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[Santiako]

why would anyone test a deck that only improved?

Why wouldn't you?

 

[shrapnelmagnet]

Has anyone here played around with Spy Kit at all?

Card seems hilarious and potentially strong if you muck about with it. Casual or Casual EDH of course

Exclusion Ritual targeting your equipped creature, Cornered Market, or Retraced Image too.

Cards with wacky but wide-reaching effects crack me up.

EDIT: Hmm, Exclusion Ritual won't work. I see that now lol

 

[Wulfric]

Speculation time! So we now know that Huatli (or at least that particular artwork) was moved to the first set of the block. Ajani isn't in the story so far. So the question remains, how the hell does Ajani arrive on Ixalan? There's no way the story changed so much that he's out of the picture entirely.

 

[Ashodin]

Simple. Ajani's on Dominaria. and Angrath is in Rivals of Ixalan.

 

[OnPoint]

I liked Atlazan better as a name.

 

[charlequin]

Speculation time! So we now know that Huatli (or at least that particular artwork) was moved to the first set of the block. Ajani isn't in the story so far. So the question remains, how the hell does Ajani arrive on Ixalan? There's no way the story changed so much that he's out of the picture entirely.

By all accounts they purposely mixed stuff around on this survey so that if/when it leaked they wouldn't give away the real set names, etc. so I don't think Huatli is likely to have actually moved -- they probably just went with art that was finished at the time. Unfortunately this means we don't know much of anything about that Ajani -- maybe he's in Rivals, maybe he's in Dominaria, maybe that's a picture from a bad spell card and he doesn't have an upcoming walker at all.

I liked Atlazan better as a name.

It fails the pronounce/spell test worse than probably any real set, heh.

 

[OnPoint]

I have seen people have trouble with 'phyrexia' on a shockingly regular basis so... you're probably right.

 

[Yeef]

I think Ajani likely is in Rivals of Ixalan. I think it's safe to assume that Angrath will be in Rivals and will be BR, so a GW Ajani would color-balance the walkers in that set. As for how Ajani gets there: it's likely that Orazca (or something there) is what's blocking walkers from leaving. Once it's disabled, it could allow Ajani to get a read on Jace, then rescue him and bring him to Dominaria.

 

[Ashodin]

Or, when Ajani went looking for friends, he came to Ixalan prior, or ended up there by accident.

 

[Boogiepop]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

 

[Ashodin]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

Shroud is old and busted. Hexproof is used now.

 

[duxstar]

Been testing UW Approach with Ixalan

Surprised by the lack of Mono Red. Been beating RG Dinos, but losing to UB Pirates and UW God-Pharaoh's Gift.
The downside on Settle the Wreckage has not really proven to be an issue.
Forsake and Crook are recent additions to the board to combat GPG.
I also lost to a crazy UW control deck running Thaumatic Compass, Primal Amulet, Draw 7, Spell Swindle and Kefnet.

I miss Sphinx of the Final Word.

No torrentials? Torrential ---> Settle is nasty

 

[Violet_0]

what would be some win cons in a creature-lite Taigam, Ojutai Master EDH deck? Approach of the Second Sun would have been pretty hilarious, but alas, the rebound spell is cast from exile

 

[Yeef]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

Like Ashodin said, Shroud isn't used anymore. Most people thought that Shroud worked like Hexproof does, so rather than trying to fight human nature, they just got rid of Shroud for Hexproof.

As for other overlapping mechanics; the only one that jumps to mind is Fading and Vanishing. They're both basically the same mechanic, but one has the thing go away when the last counter is removed; the other has it go away when you try to remove a counter and can't. It's a similar situation, where the former feels more intuitive, so they changed it.

 

[Ri'Orius]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

Shroud came first, but Hexproof has essentially replaced it.

There was also Vanishing, the updated form of Fading, but both of those are old and temporary mechanics (put completely intended). And "Indestructible until EOT" is basically the new version of Regenerate.

Nothing else comes to mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more things like this. Magic has been around for a long time.

 

[OnPoint]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

Basically people couldn't grok not being able to target your own guys with Shroud. So they replaced it with something that functioned how people thought it should.

 

[Repgnar]

Just now getting to watch the pre-pre-release. Won't finish it tonight but Noah Bradley is making me a fan of him. U/B pirates is looking pretty solid from what i've seen so far for sealed.

