phase he is still attacking even if he becomes untapped. There are exceptions to this but they usually explicitly say "remove creature from combat".

edit: beaten like a mouthy hooker

 

[siddx]

Mono Red taking first and second explains why that little kid was following me around the comic store harassing me all day about trading him my koth and foil incinerate.

Still probably going to modify a U/W blade deck and run with that.

 

[f0rk]

Anybody want to help try out my Standard deck on Cockatrice?

 

[Zerokku]

What kind of (good FNM worthy) deck could I build with mostly Innistrad? Want to get back in to Type-2, but want a deck that will last a decent while at the same time. I'm kinda looking at vampires but I'm not sure. My favorite decks I've ever ran were a B/W Ohrzov deck back in Ravnica, and a G/B Elf deck back in Lorwyn.

Edit: The more I'm looking, the more I'm liking vampires.

Any suggestions for some general cards I need to have for a vamp deck? I'm getting the idea by looking at decklists on the M:TG forums, but might as well ask here.

Edit 2:
Looking around at various decks, heres my rough idea so far -

Creatures -
x4 Stromkirk Noble
x4 Vampire Interloper
x4 Rakish Heir
x3 Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
x3 Olivia Voldaren
x2 Bloodlord of Vaasgoth

Spells -
No Clue Yet

Land-
x4 Dragonskull Summit
No other land since I would really need to know the rest of the mana curve and I really have no clue about spells right now.

 

[OnPoint]

So the GF and I bought two boxes last night. Ended up pulling two Lillanas and a Snapcaster. I was pretty pleased with that.

You guys think she's going to go up in price, or do you think 70 is the ceiling?

 

[narcosis219]

So the GF and I bought two boxes last night. Ended up pulling two Lillanas and a Snapcaster. I was pretty pleased with that.

You guys think she's going to go up in price, or do you think 70 is the ceiling?

70 seems to be through the roof. Sell nao.

She isn't like JTMS powerful so she'll go down in price real fast.

 

[OnPoint]

70 seems to be through the roof. Sell nao.

She isn't like JTMS powerful so she'll go down in price real fast.

Well, she's hitting 56 on eBay. Any places I can maximize my sale value?

Also, do you think the Snapcaster is going to continue to climb? I have a suspicion that will end up being the most expensive in the set in the end.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Liliana is a victim of a supply crunch going into the States events in a couple of weeks. She's seeing play in only one tier 1 deck (Solar Flare) and some in the U/b control decks, but that's about it. Solar Flare might not even be good enough to reliably deal with the aggro decks, especially mono-Red.

I think she's peaked and would be trading them for hard currency like Legacy real estate or cash out for $$$$.

Also, do you think the Snapcaster is going to continue to climb? I have a suspicion that will end up being the most expensive in the set in the end.

He'll be down to $18-20 once the supply issues abate and there is enough in circulation to meet demand. He won't go much lower than that, he's a five star all-format card.

 

[narcosis219]

Well, she's hitting 56 on eBay. Any places I can maximize my sale value?

Also, do you think the Snapcaster is going to continue to climb? I have a suspicion that will end up being the most expensive in the set in the end.

Swindle a 15 year old kid ;D.

Snapcaster probably will, unless it happens to get stuffed into an event deck (probably not). Snapcaster is an amazing card; use it!

 

[OnPoint]

Yeah, the Snapcaster is great. I'll have to find a way to use him.

What about the dual lands. We have a ton of those, especially the red-white one. Think those are worth unloading now as well?

 

[y2dvd]

Pulled a Geist on Saint Traft yesterday and Evil Twin. Thinking of putting a cheap defensive shield on him so I can keep swinging and getting that 4/4 angel attacking. Maybe an aura would work. Will definitely try to build around him.

Zerokku: Probably want basic removal spells like Doom Blade, Go For The Throat, Dismembers, Incenerate

 

[OnPoint]

Pulled a Geist on Saint Traft yesterday and Evil Twin. Thinking of putting a cheap defensive shield on him so I can keep swinging and getting that 4/4 angel attacking. Maybe an aura would work. Will definitely try to build around him.

