• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Magic: The Gathering |OT|

Status
Not open for further replies.
Might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me.

Still have the Alpha Scrubland, Alpha Animate Dead, German FBB Underground Sea, Chains of Mephistopheles, and the Eureka.
 
GoutPatrol said:
The problem with most constructed Pack Rat decks (mine included) is that you think you need to go Rat tribal, when it really works best in a B/W Token shell. Something like Pack Rat, Lingering Souls, Doomed Traveler, Blood Artist, then Killing Wave/Mutilate.
Click to expand...

The problem with Pack Rats is that it's just not that great of a card. It's good in limited because using the ability generally nets you more value than casting an average limited card in a good deck. Like, it's better than a Centaur Healer or a Gore House Chainwalker or whatever. It's not better than your average constructed card. Unless you're gaining value out of discarding cards to it (and this isn't impossible, but it's probably too slow to take advantage of the card) then it's just bad.
 
So I've made the jump into modern; I sold off my high-value Standard stuff and bought a bunch of duals and fetches and such with the profits. Then I went to look for a deck that was cheap after going broke on lands. :)
I did this because I just don't have the time/energy to keep up with Standard where the metagame radically changes every week.

I landed on Living End. I swear the bulk of this deck can be bought off of the Penny Bot (if you have the lands), and I've always loved reanimator decks. But holy crap - Modern is much more complex than I gave it credit for. I'm relatively new to Magic (been playing for just a little over a year), and I haven't played with a lot of these cards before. I'm making the dumbest mistakes, mostly when it comes to properly fetching lands. I've never had to crack a fetch and be looking at four different duals before. It's a level of decision making that I didn't have the appropriate respect for.

But when I don't screw myself over, it's great. I'm told the deck is "tier two," but all I want right now is just to get used to playing in a bigger format. The highlight of my sessions? Popping a Violent Outburst for Living End, then paying for the expected Spell Pierce with two Simian Spirit Guides.
 
I tried Woo's Living End on OCTGN and I had no idea how to pilot it, so I gave up. It's too complex for me. I'll stick to unfair combos.

Also, I'm surprised you've only been playing for >1 year. Your posts always felt like they were coming from someone with lots of experience.
 
NovemberMike said:
The problem with Pack Rats is that it's just not that great of a card. It's good in limited because using the ability generally nets you more value than casting an average limited card in a good deck. Like, it's better than a Centaur Healer or a Gore House Chainwalker or whatever. It's not better than your average constructed card. Unless you're gaining value out of discarding cards to it (and this isn't impossible, but it's probably too slow to take advantage of the card) then it's just bad.
Click to expand...

Pack Rat was built with Scavenge in mind, the problem is most things worth playing that have it are better out on the board and not as their primary function.

But if you're playing Pack Rat in the first place, you're doing it to have fun, not to win. I would rather play around with Battle of Wits, Door to Nothingness, or Azor's Eleclutors though if you want a theme like that.
 
Haly said:
I tried Woo's Living End on OCTGN and I had no idea how to pilot it, so I gave up. It's too complex for me. I'll stick to unfair combos.
Click to expand...

Cycle Cycle Cycle --> Living End.

The tricky bit seems to be figuring out when it's safe to pull the trigger, and how to stall/survive until that point. Unless you have a Leyline of the Void out, you can only cast Living End once per game.

The deck that actually most appeals to me in Modern right now is Scapeshift. But I'm waiting on Gatecrash to buy the rest of the shocks.

EDIT: Sesson #2 with Living End. Turn 3 on the play: pass, stop on his upkeep, Beast Within his Island (only blue source). He Leaks it. Fair enough. Untap, Avalanche Riders on Island. He calls me a douche and quits. Nothing like a little LD to ruin someone's day.

EDIT2: And this is why I said I needed to practice Modern. Did you know there was a land that exiles cards from graveyards when it comes into play? I sure didn't. I have a whole new level of respect for Knight of the Reliquary now. I tell you what - I won't be entering any Modern queues for a looong time. I have a lot to learn.
 
Yeah, that's the reason Living End is really a tier 2 strategy. It's not really fast enough to take game 1 by default and it's vulnerable to a lot of hate that exists for Jund, Dredge, Eggs or any other deck that uses the graveyard, as well as some splash for Storm. It's not terrible but it's definitely not a great deck right now.
 
Rakdos Charm is all over Jund sideboards now as well due to how well it blows up many of the combo decks (and Affinity, to a degree.)
 
Fairly new to Magic and joined some friends in attending my first draft last night. Pulled an Angel of Serenity, Hallowed Fountain, and Foil Blood Crypt hah. Went with a Rakdos deck and did okay, but it was a lot of fun and everyone was great. Looking forward to posting more around here!
 
castlegar said:
Fairly new to Magic and joined some friends in attending my first draft last night. Pulled an Angel of Serenity, Hallowed Fountain, and Foil Blood Crypt hah. Went with a Rakdos deck and did okay, but it was a lot of fun and everyone was great. Looking forward to posting more around here!
Click to expand...

