• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Magic: the Gathering |OT11| Amonkhet - Have you ever had decks with a Pharaoh?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Violet_0

Banned
bleh, I'm going to miss another pre-release and this time I'm actually into the set. Might hit up a magic store in Amsterdam for a draft or two a couple days later

what are the money cards right now?
 

Wulfric

Member
I wanted to thank everyone who gave me tips on getting into magic a few days ago. I went to the open night at the game shop near me tonight and had a lot of fun leaning with another person who showed up who hadnt played in 12 years. I got to keep the starter deck they gave me to play with (red/black). 1/3rd of it seems to be cards from the new set. I also signed up for the pre-release event next week.

I'm glad you had fun! In case you want to practice before the actual prerelease event, this site will help you get a sense of what the set will feel like next week. Basically, you're going to open 6 packs of Amonkhet boosters and build a 40 card, 2 or 3 color deck out of it.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I'm glad you had fun! In case you want to practice before the actual prerelease event, this site will help you get a sense of what the set will feel like next week. Basically, you're going to open 6 packs of Amonkhet boosters and build a 40 card, 2 or 3 color deck out of it.
6 packs plus a free rare. But don't forget that a free rare isn't as valuable as a full pack. Many successful limited decks just have uncommons and commons.
 
Temur Kibler is a really fun deck. Chandra, Nissa, Vizier, and Tracker are kind of absurd together. Glorybringer is legit, and Crocodile of the Crossing might actually be legit as well (not 100% convinced of this yet).

Fun interaction: the green creatures that hit your own creatures with -1/-1 counters interact really well with Glyph Keeper. It doesn't help early game, but it's fun to get to play Channeler as a straight 3/4 late game.
Also not sure Glyph Keeper is actually good, but it's a fun interaction.
 

Violet_0

Banned
The interactions between the Trials and Cartouches are super nice in limited. Looking like an excellent set.

I never seem to get enough trials and cartouches in the draft sims, and there's also the problem that only a few of them are playable. I get the feeling that you'll only rarely be able to bounce trials

the best part about Amonkhet limited is that you can grab all these super late-game or situational cards that you wouldn't normally play, as long as they have cycling attached to it. They should do cycling more often, it gives 7 mana vanilla beaters a reason to exist
 

Jamiaro

Member
Might as well ask here:

I'd like to build a new EDH-deck. Meta in my local store is very competitive (less creatures, heavy blue and more combo-pieces), and I'd like to play a reanimator-type deck.

What are some good options in Golgari-colors for that? I haven't played MTG since late 2015.

I have a Teysa, Orzhov Scion-deck and I'm working on a Grimgrin control-zombie-deck. You can also suggest a Commander in those colors.
 

MoxManiac

Member
Might as well ask here:

I'd like to build a new EDH-deck. Meta in my local store is very competitive (less creatures, heavy blue and more combo-pieces), and I'd like to play a reanimator-type deck.

What are some good options in Golgari-colors for that? I haven't played MTG since late 2015.

I have a Teysa, Orzhov Scion-deck and I'm working on a Grimgrin control-zombie-deck. You can also suggest a Commander in those colors.

Meren is the most popular golgari commander and can be very powerful.
 

hermit7

Member
Meren is good for that strategy.

You said combo oriented though so unless you play some stax effects they might get there before you're able to stabilize the board.

Currently I run Nath stax. Mass discard, pox type effects, etc. it is on the competitive end and is meant to lock out the board and getting in slowly with Nath or possessed portal to have everyone sac all their lands.
 
Against a blue heavy and high powered meta and in Golgari colours your best bet is probably Leovold. Who coincidentally also gives you access to a mean ass reanimator target in Jin Gitaxias.

Just BG there's not really Reanimator synergies within available commanders but Gitrog has the highest combo potential.
 

