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Magic: the Gathering |OT12| Hour of Devastation - Hour of Jace getting dunked on
- Thread starter SigmasonicX
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Hey GAF, I mocked up a BW Lifegain deck designed to abuse Crested Sunmare. I might end up making it, or something similar to it for FNM.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/life-on-the-range/
I might not end up making this exact deck, because I love to procrastinate and could end up just waiting for rotation, in which case I'd remove the rotating cards and see what Ixalan has for lifegain. The biggest thing I'm worried about are the number of double color mana costs in there. Gifted Aetherborn is BB, Aerial Responder has WW, etc, and there are almost no decent BW dual lands (though Shambling Vent is perfect and it's gonna bite when it leaves standard).
Thought? Helpful criticism? Should I give up on Lifegain Ponies altogether?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/life-on-the-range/
I might not end up making this exact deck, because I love to procrastinate and could end up just waiting for rotation, in which case I'd remove the rotating cards and see what Ixalan has for lifegain. The biggest thing I'm worried about are the number of double color mana costs in there. Gifted Aetherborn is BB, Aerial Responder has WW, etc, and there are almost no decent BW dual lands (though Shambling Vent is perfect and it's gonna bite when it leaves standard).
Thought? Helpful criticism? Should I give up on Lifegain Ponies altogether?
charlequin
Banned
This would definitely be my second call. My reticence is mostly based on the fact that while there's a bunch of things people are used to seeing name-dropped here (those plus Bogardan, Hammerheim, Urborg, Keld, etc.) there's very little real backstory anyone would be familiar with that ties in there.
Of course, maybe that's actually a benefit: if they set it primarily in the Domains they could easily leverage a bunch of cultures with familiar names without having to specifically dredge up storylines that are past their sell-by date.
Either way I expect Dominaria to be much closer to "classic fantasy" than most sets we've had recently, again just because all the most famous stuff from the plane touches on that in one way or another.
I mean, when you get down to it, MTGO isn't salvageable as a platform, so they have to do something to transition off of it. Some of those options are more friendly to existing customers than others but they're all gonna be disruptive.
Honestly with Magic as old as it is, if you're gonna launch a new platform that includes all the legacy cards you'd probably have to sell all the older sets as one-time unlocks, maybe with a discount if you buy them in bulk, and then allow crafting of individual cards from those sets. If you go with something like that you could let people turn their MTGO collections into currency that'd let invested players buy up a bunch of the older sets right away.
TheBlackMarvel
Member
They'd be crazy to limit the heroes to Planeswalkers. Expand it to legends and you've got WAY more than enough heroes.
But my precious lore!
https://www.twitch.tv/loadingreadyrun
Pre Pre release is going on. Marshall just got done making his deck. Graham and Kathleen will be playing after this break.
Pre Pre release is going on. Marshall just got done making his deck. Graham and Kathleen will be playing after this break.
For a pricey MTG hangout some of my friends and I are going to do a variation on the idea of "Fat Pack Sealed," where we are trying to mimic the recent "Battle of the Planes" event that was (is?) going on in Magic On-Line. Each person can purchase up to 10 packs that all relate to one plane to then build a 40 card sealed deck. Core, Masters and Conspiracy sets are all off limits.
I assume most participants will be picking up HOD Bundles as a cheap/readily available option, some others will pick some combination of Kaladesh/Aether Revolt...But I don't think too many people are going to go back further than that.
Personally, I can't get it out of my mind to really splurge and do Mirrodin/New Phyrexia...With the runner up being Ravnica.
My main goal here is to crack sweet packs, stay under $100, and build an okay deck. Any thoughts on good options I may be not considering?
I assume most participants will be picking up HOD Bundles as a cheap/readily available option, some others will pick some combination of Kaladesh/Aether Revolt...But I don't think too many people are going to go back further than that.
Personally, I can't get it out of my mind to really splurge and do Mirrodin/New Phyrexia...With the runner up being Ravnica.
My main goal here is to crack sweet packs, stay under $100, and build an okay deck. Any thoughts on good options I may be not considering?
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
I got the blue deck. Though my 2nd color was red. Somehow the dude next to me and I had our teachers crisscross 2nd decks. So I brought home blue and black.
I went with a blue foil land.