Zerokku: Probably want basic removal spells like Doom Blade, Go For The Throat, Dismembers, Incenerate

Something like Spirit Mantle might do the trick nicely.

 

[Zerokku]

Been out of the Type-2 Metagame for quite awhile so I'm not sure how good this would actually do, but I like how it all would hypothetically work together in general. How it would stand against other current decks I would see at FNM is another question. So heres what I've come up with for a B/R Vampire Deck -

Creatures -
x4 Stromkirk Noble
x4 Vampire Interloper
x4 Rakish Heir
x3 Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage
x3 Olivia Voldaren
x2 Bloodlord of Vaasgoth

Spells -
x4 Incinerate
x4 Volt Charge
x3 Curse of Stalked Prey
x3 Arc Trail
x2 Go for the Throat
x2 Doomblade

Land-
x4 Dragonskull Summit
x2 Blackcleave Cliffs
x7 Swamp
x9 Mountain

How does that look? Would do at least decently at a FNM? Definitely good enough for the group I play with, but would like to not lose every match at any FNM we go to haha.

 

[f0rk]

Might want to look at Brimstone Volley instead of Incinerate, might need to test how much Morbid is up.

 

[Zerokku]

Might want to look at Brimstone Volley instead of Incinerate, might need to test how much Morbid is up.

Yah I looked at Brimstone Volley but it costs 1 more than incinerate and I already have Volt Charge at that slot cost wise since I like proliferate given how many +1/+1 tokens will be on half my creatures.

 

[TerminalDogma]

Broke down and bought another box like a crack addict. Got my second Snapcaster, second Saint Traft. Got a Lili and Garruk from the first box, but neither showed up in this one. Finished off playsets of a couple cards, notably Champion of the Parish (including a foil one, woot!). I was planning on just trading off my first Snapcaster, but now that I've got a second I figure I ought to hold out for the playset.

 

[OnPoint]

Broke down and bought another box like a crack addict. Got my second Snapcaster, second Saint Traft. Got a Lili and Garruk from the first box, but neither showed up in this one. Finished off playsets of a couple cards, notably Champion of the Parish (including a foil one, woot!). I was planning on just trading off my first Snapcaster, but now that I've got a second I figure I ought to hold out for the playset.

lol You sound like me. I always say "I've got enough cards, I'm not going to buy any this paycheck" and then I go drop a hundred bucks on random shit. It's an epidemic haha

 

[Zerokku]

Okay talking with other people for ideas/recommendations, In my above decklist I'm going to swap out the x3 Vampiric Fury for x3 Arc Trail

And so far the sideboard looks like this -

x4 Ancient Grudge
x4 Brimstone Volley
x2 Dismember

Which still leaves 5 slots. These are the other cards I'm considering -

Tribute to Hunger
Tezzerit's Gambit
Tectonic Rift
Vampiric Fury
Child of Night

Edit: I'm leaning towards x3 Tezzeret's Gambit and x2 Tectonic rift to close it out. Not sure yet but thats kind of what I'm thinking currently.

So any more thoughts/critiques/recommendations on the above decklist and sideboard?

 

[Haly]

Isn't Olivia a bit slow for what looks like an aggro-control deck?

Or is she just supposed to be a mana dump?

 

[noquarter]

Zerokku- You might think about Tezz's Gambit, if you don't have anything to proliferate, it really isn't worth 3 to draw 2 cards. Might look at Shock, gives the choice of damage to player or creature.

 

[Zerokku]

Isn't Olivia a bit slow for what looks like an aggro-control deck?

Or is she just supposed to be a mana dump?

Kinda yah. Mostly in there cause hey shes a good card in a limited pool of good cards of that type Maybe swap one of her out for another bloodlord?

Zerokku- You might think about Tezz's Gambit, if you don't have anything to proliferate, it really isn't worth 3 to draw 2 cards. Might look at Shock, gives the choice of damage to player or creature.