Violet_0

Banned
when I play a "fair" deck I tutor up Genesis + Sepulchral and Diluvian Primordial + Glen Elendra Archmage with Sidsi as Commander and just bring them back again and again

unfortunately, a normal EDH game on mtgo usually ends with one of the top tier combos. Fucking Puphoros
 

xelios

Universal Access can be found under System Preferences
I have a friend whose birthday is too close to the Amonkhet release date for me to get a box as part of his birthday present online; am I going to have a problem finding this in stores at release or does it not have the same stock problems something like the FF TCG does? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I always get my own cards online so I don't have experience trying to buy in a physical location at release.
 

Jamiaro

Member
Against a blue heavy and high powered meta and in Golgari colours your best bet is probably Leovold. Who coincidentally also gives you access to a mean ass reanimator target in Jin Gitaxias.

Just BG there's not really Reanimator synergies within available commanders but Gitrog has the highest combo potential.

One player actually plays Gitrog. :) Leovold is also a deck in my Meta. I have seen Grand Arbiter, Atraxa, Teeg, Momir Vig, and many commanders running blue.

There are some younger players who run with Dragons and W/R-Commanders, but the first ones mentioned are the toughest ones. There is also some U/R goblin who gets exp counters and goes apeshit if not controlled.

My Teysa seems pretty pointless against blue and Grimgrin is just something I want to do. I propably need help in upgrading those as well. :D

I have many Golgari-lands so that's why a Golgari-Commander interests me.

Edit: Also, Meren has been recommended to me before. Worth looking up. :)
 
So, with MM17 boxes selling for (relatively) cheap, is this the lowest Liliana of the Veil and Cavern of Souls are likely to hit?

I mean, I considered just cracking a box or two, but honestly with the results I've seen from people opening packs it seems like I'd be better of just scooping singles.
 

Yeef

Member
I have a friend whose birthday is too close to the Amonkhet release date for me to get a box as part of his birthday present online; am I going to have a problem finding this in stores at release or does it not have the same stock problems something like the FF TCG does? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I always get my own cards online so I don't have experience trying to buy in a physical location at release.
You shouldn't have any problem finding a box in-store at a local game store the day of release. Target and other big box stores don't typically sell full booster boxes.
 
So, today I splurged and bought my first three booster boxes.

Cracked 1 Kaladesh, 2 AER.

3 Torrential Gearhulk (one foil), 2 Masterpieces (Oblivion Stone, Meekstone) .



...I feel like every booster pack I ever buy from now on will have nothing but commons in it.
 

Rafy

Member
So, today I splurged and bought my first three booster boxes.

Cracked 1 Kaladesh, 2 AER.

3 Torrential Gearhulk (one foil), 2 Masterpieces (Oblivion Stone, Meekstone) .



...I feel like every booster pack I ever buy from now on will have nothing but commons in it.

how the hell did you get 3 torrential gearhulks from 1 KLD booster?!
 

Repgnar

Member
Few questions about the pre-release. What should I bring? I have a D20 and card sleeves. Do I need to bring my own lands? Watching the Loading Ready Live pre pre-release VOD right now but what are people doing for -1/-1 counters? I have plenty of D6s i'm planning on bringing.

How long does the event generally run? My local store has a 4-5 scheduled over the weekend with the first starting at midnight Friday night. They have a max of 60 people but I have never been before so I have no idea how many people generally show up which would affect the timeline. Do you guys tend to go to more than one?
 

Santiako

Member
Few questions about the pre-release. What should I bring? I have a D20 and card sleeves. Do I need to bring my own lands? Watching the Loading Ready Live pre pre-release VOD right now but what are people doing for -1/-1 counters? I have plenty of D6s i'm planning on bringing.

How long does the event generally run? My local store has a 4-5 scheduled over the weekend with the first starting at midnight Friday night. They have a max of 60 people but I have never been before so I have no idea how many people generally show up which would affect the timeline. Do you guys tend to go to more than one?

Just bring some sleeves, pen/paper for life counting and some d6 for counters. Water is handy to have too. Lands are provided by the store.

That is entirely store dependant, where I go for prereleases we usually have around 30 people so we do 5 rounds. We start at noon and finish at six. There's also midnight and evening flights by I don't bother with those.
 