Always a great feeling to pull 4-5x as much as the entry cost. Plus the chance to win even more.
 
NovemberMike said:
Yeah, that's the reason Living End is really a tier 2 strategy. It's not really fast enough to take game 1 by default and it's vulnerable to a lot of hate that exists for Jund, Dredge, Eggs or any other deck that uses the graveyard, as well as some splash for Storm. It's not terrible but it's definitely not a great deck right now.
Click to expand...

I've definitely noticed this. It seems to have zero resiliency in its strategy, and gets incidentally hosed by all sorts of shenanigans. It relies entirely on LD for disruption, which has worked out fine for me against incredibly greedy mana bases, but does basically nothing against the rest. What it needs are cyclers which do things when they cycle, and the Sojourners just don't cut it.

But when it works, you feel like a total badass, which I suppose is the appeal.

kirblar said:
Rakdos Charm is all over Jund sideboards now as well due to how well it blows up many of the combo decks (and Affinity, to a degree.)
Click to expand...

Except Twin can play around it in many cases if they have a brain. The first time I saw it kill a Twin player on stream, I thought "Why did he make 10000 when he only needed 11?"
 
Hello GAF, as a small update, I've gotten some Pilgrims and one Temple Garden, so my deck is somewhat moving along.

I was wondering if you guys can help me out on this deck. I don't own this deck, it belongs to my friend, and he wants to know what's going wrong.

4 Lotleth Troll
4 Gravecrawler
4 Slitherhead
3 Geralf's Messenger
4 Rancor
4 Farseek
4 Veilborn Ghoul
8 Forest
9 Swamp
4 Dreg Mangler
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Golgari Charm
4 Ultimate Price
2 Strangleroot Geist.

Any ideas? Any suggestions?

Thank you so much for your time and consideration! It means a lot! :D
 
If you're going to abuse Veilborn Ghoul, I don't think this is the right kind of deck. He wants a control shell. The deck seems to have a weird identity crisis. The Farseek/Ghoul don't make a lot of sense.

Slitherhead also just isn't that good.
 
kirblar said:
If you're going to abuse Veilborn Ghoul, I don't think this is the right kind of deck. He wants a control shell. The deck seems to have a weird identity crisis. The Farseek/Ghoul don't make a lot of sense.

Slitherhead also just isn't that good.
Click to expand...

He uses the Farskeeks to get his Overgrown Tombs out, and the Ghouls, he uses them to discard with the Loleth troll and then get them back by placing a swamp. As for the Slitherhead, they are really just used for the scavenge/discard.
 
What's wrong with the deck is that even when you are successfully able to abuse Veilborn Ghoul, what effects are you getting? You're jumping through hoops to recur this thing, just to pass it back through Lotleth Trolls? It's just not that powerful of an interaction. Other decks do more powerful things with less effort.

In short...it's a clever deck idea, but it likely won't ever go anywhere.
 
WanderingWind said:
People call every card terrible when it's revealed. Bob even!
Click to expand...

Yep, plenty of people called Tarmogoyf meh or worse when it first came out. Lots of Threshold players back then were insistent that Werebear was still the superior card since you can use it to generate mana. I bought several playsets on ebay for less than $20 each. Good times! :)
 
Okay, if you guys would be so kind as to help me make a cool populate deck? I bought Selesnya's Surge to start, this is what it contains:

Creatures (17)
1 Arbor Elf
1 Axebane Stag
1 Brushstrider
3 Centaur Courser
1 Centaur Healer
2 Centaur’s Herald
1 Healer of the Pride
1 Phantom General
1 Risen Sanctuary
3 Seller of Songbirds
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Wayfaring Temple
Other Spells (18)
2 Bountiful Harvest
2 Call of the Conclave
2 Chorus of Might
1 Coursers’ Accord
1 Druid’s Deliverance
2 Eyes in the Skies
1 Heroes’ Reunion
1 Rootborn Defenses
2 Savage Surge
2 Selesnya Keyrune
2 Trostani’s Judgment
Land (25)
12 Forest
1 Grove of the Guardian
11 Plains
1 Selesnya Guildgate

Here are some other cards I have which may or may not be valuable to add (some most definitely so):

1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Ring of Kalonia
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Risen Sanctuary
2 Selesnya Charm
1 Rubbleback Rhino
1 Chorus of Might
1 Loxodon Smiter
1 Avenging Arrow
1 Parallel Lives
1 Horncaller's Chant
1 Wild Beastmaster
1 Armada Wurm
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Collective Blessing
1 Golgari Decoy
1 Knightly Valor
1 Centaur Herald
1 Centaur Healer
1 Urban Burgeoning