TheBlackMarvel
Member
FreedomFrisbee
Member
They should have made interlunar travel common after Invasion. That they didn't take the idea of Weatherlight type ships flying around everywhere and run with it is probably half the reason they have story issues. Why have planeswalking be special at all? Why make every main character need a super saiyan power up arc before they can be incorporated into the game? Planeswalkers could have just become Psykers in 40k. Ravnica would have made for a lovely planar hub.
Nice! Blue/Red is one of my favorite color combos.
Now sign up for a pre-release event next weekend and watch the first hour of this stream that's ongoing now.
https://www.twitch.tv/loadingreadyrun
It Marshall Sutcliffe one of the best limited players opening the pre-release kits you will get and showing you how to build a 40 card deck out of the six boosters you get. Then you can watch a few of the matches afterward. They play slow and explain all their plays so it's a great way to see how a bunch of the cards in the new set will play.
Locust themed EDH needs to include black tho
Blue/black? Welcome to the dark side of Magic. It's a good colour combination if you hate it when your opponents get to play cards. You get to kill/bounce their creatures, counter their spells, make them discard cards, and draw more cards so you don't run out of ways to make your opponent's life miserable!
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
My foil card
I don't care about theming it to Locust tribal. I want it for card drawing synergy.
charlequin
Banned
ISD packs are like half of ZEN or RAV and should go together pretty nicely with SOI.
Because if everyone can travel between planes easily you create the interplanar equivalent of globalism and pretty soon every plane is covered in McStromgald's.
Would prefer it to Beeble King
Those foil lands look super nice. I think I'd hang on to it for the memories of starting the game, but if you want to trade it instead it's worth a few dollars in trade value.
I have a bunch of them for my Nicol Bolas deck, but now that Hour of Devastation has even more suitable lands, I'm going to have to splash out again
Niv-Mizzet weeps
I'm just bored with Niv now lol
divisionbyzorro
Member
They're giving up soooooo damn much money by not using the Steam model.
The problem is that they're still deeply married to maintaining the facade that Magic cards are valueless.
He is nuts. And is a wincon stapled to what U/R wants to do draw and pass.
I am running a few synergistic cards that accelerate the end with shared animosity and purphoros to really get in and a fair number of wheels/ time spiral/ and windfall types to draw a bunch and always have action. Teferis puzzle box just makes a bunch of dudes each turn.
Familienoberhauptvogel
Banned
He just sounds so fair for a UR card.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Ok so what's the best option for me going forward.
I assume I can't really play with my feebie deck unless I want to get owned.
They said they are doing a Prerelease weekend for some new cards releasing in July? $25 for an event or $20 per if you do more than one?
Do I try that out and use those cards? Is there something better I should try? I'm just playing casual and not looking for something super hard core.
Also wasn't sure if I should just try and suppliment my freebie deck or something.
I assume I can't really play with my feebie deck unless I want to get owned.
They said they are doing a Prerelease weekend for some new cards releasing in July? $25 for an event or $20 per if you do more than one?
Do I try that out and use those cards? Is there something better I should try? I'm just playing casual and not looking for something super hard core.
Also wasn't sure if I should just try and suppliment my freebie deck or something.
Yes do the pre-release. It's really fun and great for new players. The Amonkhet pre-release is the first magic event I ever did. If you didn't see my advice above I will post it again.
I started playing with the release of the set prior to this one. For getting experience and building a collection I have really enjoyed the sealed and draft formats. The pre-release is a sealed format so with that $20/$25 you'll get 4 Hour of Devastation boosters and 2 Amonkhet and a promo card. Obviously every store is different but mine was super helpful for new people. I was a bit busy last pre-release weekend so only got to participate in one event but plan on hitting up way more this weekend. Really can't beat that format in terms of bang for your buck.
What do you mean by this?
I second sticking to drafts for a while. You will be very bad for a long time but the most important thing is you get as many games as possible in. I usually just tell my opponent that I am new and everyone has been very helpful. Wizards seems to be pushing draft events for Hour so there should be places drafting near you.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Thanks for this really helpful!
If I may ask some questions.
How do packs work with regards to land? Like I got blue and black land today. What if my booster packs have a bunch of red and green shit? Am I fucked?
How many cards come in booster packs? How many cards should I have total to make a deck? The freebie was 30 & 30 for 60 cards total. Do you always play 60 cards?
TheBlackMarvel
Member
There should be basic land available at the pre-release. If not, buy a bundle. It comes with enough basic land for any deck you want to make.