When you go to a prerelease, bring:
* Paper and a pen/pencil. Some people use their phones to keep track of the score, but paper allows you to more easily keep track of the history of your match. It's also more convenient for keeping track of how many creatures you have, how many cards are in each color, etc.
* Food and water. Food should be something you can eat without getting your hands dirty, for everyone's sake.
* Something to do between matches.
* Deck sleeves are nice, but not required. In addition to the 40 sleeves for the deck, bring a few more in case one tears.
* Bring your own lands. The game store will provide free ones for everyone, but you're supposed to give them back after, and it's so so easy to forget.
* For -1/-1 counters, dice are fine, since in this Limited environment, that's the only counter that would go on creatures. There are also punch cards in the booster packs with -1/-1 counters.
* If you want to trade, bring a trade binder. Make sure to trade only before the event starts, and after all of your matches end, so it doesn't look like you're cheating by trading sealed deck cards.
 

duxstar

Member
A couple of things i wanted to just run by you (and a deck i've been working on)

First of all, for anyone who say's the combo shouldn't be banned, and we are not "pro worthy enough" I started reading Shaheen Soorani's article today and here's how it began

"I was a huge advocate for a banning that would cripple Mardu Vehicles and destroy the "Copy Cat" combo a month ago. We are now approaching a banning cycle where the decision not to ban will be revisited. The explanation given by Wizards was almost laughable last time around due to the clearly outdated examples they used. Having both Standard decks still at full strength at the launch of Amonkhet would be an absolute disaster for not only the players competing in Standard events but for the company that creates it as well.

If nothing is done in terms of banning, the Top 8 at Pro Tour Amonkhet could easily be six Mardu Vehicles and two Four-Color Saheeli decks. This would syphon the excitement out of a great new set, deter people from staying in or entering the format, hurt sales, and be an overall hit to the brand. I am not advocating for specific bans this time around, nor am I lightning up the Twitter world with doom-and-gloom predictions. I am just confident that Wizards will remove the cancerous cards from their most-promoted format and clear the way for Amonkhet excitement.

Speaking of Amonkhet excitement, let's talk control cards! Let's go through the top ten preview cards released so far for control brewers out there. "


Yes the combo and mardu vehicles are a cancer on the format .... for anyone who thinks that they are fine to leave as is, I would argue mardu vehicles had hate cards printed, but Saheeli combo was virtually "unhated".

Now that doesn't mean I can't brew my favorite 2 color combinations together

This is currently the 75 I'm running with
// 60 Maindeck
// 4 Artifact
4 Heart of Kiran

// 21 Creature
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Lambholt Pacifist
3 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Noose Constrictor
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Glory-Bound Initiate
2 Honored Hydra

// 4 Enchantment
4 Cast Out

// 23 Land
4 Canopy Vista
3 Scattered Groves
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
6 Plains

// 8 Planeswalker
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar


// 15 Sideboard
// 5 Enchantment
SB: 2 Stasis Snare
SB: 3 Gideon's Intervention

// 5 Instant
SB: 2 Dissenter's Deliverance
SB: 3 Renewed Faith

// 5 Sorcery
SB: 1 Descend upon the Sinful
SB: 1 Fumigate
SB: 3 Approach of the Second Sun


As you can see its pretty much a g/w tokens build and it has a relative modicum of success so far in testing. Funnily Enough although its a control card, Approach of the Second sun does amazing things when your opponent is just casting counterspell's/Negates, and the like. I've run across a ton of people trying to play draw/go control decks online, and found that if I just play out my threats, eventually they'll use their disallow on one of them, and thats when you resolve one or 2 approach of the second son's and just win the game, sure counter it; its kind of funny how often it's worked.

I'm thinking about cutting the stasis snares for something like a second fumigate and a either another honored hydra or a maybe the 4th rhonas.

Some of the obvious cards are great from g/w tokens here

Heart of Kiran - Assuming it doesn't get banned this is the best card in the deck, and allows you to turn on both Rhonas, and provide a resilient enough threat to sweepers, I don't know if the deck would work without this card, and aethersphere might be better, I would have to test it, but as of now I'm always happy with Heart of Kiran.