Assuming I have any +1/+1 tokens (which given the abilities of half the vampires is pretty likely) proliferate would be useful I think. Same reason why I took Volt Charge Maindeck over Brimstone Volley maindeck.

 

[noquarter]

Assuming I have any +1/+1 tokens (which given the abilities of half the vampires is pretty likely) proliferate would be useful I think. Same reason why I took Volt Charge Maindeck over Brimstone Volley maindeck.

Everyone's meta is different, but in mine, trying to buff creatures doesn't work simply due to the amount of control being played and the removal that everyone packs. If I go aggro, I really need to try to keep the deck fast, and dealing damage is more helpful than proliferating for me. Hopefully it will work for you.

 

[Zerokku]

Everyone's meta is different, but in mine, trying to buff creatures doesn't work simply due to the amount of control being played and the removal that everyone packs. If I go aggro, I really need to try to keep the deck fast, and dealing damage is more helpful than proliferating for me. Hopefully it will work for you.

I'm honestly not sure how my FNM will be since its been like 3 years since I've gone, but I know it'll work more than well enough against my group of friends/other people at college that play so eh. I'm honestly not too worried. As long as I'm not losing every single game at a FNM, its good enough for me haha.

Edit: One of the guys over at PA (Posted this at a couple different places to get more feedback lol) is recommending Tribute to Hunger over Tezzeret's Gambit, for hexproof guys. Makes sense. Thoughts?

 

[Haly]

Isn't there a BB instant in SOM block that also bypasses hexproof?

(Although I guess it's a little mana intensive)

 

[f0rk]

Isn't there a BB instant in SOM block that also bypasses hexproof?

(Although I guess it's a little mana intensive)

Geth's Verdict I think.

 

[Haly]

I guess tribute would be better in this case, since your deck doesn't seem to have any Black bias (which Geth's Verdict will need so that it won't be a dud in your hand.)

Unrelated note, 9 more days before I can draft INN on MTGO.

 

[TerminalDogma]

Question, with the card "Mentor of the Meek", can you pay 1 colorless more then once when a creature with power 2 or less comes out? Or is it a one time only thing?

 

[An-Det]

Brian Sondag just won SCG Nashville Standard with an awesome deck he called 'Wolf Run Ramp', beating Solar Flare in the finals. It looks like a lot of fun.


Maindeck:

Artifact Creatures
3 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Wurmcoil Engine

Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Birds of Paradise
3 Primeval Titan
4 Viridian Emissary

Instants
4 Beast Within

Planeswalkers
4 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Sorceries
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Rampant Growth
3 Slagstorm

Basic Lands
9 Forest
3 Mountain

Lands
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Rootbound Crag

Sideboard:
1 Ratchet Bomb
4 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Tree of Redemption
1 Viridian Corrupter
4 Ancient Grudge
3 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Slagstorm

Question, with the card "Mentor of the Meek", can you pay 1 colorless more then once when a creature with power 2 or less comes out? Or is it a one time only thing?

It only triggers once.

 

[TheSeks]

Question, with the card "Mentor of the Meek", can you pay 1 colorless more then once when a creature with power 2 or less comes out? Or is it a one time only thing?

Keyword: "Whenever," so, yes. 2/2 or 1/1 creatures come out, you decide you want to draw a card.

 

[TerminalDogma]

Thanks for the answers guys. Yeah, I realize its whenever a new card comes out, but I was asking can you pay/draw more then once on the same card, which An-Det answered.

 

[TheSeks]

Thanks for the answers guys. Yeah, I realize its whenever a new card comes out, ]b]but I was asking can you pay/draw more then once on the same card, which An-Det answered.[/b]

Oh, yeah: Then no, you can't.

Also MtG:Online continues to be a clunky PoS. When the hell is the HTML GUI coming!?

 

[y2dvd]

A friend of mines bought 3 packs of M12. First two packs he opens, he pulls a Gideon and Chandra. Buys two more packs and pulls another Gideon. Some people have all the luck!

 

[Zerokku]

A friend of mines bought 3 packs of M12. First two packs he opens, he pulls a Gideon and Chandra. Bits two more packs and pulls another Gideon. Some people have all the luck!