 

[Violet_0]

As for other overlapping mechanics; the only one that jumps to mind is Fading and Vanishing. They're both basically the same mechanic, but one has the thing go away when the last counter is removed; the other has it go away when you try to remove a counter and can't. It's a similar situation, where the former feels more intuitive, so they changed it.

and regeneration/indestructible until the end of turn on activation, which effectively do the same thing. Regeneration is no longer used either

 

[Angry Grimace]

I'd like to believe my love for playing Tezzeret in Standard is going to die, but it won't.

My testing of standard in the beta shows me that this set has a ton of fun cards that don't seem to have homes, e.g. Treasure Map is one of my favorite cards in a long time already, it's just not necessarily a good card.

 

[Yeef]

and regeneration/indestructible until the end of turn on activation, which effectively do the same thing. Regeneration is no longer used either

Regeneration and indestructible are pretty different mechanics, even if they did stop using regeneration in favor of temporary indestructibility.

 

[bigkrev]

Nvm

 

[Angry Grimace]

Nvm

I'm just going to assume this post was dumping all over me.

 

[ThLunarian]

and regeneration/indestructible until the end of turn on activation, which effectively do the same thing. Regeneration is no longer used either

Flying, Horsemanship, and Shadow are all variations of the same basic idea.

Banding and the En-Kor creatures that could redirect damage (in Tempest and Time Spiral blocks)

Fear and Intimidate

There are a lot of mechanics and effects that are basically just a minor twist on Kicker

First Strike and Double Strike kind of overlap

 

[charlequin]

So... why are both Shroud and Hexproof a thing? Do they still actively use both, or did they make one first and then go "you know what, this'd be better off slightly tweaked"? And are there any other keywords as overlapping with each other as these two seem to me?

They got rid of Fear ("this can only be blocked by black or artifact creatures") and replaced it with Intimidate ("this can only be blocked by artifact creatures or creatures the same color") -- so it's identical to Fear on a monoblack creature. (Then they got rid of that and replaced it with Menace, which serves a similar function.)

 

[Giant Panda]

Escalate is just the new entwine.

Converge and Sunburst are also similar.

 

[Yeef]

I mean, Emerge and Offering are the same mechanic, but I assumed Boogiepop was looking for evergreen (and formerly evergreen) mechanics that were similar like Fear/Intimidate.

 

[bigkrev]

I'm just going to assume this post was dumping all over me.

If it makes you feel better, it was a post meant for a different thread

 

[Angry Grimace]

If it makes you feel better, it was a post meant for a different thread

I mean, I don't believe you and am mad you made a post dumping on me even if you deleted it and then denied it.

Flying, Horsemanship, and Shadow are all variations of the same basic idea.

Banding and the En-Kor creatures that could redirect damage (in Tempest and Time Spiral blocks)

Fear and Intimidate

There are a lot of mechanics and effects that are basically just a minor twist on Kicker

First Strike and Double Strike kind of overlap

It's sort of like guitar riffs - every guitar riff is a variation on something Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi came up with sped up or slowed down.

Most mechanics are just existing mechanics with a minor tweak. People always ask why they don't bring back Kicker, but the answer is that they do bring back Kicker all the time, they just call it something else like "Strive"

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

escalate is just mutlikicker.

 

[Bonethug]

Ashodin, did I just lose to your latest iteration of BW Tokens with Hidden Stockpile?
I like it. Enchantments are hard to deal with.

 

[GoutPatrol]

Went 4-8 overall at Nationals (2-4 on day 1, 2-4 in today's PPTQ,) but I was able to pick up alot of cool stuff from the vendors and live the dream in one game of Modern playing Mill. Turn 4 Mesmeric Orb, Turn 3 Fraying Sanity, Turn 4 double Glimpse the Unthinkable.

 

[Son1x]

Holy smokes, were there some buyouts for Shahrazad?

I bought it two years ago for 40€ or so and it was slowly rising. Last I saw it was just over 60, but the current lowest one on MCM is at 160€.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The only deck with Dinosaurs I can do anything with is mostly just 4 copies of Glorybringer and 4 copies of Burning Sun's Avatar.

 

[TheBlackMarvel]

Holy smokes, were there some buyouts for Shahrazad?

I bought it two years ago for 40€ or so and it was slowly rising. Last I saw it was just over 60, but the current lowest one on MCM is at 160€.

Guess so, was looking for a copy myself and the price is just absurd.