Gideon/Nissa - Gideon is obviously one of the most dominant cards in standard, but I don't think I would lose a TON by moving to the smaller gideon, or hell even the planeswalker deck one, but If Heart/Gideon do get the axe i would have to re-evaluate the deck. My inherent problem with people saying gideon needs to get banned is that he's not an inherently UNFAIR magic card, he's just really really good at what he does, much like Elspeth in a way. Gideon get's blanked by Torrential Gearhulks, and if the opponent has any flyer's then he's kind of dead meat, the problem is that he's really good against control ...... an archetype that just got a TON of new options if you take him and Heart of Kiran out of the format sweepers become alot better, as in almost unbeatable for alot of decks. If they ban him they ban him I guess.

Glory-Bound Initiate - Pull's double weight against both aggro decks, and as a 3/1 beater for 2 that benefits alot from nissa's -2, and also get's under essence scatter/censor on the play, you need a 2 drop in this format, and 8 of them might not be enough. The lifegain can also be huge against the red decks.

Lambholt pacifist - Might be the best card in the deck, and I'm not joking. Turns on Rhonas, Crew's heart of Kiran, and forces the control players to play spell's on their turn or take 4, also get's under essence scatter on the play, and allows you to threaten early, and becomes a big threat late with Rhonas +2+0 and trample.

Tireless Tracker/RIshkar - 3 drops that provide a ton of value, if your short on mana playing Rishkar, and holding up Avacyn is a thing, and help's you ramp out to some of your bigger cards, Tireless Tracker is invaluable in the control matchups and allows you to keep drawing cards when you would run out of gas. The problem is in different matchups you want different ones, and with scattered groves getting to 3 mana can be a little tough. I could probably change the numbers around on both of these cards and feel ok about it ; some days you want 4 trackers, and some days you want 4 rishkar's (not in the same hand though.

Archangel Avacyn - Too many in one hand is bad, but when she is good, she's really freaking good, clear's out token's protects your board from a wrath, and is a solid beater, through gideon's +1/+1 on her and she get's out of range of grasp of darkness and is hart to kill.

Noose Constrictor/Honored Hydra - I'm not going to lie this package is in here because a 6/6 trample for 4 that is uncounterable is good in the meta right now, and barring a void shatter there's not much they can do to stop you from eventually getting a 6/6; I would love a deck that played 4 of each, and was more reliably getting Honored hydra in the graveyard to get cast on turn 4 but I put in the 2 honored hydra's in place of verdurous gearhulks which i had been running until an hour ago. It might be correct to just run verdurous over the hydra though and open 2 spots up in the deck where noose constrictor would be, Maybe Channeler's Initiate, thought the reach is nice.

Cast out - Good removal, that you can hold up on a turn or cycle it early, and it hits planeswalkers, in game one you kind of see where everything ends up and where it has to be used; hitting anything on the board is worth the extra mana over stasis Snare.


The sideboard -
Gideon's Intervention - Name Torrential gearhulk against control, Any type of combo/I win deck will have a hard time winning with this on the field, and it normally comes down in time to save you, It's funny that the second ability works against things like Aetherflux Resevoir, Felidar Guardian; You never know what its good for, but it gives you an answer to things you otherwise couldn't in these colors; or if you need to protect your creatures bring it out naming the removal spell you don't want to face.

Approach of the Second sun - You want to play the control game .... ok ...... I'm just going to sit here, try to play my threats, tax your counter spells and removal, and late game if all your doing is drawing cards, I'm just going to play this turn 7, and say you have 7 turns to kill me. Assuming i dont draw 1 of the 3 i've sideboarded in. The fact that only 1 or 2 cards out of control decks can answer this is kind of the point of it, since its a cast trigger, not a resolve. It's a suprisingly easy win condition, and in other decks i've tested it in, like aetherworks marvel its really hard to stop. This is a card i think being undervalued right now.