Other White Cards I have that may be good:
some Oblivion Rings
some Erases
some Pacifisms
1 Cloudshift
1 Intangible Virtue
1 Call to Serve
1 Lingering Souls
1 Divine Verdict
4 Captain's Call
2 Commander's Authority
1 Touch of the Eternal
3 Attended Knights
3 Crusader of Odric
1 Elgaud Inquisitor
1 Prized Elephant
1 Voice of theProvinces
1 Goldnight Redeemer
1 Captain of the Watch

Other Green Cards I have that may be good:
1 Gutter Grime
1 Fungal Sprouting
1 Revive
4 Prey Upons
1 Boundless Realms
1 Natural End
2 Plummets
2 Serpents Gift
1 Fog
1 Terrifying Presence
1 Naturalize
2 Titanic Growth
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Deadly Recluse
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Geist Trappers
1 Acidic Slime
1 Howlgeist
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter 2013 planeswalker

I know I just dumped a lot of info on you guys, but any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. I also have some other white and green cards (mostly from core 2013 and some innistrad era) in case you want to make some other suggestions...
 
Here's what I'd do for the moment...

robotzombie said:
Okay, if you guys would be so kind as to help me make a cool populate deck? I bought Selesnya's Surge to start, this is what it contains:

Creatures (17)
1 Arbor Elf
1 Axebane Stag [CUT!]
1 Brushstrider [CUT!]
3 Centaur Courser [Cut]
1 Centaur Healer
2 Centaur’s Herald
1 Healer of the Pride
1 Phantom General [Cut]
1 Risen Sanctuary [CUT!]
3 Seller of Songbirds [Cut]
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Wayfaring Temple
Other Spells (18)
2 Bountiful Harvest [CUT CUT CUT!!!!]
2 Call of the Conclave
2 Chorus of Might
1 Coursers’ Accord
1 Druid’s Deliverance
2 Eyes in the Skies
1 Heroes’ Reunion [CUT]
1 Rootborn Defenses
2 Savage Surge [CUT]
2 Selesnya Keyrune
2 Trostani’s Judgment
Land (25)
12 Forest
1 Grove of the Guardian
11 Plains
1 Selesnya Guildgate

Here are some other cards I have which may or may not be valuable to add (some most definitely so):

1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Ring of Kalonia
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Risen Sanctuary
2 Selesnya Charm [Add!]
1 Rubbleback Rhino
1 Chorus of Might
1 Loxodon Smiter [Add!]
1 Avenging Arrow
1 Parallel Lives [Add!]
1 Horncaller's Chant
1 Wild Beastmaster [Add!]
1 Armada Wurm [Add!!!!]
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage [Add!]
1 Collective Blessing [Add!]
[/B]1 Golgari Decoy
1 Knightly Valor
1 Centaur Herald
1 Centaur Healer [Add!]
1 Urban Burgeoning

Other White Cards I have that may be good:
some Oblivion Rings [Add 2-3!]
some Erases
some Pacifisms
1 Cloudshift
1 Intangible Virtue [Add!]
1 Call to Serve
1 Lingering Souls
1 Divine Verdict
4 Captain's Call
2 Commander's Authority
1 Touch of the Eternal
3 Attended Knights [Add 2 maybe?]
3 Crusader of Odric
1 Elgaud Inquisitor
1 Prized Elephant
1 Voice of theProvinces
1 Goldnight Redeemer
1 Captain of the Watch

Other Green Cards I have that may be good:
1 Gutter Grime
1 Fungal Sprouting
1 Revive
4 Prey Upons
1 Boundless Realms
1 Natural End
2 Plummets
2 Serpents Gift
1 Fog
1 Terrifying Presence
1 Naturalize
2 Titanic Growth
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Deadly Recluse
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Geist Trappers
1 Acidic Slime
1 Howlgeist
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter 2013 planeswalker [ADD!!!]

I know I just dumped a lot of info on you guys, but any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. I also have some other white and green cards (mostly from core 2013 and some innistrad era) in case you want to make some other suggestions...
Click to expand...

Going forward, you definitely want to look into picking up to 4 Chorus of the Conclaves and 3-4 Selesnya Charms and dumping the weaker token creatures (Centaur Heralds, Courser's Accord) and pump spells (Chorus of Might). You also need better ways to proliferate... I can't believe the Selesnya deck doesn't come with more Rootborn Defenses! It's really only the playable non-rare that proliferates. You should be able to get those easily and should probably replace Eyes in the Skies with those. In terms of rares, Wayfaring Temple is fun and really cheap (less than $1) and if you have some stuff you're willing to trade, maybe you can get a Trostani, Selesnya's Voice or two.