 

[Violet_0]

I spent half the day looking up old sets for a potential EDH deck, only to come to the realization again that I probably don't currently want to invest in a physical deck since I'm most certainly going to be playing mostly Arena. If WotC has any business sense, they'd introduce a jank EDH format with just the cards currently available on the platform

anyway, Khans and Lorwyn are still the coolest sets

 

[DrArchon]

I spent half the day looking up old sets for a potential EDH deck, only to come to the realization again that I probably don't currently want to invest in a physical deck since I'm most certainly going to be playing mostly Arena. If WotC has any business sense, they'd introduce a jank EDH format with just the cards currently available on the platform

anyway, Khans and Lorwyn are still the coolest sets

No lie, a "standard" EDH would be a really interesting format. So much of EDH is about cards from long ago that it'd be interesting to see what people would be forced to use if they didn't have access to all of the staple cards. Not nearly as much mana fixing for example, nor disgusting artifact ramp from stuff like Sol Ring. It's just a shame that so many color combos wouldn't be supported.

But still, there are a couple of commanders that would work fine. I wouldn't mind them experimenting with it at least.

 

[Santiako]

I will assume that Arena starts with Kaladesh and by the time it comes out properly we'll be in the set after Dominaria and the core set. That should be a dece card pool for bad commander.

 

[Farside]

Quick question: I'm new to deckbuilding, still reading through Next Level Deckbuilding by Chapin--it's great BTW, and was wondering what colors I really should avoid putting together, and which colors have great combo/synergy?

Thanks!

 

[Angry Grimace]

Quick question: I'm new to deckbuilding, still reading through Next Level Deckbuilding by Chapin--it's great BTW, and was wondering what colors I really should avoid putting together, and which colors have great combo/synergy?

Thanks!

They don't design Magic to make specific colors not work together anymore.

Any color combo has an equal shot at being good in any EDH, Standard or other environment.

 

[Farside]

They don't design Magic to make specific colors not work together anymore.

Any color combo has an equal shot at being good in any EDH, Standard or other environment.

Okay, thanks!

 

[Yeef]

Standard EDH is very, very swingy, by which I mean, moreso than normal standard 60-card decks, rotation effects it greatly. I had a group of people that did Standard EDH for about a year and a half or so during the Khans era. When Khans rotated out, it pretty much fizzled, because there were so few choices for multi-color commanders. I think, to make it work, you'd need to house-rule it so that mono-color legends have partner or something.

 

[DrArchon]

I will assume that Arena starts with Kaladesh and by the time it comes out properly we'll be in the set after Dominaria and the core set. That should be a dece card pool for bad commander.

That's a good point. I was only thinking of what we had in Kaladesh, Amonkhet, and Ixalan, which isn't much to work with. Really no way to make a UG Merfolk deck work with just those, even though there's a commander.

Still, unless they bring in supplemental stuff, we probably won't see any 4-5 color legendaries or anything like that in the coming sets. Nor the lands and mana rocks to support those kinds of decks. It'd definitely be a very different beast from normal EDH.

 

[Imperfected]

Holy smokes, were there some buyouts for Shahrazad?

I bought it two years ago for 40€ or so and it was slowly rising. Last I saw it was just over 60, but the current lowest one on MCM is at 160€.

butwhy.gif

It's banned in basically everything and will get you punched for playing it at a kitchen table.

 

[Lucario]

Holy smokes, were there some buyouts for Shahrazad?

I bought it two years ago for 40€ or so and it was slowly rising. Last I saw it was just over 60, but the current lowest one on MCM is at 160€.

Yup. Just sold one of mine for $160.

Almost none of them are actually selling at the newly inflated prices, so it should be dipping back down a bit soon.

 

[Angry Grimace]

This is a format where Llanowar Elves wouldn't be overpowered at all. They should legitimately just reprint it.

 

[Angry Grimace]

It's actually kind of impressive that 25 years after the fact the only ultra banned cards are Scharazade, Falling Star and Chaos Orb.

 

[SigmasonicX]

This is a format where Llanowar Elves wouldn't be overpowered at all. They should legitimately just reprint it.

I'd put money on it being in Dominaria.

 

[bigkrev]

It's actually kind of impressive that 25 years after the fact the only ultra banned cards are Scharazade, Falling Star and Chaos Orb.

Blame Consipriacy cards being black bordered (not silver bordered) for there being an extra 25 cards on the Vintage Banned list http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/S...on=advanced&special=true&type=+["Conspiracy"]

 

[HK-47]

I will assume that Arena starts with Kaladesh and by the time it comes out properly we'll be in the set after Dominaria and the core set. That should be a dece card pool for bad commander.

That definitely doesn't sound like even a good enough pool for bad commander

 

[bigkrev]

I will assume that Arena starts with Kaladesh and by the time it comes out properly we'll be in the set after Dominaria and the core set. That should be a dece card pool for bad commander.

My guess is it's just IX-forward for the beta. By the time it comes out of Beta, Kaladesh will have rotated