Renewed Faith/Dissenters Deliverance - Mardu vehicles hate, there have been some red aggro decks and getting some of my 2 drops down early and gaining 6 life has been enough to stabliize, the deliverance is also good against the torrential gearhulk decks since they normally try to flash torrential in to block a creature, and then a 2 mana answer that kills it and gets in your 5 or 6 damage is important.

Fumigate/Descend - Aggro decks or decks that overwhelm the board, I like descend more because it works better against the all in discard amalgam decks, but the aggro decks the life gain can be important.


Card's not in the deck

Prowling Serpopod is not an answer to any control decks in the format, they easily kill it, and then just counter your shit anyways, I don't know what deck this fit's in but in this deck it's not doing enough (which is kind of weird, because you look at it, and it should).

Channeler Initiate dies too easily to removal when you want to ramp, and the counters are a real cost, though a trick that some people seem to not understand with this card is that the counters come on after it enters, so before the counters hit it you can crew heart of kiran, I honestly think when I was testing it the first time i wasn't using it right, so I might come back to this gain.

Declaration in stone - There are some token strategies out there, and 2 mana exile is pretty good right now, its just giving your opponents cards is sooooo not a good feeling. It might be better than stasis snare though, and would help the aggro matchup a bit more.

I don't know just my deck I'm playing around with right now, if any of you guys have suggestions go ahead, I'm sure there's cards from old sets i forgot about.


One deck that I really want to get working in some form is a Naya deck. The interactions of Samut/Glory Bringer, Nahiri/Honored Hydra, and having access to sweltering sun's and Ajani out of the sideboard all sound like things I want to be doing, if I could figure out the deck to use them in.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
humans are back bay-bee

Deck: WR Hoomons
w.gif
r.gif


//Lands
3 Hanweir Battlements
4 Inspiring Vantage
6 Mountain
2 Needle Spires
7 Plains

//Spells
4 Always Watching
2 Insult
3 Shock

//Creatures
1 Archangel Avacyn
4 Glory-Bound Initiate
3 Hanweir Garrison
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Town Gossipmonger
2 Harsh Mentor
4 Honored Crop-Captain

//Sideboard
2 Authority of the Consuls
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Browse
3 Cast Out
2 Dusk
1 Fragmentize
1 Glorious End
2 Glorybringer

Display deck statistics

(There's no reason at all to run this over Mardu, its just funny)
 

Supast4r

Junior Member
A couple of things i wanted to just run by you (and a deck i've been working on)

First of all, for anyone who say's the combo shouldn't be banned, and we are not "pro worthy enough" I started reading Shaheen Soorani's article today and here's how it began

"I was a huge advocate for a banning that would cripple Mardu Vehicles and destroy the "Copy Cat" combo a month ago. We are now approaching a banning cycle where the decision not to ban will be revisited. The explanation given by Wizards was almost laughable last time around due to the clearly outdated examples they used. Having both Standard decks still at full strength at the launch of Amonkhet would be an absolute disaster for not only the players competing in Standard events but for the company that creates it as well.

If nothing is done in terms of banning, the Top 8 at Pro Tour Amonkhet could easily be six Mardu Vehicles and two Four-Color Saheeli decks. This would syphon the excitement out of a great new set, deter people from staying in or entering the format, hurt sales, and be an overall hit to the brand. I am not advocating for specific bans this time around, nor am I lightning up the Twitter world with doom-and-gloom predictions. I am just confident that Wizards will remove the cancerous cards from their most-promoted format and clear the way for Amonkhet excitement.

Speaking of Amonkhet excitement, let's talk control cards! Let's go through the top ten preview cards released so far for control brewers out there. "


Yes the combo and mardu vehicles are a cancer on the format .... for anyone who thinks that they are fine to leave as is, I would argue mardu vehicles had hate cards printed, but Saheeli combo was virtually "unhated".