Good luck!
 
bigkrev said:
Love Willy Edel's version of Jund. Shows how versatile the deck is! It's running Thundermaw and Lotus Cobra instead of Bob.
Click to expand...

Thundermaw? Sounds like a deck designed specifically to wreck Spirit Jund.

But I can't imagine that not running Bob is the right thing to do ever. (NVM: Realized from looking at decklists that he didn't cut Bob entirely; just down to 2).

EDIT: Apparently there was a lot of sloppy/shady play on camera at this tournament, a lot of it being logged on Reddit. One player drew extra cards, one dropped two lands in a turn (during frantic play right before time was called, so perhaps a genuine mistake), and fetching a Stomping Ground with a Marsh Flats...

http://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/14kh03/josh_meckes_draws_an_extra_card_on_coverage_at_gp/
 
divisionbyzorro said:
Thundermaw? Sounds like a deck designed specifically to wreck Spirit Jund.

But I can't imagine that not running Bob is the right thing to do ever. (NVM: Realized from looking at decklists that he didn't cut Bob entirely; just down to 2).
Click to expand...

Bob only works in the right decks, if you have to high of a curve and too much life loss (the fetch/shock manabase is really painful) then cutting him makes sense. In modern I wouldn't play it unless I was topping out at a cmc of 4, probably.
 
OP Announcements- http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/225b
*GP's now award PT invites to top 8 players if at least 1200 players are present
*New promo is Primeval Titan
*Players Championship renamed World Championship, will take place in conjunction with WMC in Amsterdam over a 5 day period in Late July
*PTs and WMC now have payouts of 250,000 USD
*Winning a PTQ gets you 1,000 Planeswalker Points- getting you 2 byes at all GPs
feat225b_gp2013a_mtggtc_prm_en_ff.jpg
 
bigkrev said:
OP Announcements- http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/225b
*GP's now award PT invites to top 8 players if at least 1200 players are present
*Winning a PTQ gets you 1,000 Planeswalker Points- getting you 2 byes at all GPs
Click to expand...

About time they extended PT invites to the top 8 again, even if it's not universal for now. Fortunately any GP I would reasonably go to will have a decent chance of it. It's a start at least.

Glad they're changing the PWP points for PTQ wins as well. It just makes sense.
 
An-Det said:
About time they extended PT invites to the top 8 again, even if it's not universal for now. Fortunately any GP I would reasonably go to will have a decent chance of it. It's a start at least.

Glad they're changing the PWP points for PTQ wins as well. It just makes sense.
Click to expand...
1200 is a good size to cut off at. It makes it a 150:1 ratio, which is about normal for a PTQ.
 
Has anyone been watching the SCG stream, with Joe Lossett being awesome? His play this last game was absolutely masterful.

kirblar said:
1200 is a good size to cut off at. It makes it a 150:1 ratio, which is about normal for a PTQ.
Click to expand...

I agree, 1200 is a good cutoff. I just never liked the change to only top 4 get invites to begin with. I understood it since there are so many more GP's these days, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
 
An-Det said:
Has anyone been watching the SCG stream, with Joe Lossett being awesome? His play this last game was absolutely masterful.



I agree, 1200 is a good cutoff. I just never liked the change to only top 4 get invites to begin with. I understood it since there are so many more GP's these days, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just watched that whole match. I was mystified by his play the whole time. He was SO good.
 
OnPoint said:
Yeah, I just watched that whole match. I was mystified by his play the whole time. He was SO good.
Click to expand...

That game 3 was incredible. To have the discipline to play around Spell Pierce when casting Entreat was insane. Most players would have just said "I win if he doesn't have it" and gone for it.
 
Cracked open a box of Innistrad with some friends last night for a draft. Great pull, really. Liliana, Garruk, Geist, Isolated, Hinterland, BG land I can't remember the name of. Really a fun box to draft.

divisionbyzorro said:
That game 3 was incredible. To have the discipline to play around Spell Pierce when casting Entreat was insane. Most players would have just said "I win if he doesn't have it" and gone for it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's the kind of match that makes me extra scared of ever getting into legacy, because the competition is THAT much better.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Movies You’ve Watched Lately | OT | - 2026
|OT| Social  3 4 5 6 7
329
3K
Power Pro replied
I just had a magical experience in the bathroom.
27
310
poppabk replied
Winter Olympics 2026 [OT] - Milano Cortina
2 3
124
816
AJUMP23 replied
Harry Potter Full-Cast Audiobooks |OT| A Wonderful New Way To Experience These Classics
|OT|  2 3 4
157
3K
DenchDeckard replied
31 Days of Horror 2025 |OT| OP got banned, so now I have to summon the demons
|OT| Social Community  2 3 4 5
219
5K
rao.d.luffy replied
Top Bottom