Me and 2 friends did a psuedo sealed draft. First pack my friend opens he pulls a Foil Grave Titan.

Didn't get much of anything besides a Bloodlord and Curse of stalked pray for my Vamp deck up there. Some decent uncommons and commons, but those were my only good rares period. Other rares were trash. But hey, at least I can make use of those two.

 

[y2dvd]

Last night, I witnessed the power of the Stromkirk Noble + Liliana of the Veil combo. Played against a buddy in casuals yesterday and it went some like this.

Him: T1 - Mountin, Stromkirk Noble
Me: T1 - Inkmoth Nexus
Him: T2 - Swamp, Swing, Bump in the Night. Stromkirk now 2/2
Me: T2 - Swamp, Plague Stinger
Him: T3 - Liliana, uses sac a creature, swing. Stromkirk now 3/3
Me: T3 - Swamp, Plague Stinger
Him: T4 - Dragonskull Summit, Shocks Stinger, plays Rakish Heir, +1 Liliana to discard a card, swings. Stromkirk now a 5/5
Me: T4 - Drew a Phyrexian Crusader. Sweet, it has protection from the colors he's playing~R/B. Cast it
Him: T5 - Moutain, -2 Liliana sac a creature. I'm like, "oh yeaaaaaaaah" :|. Cast that haste 2/2 flyer guy that gets two +1/+1 when direct damage is done. Swings with that plus all his vamps.
Me: "In response...........CONCEDE!"

I see why Liliana is worth near the amount she's going for now. If you have no direct way of dealing with her, she will totally control a game. If you have no draw cards spells, her +1 will simply deplete you. Backed by Stromkirk and some removal spells, it was a really nasty starting hand.

 

[OnPoint]

My friends and I did a booster draft this weekend and I ended up winning both rounds (two rounds, six players). My first deck was a black-white deck with equal emphasis on removal and speedy creatures and was the better of the two. My second was a black-red deck that was pretty similar, but I had a few more creatures in instead. I got lucky in a few of the games with my back up against the wall and drew the exact card I needed to turn the tables.

All in all, I really like how this set plays within itself.

Last night, I witnessed the power of the Stromkirk Noble + Liliana of the Veil combo. Played against a buddy in casuals yesterday and it went some like this.

turns

I see why Liliana is worth near the amount she's going for now. If you have no direct way of dealing with her, she will totally control a game. If you have no draw cards spells, her +1 will simply deplete you. Backed by Stromkirk and some removal spells, it was a really nasty starting hand.

Yeah, she's pretty sick if used quickly. I don't think she's as good late-game though.

 

[The Technomancer]

Today's Feature Article is a really excellent look at some of the creative process behind the set:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/164

 

[turnbuckle]

lol You sound like me. I always say "I've got enough cards, I'm not going to buy any this paycheck" and then I go drop a hundred bucks on random shit. It's an epidemic haha

I just did this myself. Second box of the set. First went pretty well. I noticed the booster packs at my local stores all jumped in price to $4.19 so getting another box for $100 will help curb any chance of impulse buying.

 

[OnPoint]

I just did this myself. Second box of the set. First went pretty well. I noticed the booster packs at my local stores all jumped in price to $4.19 so getting another box for $100 will help curb any chance of impulse buying.

Yeah, I think I'm done buying boxes for this one and am going to concentrate on singles from here on out. We'll see if I can stay strong.

 

[y2dvd]

I bought one more box for my friends to draft with and I'll probably keep the leftover packs. Never bought a whole box to myself because I have the worst luck ever. That's why I always do drafts. I can at least pick and choose what I may need.

I preordered the upcoming Hold The Line event deck. Seems easily worth $20 getting 2 Mirran Crusader, a Champion of Parish, an Elite Inquistor, and a bunch of commons/uncommons I don't have like Oblivion Rings and Nihill Bombs (take that zombie deck!). Now I wanna make a white weenie deck. Looks like I will have to shell out for Hero of Bladeholds and Grand Abolisher I guess. Any recommendations to add to the deck?