Now that doesn't mean I can't brew my favorite 2 color combinations together

This is currently the 75 I'm running with
// 60 Maindeck
// 4 Artifact
4 Heart of Kiran

// 21 Creature
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Lambholt Pacifist
3 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Noose Constrictor
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Glory-Bound Initiate
2 Honored Hydra

// 4 Enchantment
4 Cast Out

// 23 Land
4 Canopy Vista
3 Scattered Groves
2 Evolving Wilds
8 Forest
6 Plains

// 8 Planeswalker
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar


// 15 Sideboard
// 5 Enchantment
SB: 2 Stasis Snare
SB: 3 Gideon's Intervention

// 5 Instant
SB: 2 Dissenter's Deliverance
SB: 3 Renewed Faith

// 5 Sorcery
SB: 1 Descend upon the Sinful
SB: 1 Fumigate
SB: 3 Approach of the Second Sun


As you can see its pretty much a g/w tokens build and it has a relative modicum of success so far in testing. Funnily Enough although its a control card, Approach of the Second sun does amazing things when your opponent is just casting counterspell's/Negates, and the like. I've run across a ton of people trying to play draw/go control decks online, and found that if I just play out my threats, eventually they'll use their disallow on one of them, and thats when you resolve one or 2 approach of the second son's and just win the game, sure counter it; its kind of funny how often it's worked.

I'm thinking about cutting the stasis snares for something like a second fumigate and a either another honored hydra or a maybe the 4th rhonas.

Some of the obvious cards are great from g/w tokens here

Heart of Kiran - Assuming it doesn't get banned this is the best card in the deck, and allows you to turn on both Rhonas, and provide a resilient enough threat to sweepers, I don't know if the deck would work without this card, and aethersphere might be better, I would have to test it, but as of now I'm always happy with Heart of Kiran.

Gideon/Nissa - Gideon is obviously one of the most dominant cards in standard, but I don't think I would lose a TON by moving to the smaller gideon, or hell even the planeswalker deck one, but If Heart/Gideon do get the axe i would have to re-evaluate the deck. My inherent problem with people saying gideon needs to get banned is that he's not an inherently UNFAIR magic card, he's just really really good at what he does, much like Elspeth in a way. Gideon get's blanked by Torrential Gearhulks, and if the opponent has any flyer's then he's kind of dead meat, the problem is that he's really good against control ...... an archetype that just got a TON of new options if you take him and Heart of Kiran out of the format sweepers become alot better, as in almost unbeatable for alot of decks. If they ban him they ban him I guess.

Glory-Bound Initiate - Pull's double weight against both aggro decks, and as a 3/1 beater for 2 that benefits alot from nissa's -2, and also get's under essence scatter/censor on the play, you need a 2 drop in this format, and 8 of them might not be enough. The lifegain can also be huge against the red decks.

Lambholt pacifist - Might be the best card in the deck, and I'm not joking. Turns on Rhonas, Crew's heart of Kiran, and forces the control players to play spell's on their turn or take 4, also get's under essence scatter on the play, and allows you to threaten early, and becomes a big threat late with Rhonas +2+0 and trample.

Tireless Tracker/RIshkar - 3 drops that provide a ton of value, if your short on mana playing Rishkar, and holding up Avacyn is a thing, and help's you ramp out to some of your bigger cards, Tireless Tracker is invaluable in the control matchups and allows you to keep drawing cards when you would run out of gas. The problem is in different matchups you want different ones, and with scattered groves getting to 3 mana can be a little tough. I could probably change the numbers around on both of these cards and feel ok about it ; some days you want 4 trackers, and some days you want 4 rishkar's (not in the same hand though.

Archangel Avacyn - Too many in one hand is bad, but when she is good, she's really freaking good, clear's out token's protects your board from a wrath, and is a solid beater, through gideon's +1/+1 on her and she get's out of range of grasp of darkness and is hart to kill.

Noose Constrictor/Honored Hydra - I'm not going to lie this package is in here because a 6/6 trample for 4 that is uncounterable is good in the meta right now, and barring a void shatter there's not much they can do to stop you from eventually getting a 6/6; I would love a deck that played 4 of each, and was more reliably getting Honored hydra in the graveyard to get cast on turn 4 but I put in the 2 honored hydra's in place of verdurous gearhulks which i had been running until an hour ago. It might be correct to just run verdurous over the hydra though and open 2 spots up in the deck where noose constrictor would be, Maybe Channeler's Initiate, thought the reach is nice.