Boosters are 15 cards. Limited (sealed or draft) is 40 cards minimum. Constructed is 60.
For things like draft and sealed (which is how the prerelease for the new set is done) you won't be using the lands that you get in your packs. The store you go to should have a healthy supply of basic lands that you can borrow and use in your decks. For non-basic lands though (things that aren't swamps, islands, etc) you'll be limited to what you get in your packs though.
In regards to deck size, it varies. For draft and sealed you'll be looking at a minimum of 40 cards for your deck. You can go higher, but I wouldn't recommend it because you'll just make it less likely to draw your really good cards. For constructed matches (where you make your deck ahead of time and don't rely on packs) your deck will have 60 cards in it. Again, you can go higher but you almost certainly shouldn't.
If you are playing at a store they will have a big box of lands and you can take whatever you need.
For limited events (draft, sealed, prerelease) you are going to want to make a 40 card deck consisting of 13-15 creatures, 8-10 others (instant, sorcery, artifacts) and 15-17 lands.
Constructed decks have a 60 minimum card requirement.
At the prerelease, the organiser should have a box of lands to borrow for the event if you don't have (or didn't bring) your own. Don't worry.
But to answer your question, each pack will have a basic land card. If you want more lands so you can start building decks, see if any players at your store have any spares they can give you. Alternatively, the Deck Builder's Toolkit and Bundles each contain a bunch of basic lands. If you're just playing casually, the Deck Builder's Toolkit includes a good variety of cards and some nonbasic lands to help you fix mana in multicolour decks.
You get 15 cards per booster pack (including the basic land). Limited events like a prerelease have a lower limit of 40 cards, which it's a good idea to stick to so you're more likely to draw your best cards. Usually you'll want approximately 17-18 lands and 22-23 spells. You'll get 70-80 nonland cards in your packs (depending on the number of Deserts you get), so you should have plenty of choice.
TheBlackMarvel
Member
Is anyone else annoyed that the eternalised cards they've printed don't follow the flavour? Aren't they supposed to retain the skills they had in life?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
They come back with their abilities, just like Embalm
I should add. You should ask your LGS if they are going to hold a sealed league. The way it works is at the start you get 4 packs to make a 30 card deck. Every week you get another pack to add your deck. The league usually lasts 4 and you track all your wins and losses. Every three matches you can also add another booster pack. It is very casual and the thing I like as a new player is you get to really know your deck and make incremental improvements to it week to week. The main problem for me with drafts is that you are always ending up with different cards so I make a lot of misplays and by the time I understand my draft deck the event is over.
TheBlackMarvel
Member
I don't mean the ones with it as an ability. I mean characters like our friend Neheb who is lacking all of the skills he once had.
divisionbyzorro
Member
In order to not get labeled as a "gambling" activity, WotC positions that the cards in the packs have no intrinsic value beyond their MSRP. If they meddle at all in the secondary market, they can't pretend they don't sell lottery tickets anymore and suddenly they can't sell to minors and in certain locations, etc.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Thanks. I'll take all of this under advisement!
Guess I'm gonna become one of you all in a casual sense at least.
For a typical UR deck I agree. If you don't want to be storming off or spellslinging though I really like him.
For control though that wants to slow the board with counters and tempo I think he is really good. With something like shared animosity out and a wheel you're hitting for 49 damage haste that turn. Considering they have evasion it just makes them that much better, and with stuff like skullclamp and ashnods altar you just draw your deck and win through lab man or with your locust swarm.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Prerelease event better than buying a Planeswalker deck?
TheBlackMarvel
Member
Yeah. Though the Planeswalker decks can be a bit of fun. Don't expect anything great out of them.
I'm buying the Bolas one.
Depends on if you want to play with people you don't know or play with your friends.
The prerelease is quite good for learning a bunch about the rules in a relaxed setting and people are typically good at explaining rules interactions.
If you don't have a desire to do that though the planeswalker deck is probably better.
I would say yes. Planeswalker decks are only really good for playing against other planeswalker decks - even as a base for a casual deck, you'll still want to play it against something with the same power level.
Me too, though that probably shouldn't be surprising given my avatar.
TheBlackMarvel
Member
I should also mention I bought the Gideon and Liliana ones. The boosters inside were a nice surprise.
Especially as they had Liliana and Bontu in them.
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