Cast out - Good removal, that you can hold up on a turn or cycle it early, and it hits planeswalkers, in game one you kind of see where everything ends up and where it has to be used; hitting anything on the board is worth the extra mana over stasis Snare.


The sideboard -
Gideon's Intervention - Name Torrential gearhulk against control, Any type of combo/I win deck will have a hard time winning with this on the field, and it normally comes down in time to save you, It's funny that the second ability works against things like Aetherflux Resevoir, Felidar Guardian; You never know what its good for, but it gives you an answer to things you otherwise couldn't in these colors; or if you need to protect your creatures bring it out naming the removal spell you don't want to face.

Approach of the Second sun - You want to play the control game .... ok ...... I'm just going to sit here, try to play my threats, tax your counter spells and removal, and late game if all your doing is drawing cards, I'm just going to play this turn 7, and say you have 7 turns to kill me. Assuming i dont draw 1 of the 3 i've sideboarded in. The fact that only 1 or 2 cards out of control decks can answer this is kind of the point of it, since its a cast trigger, not a resolve. It's a suprisingly easy win condition, and in other decks i've tested it in, like aetherworks marvel its really hard to stop. This is a card i think being undervalued right now.

Renewed Faith/Dissenters Deliverance - Mardu vehicles hate, there have been some red aggro decks and getting some of my 2 drops down early and gaining 6 life has been enough to stabliize, the deliverance is also good against the torrential gearhulk decks since they normally try to flash torrential in to block a creature, and then a 2 mana answer that kills it and gets in your 5 or 6 damage is important.

Fumigate/Descend - Aggro decks or decks that overwhelm the board, I like descend more because it works better against the all in discard amalgam decks, but the aggro decks the life gain can be important.


Card's not in the deck

Prowling Serpopod is not an answer to any control decks in the format, they easily kill it, and then just counter your shit anyways, I don't know what deck this fit's in but in this deck it's not doing enough (which is kind of weird, because you look at it, and it should).

Channeler Initiate dies too easily to removal when you want to ramp, and the counters are a real cost, though a trick that some people seem to not understand with this card is that the counters come on after it enters, so before the counters hit it you can crew heart of kiran, I honestly think when I was testing it the first time i wasn't using it right, so I might come back to this gain.

Declaration in stone - There are some token strategies out there, and 2 mana exile is pretty good right now, its just giving your opponents cards is sooooo not a good feeling. It might be better than stasis snare though, and would help the aggro matchup a bit more.

I don't know just my deck I'm playing around with right now, if any of you guys have suggestions go ahead, I'm sure there's cards from old sets i forgot about.


One deck that I really want to get working in some form is a Naya deck. The interactions of Samut/Glory Bringer, Nahiri/Honored Hydra, and having access to sweltering sun's and Ajani out of the sideboard all sound like things I want to be doing, if I could figure out the deck to use them in.
I wouldn't use shaheen as the Bible as he is the only pro that begs for wizards to unban Jace in modern so the ban list discussion isn't his strongest suit.
 

Santiako

Member
Damn son.

Stop buying boxes just for opening though, you are wasting a ton of money. (Not in your case with that luck, but still.)
 

Card Boy

Banned
Yeah it's always better to buy the singles you need than buying boxes. If you are after a specific card you can theoretically buy like 5 boxes and still not get what you need. Boosters are really only for draft. Having said that i might go in a Amonkhet box only because of a eBay coupon making it cheaper.
 

OnPoint

Member
You know what was a sweet mechanic? And one we will never ever see printed again?

Image.ashx
Image.ashx
Image.ashx
BazaarOfWonders.jpg

I really love Enchant World from a design standpoint. The flavor of creating some new rule or set of rules that everybody needs to abide by is something many enchantments do, but the whole mechanic that there can be only one at a time could be have been really flavorful. I wish they would have done some really powerful, unique effects with the supertype, as the Highlander-esque idea behind it was a natural way to deal with one that doesn't benefit you.
 

Bandini

Member
I never seem to get enough trials and cartouches in the draft sims, and there's also the problem that only a few of them are playable. I get the feeling that you'll only rarely be able to bounce trials

I haven't drafted yet, but I had 2 black trials and 2 black cartouches in my last sealed pool and it was pretty strong.
 

DrArchon

Member
Just brewing up some Standard decks because I'm an idiot and have faith in WotC that they'll do the right thing and ban the necessary cards to make Standard stop being a cesspool.

Esper Zambamos

//28 Creatures//
Cryptbreaker x3
Dread Wanderer x3
Binding Mummy x3
Relentless Dead x4
Wayward Servant x2
Diregraf Colossus x4
Plague Belcher x4
Prized Amalgam x3
Haunted Dead x3

//10 Spells//
Time to Reflect x4
Dark Salvation x2
Never // Return x2
Anguished Unmaking x2

//22 Lands//
Plains x5
Swamp x11
Port Town x2
Choked Estuary x4

It's basically mono-black Zombies, but with a couple of white cards and some Prized Amalgams. I wanted to try out Esper Zombies instead of UB because of Binding Mummy and Time to Reflect, which seem like they could be really powerful in a tribal build. Forcing the opponent to play cautiously as long as I have a single white mana available seems really good, and seeing as I have enough zombies to reasonably cast one or so every turn I have cards should allow Binding Mummy to keep a threat locked out of the game (note that it also taps artifacts, meaning even vehicles can't avoid it).

No real super expensive cards here, like Kalitas or Liliana, the Last Hope, because I don't expect to play anything like this outside of FNMs.
 
Today's Making Magic covers how the set was designed to reflect Bolas. It particularly mentions how exert could be used to demonstrate a creature acting against its will, as in Bolas is using mind control to force it to exert more than it would. We don't see that in Amonkhet, but I expect that exert will be flavored more that way in Hour of Devastation.

Speaking of which, thinking about it, I believe the only Amonkhet mechanics to appear in Hour of Devastation will be exert and cycling. Embalm doesn't seem like it would fit the flavor and seems like the sort of thing they would consider to have little design space, in the sense that they could make more cards, but they would be too similar to what exists and thus they would want to wait a few years. Aftermath is almost definitely gone, given the names they've already had to stoop down to.
 

Maledict

Member
You know what was a sweet mechanic? And one we will never ever see printed again?

Image.ashx
Image.ashx
Image.ashx
BazaarOfWonders.jpg

I really love Enchant World from a design standpoint. The flavor of creating some new rule or set of rules that everybody needs to abide by is something many enchantments do, but the whole mechanic that there can be only one at a time could be have been really flavorful. I wish they would have done some really powerful, unique effects with the supertype, as the Highlander-esque idea behind it was a natural way to deal with one that doesn't benefit you.

I really don't know why they didn't explore this design space more during Theros Block. It was one of the big things that supposedly separates enchantments from artifacts. Maybe they did and couldn't make it work?
 

bigkrev

Member
I really don't know why they didn't explore this design space more during Theros Block. It was one of the big things that supposedly separates enchantments from artifacts. Maybe they did and couldn't make it work?

The problem with Enchant Worlds is that you can't look at an enchantmant and instantly know if it's an Enchant World or not. Just from the Mirage Block, why are some of these cards Enchant World and some of them not?

Image.ashx
Image.ashx
Image.ashx

Image.ashx
Image.ashx
Image.ashx
 

OnPoint

Member
The problem with Enchant Worlds is that you can't look at an enchantmant and instantly know if it's an Enchant World or not. Just from the Mirage Block, why are some of these cards Enchant World and some of them not?

[IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3659&type=card[/IMG][IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=4512&type=card[/IMG][IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3711&type=card[/IMG]
[IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3734&type=card[/IMG][IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3318&type=card[/IMG][IM]http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=3435&type=card[/IMG]
They do special borders for that kind of thing now. What's to stop them from revisiting the mechanic with something like that other than the mechanic itself being retired? It's way more doable now visually speaking.

Honestly it feels like Planechase is the spiritual successor.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom