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[multivac]

Anyone else have cards just disappear from their MTGO account? My foil Siege Rhino is simply missing, as well as the Resolute Archangel I pulled from the M15 prerelease.

Edit: Looks like I didn't have "Show foils" checked. I dearly miss the V3 binder view.

 

[ThLunarian]

At the time they developed this block, they would have needed to be prepared for a Block PT. Also, the "fast" enemy lands are gone after rotation.

But have there ever been two different cycles of rare lands within the same block? The only time I can think of would be Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (tribal lands + filter lands), but those were pretty unique circumstances.

If they do enemy lands later in the block, I think they'd do the Zendikar fetches before anything else.

 

[Arksy]

Did my second ever FNM draft. Last week I went 1:1:1. This week I went 1:2:0 (W/L/D)...my win was 2:0...my losses were 0:1 and 1:2....I feel like I did quite well for my second every draft and my second night of playing magic ever. Especially considering that the two guys I lost two were competitive tourney players.

I did a blue/green/red draft.....I feel like I picked up way too many walls in my draft...I had 3 embodiments of spring, 2 monastery flocks, and two dragon's eye savants. I very much enjoyed playing with two Mystic of the Hidden Way cards. Unblockable is amazing.

 

[Sinatar]

Just watched a video of Modern Jeskai combo, holy crap that's some degenerate nonsense.

Jeskai Ascendancy is getting banned for sure.

 

[Haly]

If we're talking degenerate combos that take ages to go off, I think i prefer Eggs.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Mono Green Devotion splash Bident of Thassa seems good.

 

[SigmasonicX]

But have there ever been two different cycles of rare lands within the same block? The only time I can think of would be Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (tribal lands + filter lands), but those were pretty unique circumstances.

If they do enemy lands later in the block, I think they'd do the Zendikar fetches before anything else.

I think the way it will go is:
Fate Reforged - no new dual lands
"Louie" - enemy fetchlands
"M16" - ally painlands

Especially since Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged will rotate out but "Louie" won't, with "Louie" and "M16" being treated as a pseudo-block.

 

[kirblar]

I think the way it will go is:
Fate Reforged - no new dual lands
"Louie" - enemy fetchlands
"M16" - ally painlands

Especially since Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged will rotate out but "Louie" won't, with "Louie" and "M16" being treated as a pseudo-block.

They don't really like the painlands- they were a "least bad" option for M15, but I think they actually work ABSURDLY well at curtailing the power of Thoughtseize and making the +1 life land much better. Doming your self by 3-5 points = Jeskai says Thanks!

 

[Exokell]

first sealed, popped a sarkhan. Hope I get to win some boosters with this prowess deck.

 

[Angry Grimace]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";132815357]Mono Green Devotion splash Bident of Thassa seems good.[/QUOTE]
I got wrecked by green-blue. I think that's going to be the tier 1 deck.

Went 2-2-1. I think I would have won the draw but I was pretty tired.

Courser underperformed in my opinion as did Elspeth. I might take Elspeth out to run more Wingmate Rocs and maybe even go with a full set of Sorin. 4 Hero's Downfall seems like the right number from my experience.

 

[Kacar]

So what is this "birds and the bees" deck?

 

[OnPoint]

Man all you guys with sweet pulls. I can't even get a Treasure Cruise for fucks sake, much less a decent rare.

 

[y2dvd]

Easily went 4-0 at FNM with Boros Burn, not even losing a game. This deck can be crazy fast and just always had the right answers. Could've been I drew pretty amazing too.

4xMonastery Swiftspear
4xSeeker of the Way
4xGoblin Rabblemaster
1xAshcloud Phoenix
1xChandra Pyromancer

4xChained to the Rocks
2xGods Willing
2xSearing Blood
4xLightning Strike
4xMagma Jet
1xBanishing Light
1xArc Lightning
4xStoke the Flames

12xMountain
2xPlains
1xWing-Scarred Crag
1xMana Confluence
4xBattlefield Forge
4xTemple of Triumph

Sideboard
4xFiredrinker Satyr
2xSearing Blood
2xMagma Spray
2xErase
2xSuspension Field
2xHarness by Force
1xPurphoros, God of the Forge
1xFated Conflagration

I'm missing a few cards and some in depth but I am exhausted and going to sleep. Will give thoughts tomorrow!

*edit

 

[Exokell]

I had so much fun playing this new set last night. Went 4-0. Fucking theros was so horrible,can't believe those were the same people that made innistrad block. Even m15 is better than theros.

 

[Angry Grimace]

My new draft of the junk midrange: 4 Sorin, took out Mentor of Heroes, added main board Rocs.

Not sure if Ajani Steadfast fits. He can get Sorin to ult in one turn though.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Theros block draft was way way better than M15. M15 draft is one of the most mindless of all time.

 

[acheron_xl]

Enjoying Khans draft. I can't stop myself from drafting Mardu. It's pathological.

 

[Exokell]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";132876569]Theros block draft was way way better than M15. M15 draft is one of the most mindless of all time.[/QUOTE]
Both blocks had white super overpowered compared to other colors.

 

[Arksy]

I bought Magic 2014 on Steam a long time ago, finally giving it a crack...seems really simplified compared to the real game so far...not seeing any of these three coloured cards, and not seeing much delve, morph and other mechanics that are dime a dozen in the drafts I've done so far.

 

[The Technomancer]

I bought Magic 2014 on Steam a long time ago, finally giving it a crack...seems really simplified compared to the real game so far...not seeing any of these three coloured cards, and not seeing much delve, morph and other mechanics that are dime a dozen in the drafts I've done so far.

Three colored cards and the Delve, Morph, and other mechanics are specific to this most recent set. Delve, Morph, Outlast, Prowess, Ferocious and Raid will be specific to this year's sets, and then next year will bring something new (although some mechanics might return down the road. Morph, for example, was last seen like eight years ago)

Before this was a block (set of three sets) with almost no multicolor but a bunch of enchantment creatures and cards with abilities like Bestow and Monstrous. And before that was a block that did feature multicolor but was focused on two color pairs instead of three.

Part of why Magic is so interesting every year is because they keep changing the focus.

 

[kirblar]

DOTP is super simplified and imo not worth it if you're an established player.

 

[Exokell]

DOTP is super simplified and imo not worth it if you're an established player.

It's fucking boring.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I bought Magic 2014 on Steam a long time ago, finally giving it a crack...seems really simplified compared to the real game so far...not seeing any of these three coloured cards, and not seeing much delve, morph and other mechanics that are dime a dozen in the drafts I've done so far.

Well yeah, the three color cards and those mechanics in that combination are unique to Khans of Tarkir. Each block has its own mechanics and themes. While core sets are indeed simpler (though it's misleading to say they're not the real game), the previous block, Theros, did not have any three color cards (though it did have a single five color card) and had a completely different suite of mechanics than Khans of Tarkir, with the exception of "evergreen" mechanics that are expected to be in every set, like trample and lifelink.

EDIT: Oh, the Steam reference probably means you're playing Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, not drafting Magic 2014. In any case, that game is meant to be an introductory product.

EDIT: Just because, a guide to the mechanics of the previous block.
Theros:

Bestow allows you to cast a creature either as an enchantment creature, or as an aura enchantment that you can attach to another creature to boost it. If this aura ever becomes detached from the creature, such as from the enchanted creature dying, then it turns back into an enchantment creature.

Heroic creatures get an extra benefit if you target them with spells, being better suited for the godly gifts you bestow unto them.

Monstrosity abilities can only be activated once per game (per instance of that creature), but they can be used to make your creature huge or otherwise turn the game around. This represents that moment where it seems like the hero has defeated the monster, but it turns out that wasn't even its final form.

Your devotion to a color increases as you have more mana symbols of that color in the casting cost of your permanents. Basically, the more you stick to one particular color, the better. Gods are special creatures that, well, only become creatures if you show your devotion to their colors enough.

Scry allows you some limited control over what you will draw next. If you don't like what you see, you can put the cards on the bottom of your library, and otherwise rearrange the cards you see however you like.

Born of the Gods:

With tribute, your opponent is the one to choose which evil he or she would prefer, either making your creature bigger, or making the creature angry. In truth, this was a pretty wonky mechanic, to Wizards' admission. This replaced monstrous, but they ended up replacing tribute with monstrous in the next set anyway.

Inspired represents the creature waking up from a dream or something; this mechanic never really felt like a good fit in this block, IMO. Anyway, something happens when the creature untaps.

Journey into Nyx:

With constellation, each enchantment that enters the battlefield will trigger an ability, encouraging you to play decks filled with enchantments.

Strive spells allow you to target any number of creatures, but you have to pay more mana for each one.

 

[Wichu]

I got around to testing my morph deck at my LGS. Got into a four-player game because why not?

I was stuck on two lands for a while after mulliganing to five cards (managed to drop a Dragon's Eye Savants to defend myself alongside a Secret Plans for once I had the mana) before drawing a Rattleclaw Mystic so I could start playing morphs and drawing cards.

Eventually I landed a Prophet of Kruphix. The red player tried to Lightning Strike it after untapping, but by then I could unmorph Kheru Spellsnatcher and save it.

I'd forgotten how bonkers Prophet is in multiplayer. I ended up drawing and flashing in over half my deck over the next few turns, and finished the game with an army of Sagu Maulers ("chump your face-down" -> "it was a 12/12 trampler!").

I'd call that a success. Now let's see how good the deck is in traditional 1v1

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Both blocks had white super overpowered compared to other colors.

Theros block draft was actually quite well balanced in a queue of 8 solid players. There were a number of solid archetypes and color combinations; I honestly think that JBT is the best "normal" limited format we've had since Triple Innistrad.

 

["God's Beard!"]

So what is this "birds and the bees" deck?

It's my variant on Abzan Midrange-Reanimator.


The Birds and the Bees

Creatures(22):

• 4x Satyr Wayfinder
• 4x Sylvan Caryatid
• 3x Nyx Weaver
• 4x Siege Rhino
• 3x Wingmate Roc
• 3x Hornet Queen
• 1x Ashen Rider

Spells(10):

• 4x Commune With the Gods
• 4x Murderous Cut
• 2x Rescue From the Underworld

Enchantments(4):

• 2x Banishing Light
• 2x Whip of Erebos

Land(24):

• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 3x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 3x Windswept Heath
• 4x Llanowar Wastes
• 2x Caves of Koilos
• 3x Temple of Malady
• 2x Temple of Silence
• 4x Forest
• 2x Plains

Sidebar(15):

• 2x Reclamation Sage
• 4x Drown in Sorrow
• 1x Bile Blight
• 3x Mistcutter Hydra
• 2x End Hostilities
• 1x Empty the Pits
• 1x Stain the Mind
• 1x Tormod's Crypt

So far this is the deck that I have together. There are a couple flex slots, so it might not be final yet. I want to slip a 2nd Ashen Rider and 3rd Whip in the 75, but I'm not sure what to move around yet. Mistcutter probably isn't necessary.

I ran this deck through the whole gauntlet over the past couple days, and it won ~7/10 games in each matchup on average so it seems strong but there's any number of reasons why I could be wrong about that and it's still really early. So much incremental lifegain seemed really hard to deal with for Jeskai Tempo, and Mardu Midrange loses to Hornet Queen pretty solidly(to the point where Anger was brought in specifically for the Hornets). Mono Green and Aggro seem to struggle after sideboard and the deck in general is much more resistant to Stormbreath Dragon than Abzan Midrange.

There's also a particular card in Standard that nearly bricks the whole deck but I don't really want to mention it for fear of giving it power. We'll see at the Pro Tour who has the foresight to sideboard it.

All in all, I'm having much more fun with this deck, due to my preference towards graveyard interactions. It's also more consistent because you have so many ways to dump your mana and gain access to extra cards in the late game, and Satyr Wayfinder is God.

It's a pretend modern deck!

Snapcaster Mage: Nyx Weaver
Restoration Angel: Whip of Erebos/Rescue from the Underworld
Path to Exile: Murderous Cut
Blade Splicer: Wingmate Roc

 

[duxstar]

Soooooooo I'm really torn here

I have 2/3 of the deck needed for a Temur Monsters type deck Including 4 Savage knuckleblades, I am missing Nissa which is 50 bux right now, and I don't even know if the deck works, the deck seem's to run well but then it has horrible matchups and you just get killed; and it seems like everyone and their mother at my local FNM is playing this deck. I'm still 3 polukranos and 2 stormbreaths short as well; I did open 2 sarkhans out of khans though.

I used to be a green white player, and thought I could easily slot into Abzan Aggro; however I've found that aggro the way I played it is kind of dead; I'm not a good midrange player; I'm better at making 1 or 2 important decisions a game and going all in on the final kill shot and making them have the answer. In Green/White this was "Ajani, flying double strike, can you kill it ?" the midrange deck just feel's super grindy but i dont hate it. I do love Fleecemane lions and have a ton left over from the green/white days; along with 2 brimaz's already and a playset of boon satyrs.

The cards that I don't like and never want to use in any deck, Thoughtseize, Rabble Master, and any tempo deck.

I'm not against spending money on a deck but I'm kinda worried about going all in on one, to find out its garbage next week after pro tour. I don't know what to play anymore and have tested tons of decks out on cockatrice.

 

[Kipe]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";132892913]It's my variant on Abzan Midrange-Reanimator.[/quote]

I'm guessing Hushwing Gryff.

Since you're playing whip why not lose one of the murderous cuts for a hero's downfall? Four seems too many.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Since you're playing whip why not lose one of the murderous cuts for a hero's downfall? Four seems too many.

I'd run 6 if I could. It's insane. And Banishing Light is slightly better than Hero's Downfall in the deck since I can pseudo-tutor for it with Commune with the Gods and hits random stuff like other Banishing Lights.

I never get stuck with Murderous Cuts in my hand, I actually wind up reusing them with Nyx Weavers more than any other card, and they're almost always cast for one-two mana.

I'm guessing Hushwing Gryff..

Shhhhhh :-(

 

[SigmasonicX]

Thinking about it, an interesting direction they could go in when they bring monstrosity back would be to have two different monstrous costs that trigger different effects, but you can only ever use one or the other. The volver cards with multiple kicker costs show that something like this could be done.

Double Monstrous Creature - 3R
Creature - Dwarf Pirate Ninja
1R: Monstrosity 1
5RR: Monstrosity 5
When Double Monstrous Creature becomes monstrous, if you paid the 1R cost, it deals 1 damage to target creature. If you paid the 5RR cost, then it deals 5 damage to each creature your opponents control.
3/3

 

[divisionbyzorro]

So I'm going to be doing my first Khans draft tonight. Any advice?

 

[Kacar]

Love the Rescue from the underworld in it. Cool deck. Seige Rhino is so crazy good, especialy with whip.

I just imagine casting rescue and saccing a rhino to bring another back. Then just laughing.

 

[y2dvd]

Welp, my deck humbly got put in its place today. Played at a SCG Invi qualifiers today and got destroyed the 2nd and 3rd game whenever players sideboarded in Drown in Sorrow or Anger of Gods. It also doesn't have any late game gas. I think I just need to throw in some bombs and I would be favored in game 1. Then hopefully they would think my deck is aggro and I would sideboard in more bombs like your picks of Brimaz, Wingmate Roc, Elspeth, Sarkhan, or Stormbreath Dragon.

I really don't think there's going to be a place for any form of aggro in the upcoming meta. All the Caryatids and Coursers running around and all the Drown in Sorrow and Anger of Gods is too much for aggro to go thru. Even Jeskai beats down on aggro. No doubt, there are a few aggro decks that has placed top 8, but I think they will get worst as the meta goes on.

There was one guy that played the RUG combo deck and he went to time every game as expected. He literally took over 15 minutes on one turn to correctly pull off his combo, and this was when everyone was on turns. It was painful to watch lol.

The great thing is there seems to be a lot of decks that can be Tier 1 and compete with each other with Jeskai maybe pulling ahead of everyone.

T1
Jeskai Tempo
G/R or R/G Monsters
Abzan
Temur
Mono Green
Temur Midrange
Mardu Midrange

T2
Aggro
B/W Control

T3
Everything else

-Sorin has shown to be worth every penny.
-Wingmate Roc was really impressive. It's evasive, gives you an extra body, dodges -Elspeth minus ability, and can allow you to race with the attacking life gain.
-I'm actually not sure if I'm impressed with Savage Knuckleblade. It's big don't get me wrong, but it's only evasive in a sense that it's hard to kill. It doesn't fly or has trample, so it can be chump blocked all day.

 

[Yeef]

So I'm going to be doing my first Khans draft tonight. Any advice?

Format is pretty slow; 5 mana is the "sweet spot" where the game really starts to take off.

Early in the draft try to stick to 1 or 2 colors. If you're in 2-colors, make sure they're enemy colors.

Feat of Resistance is The Truth™

 

[The Technomancer]

So I'm going to be doing my first Khans draft tonight. Any advice?

Prioritize late game bombs, I would say. Like, more than normal. I thought because the format was slower a fast rush strategy in Mardu might be effective, but I swear to god no-one passed me anything any good above like a four drop and I kept losing too much steam and getting durdle-traded to death

 

[Angry Grimace]

Format is pretty slow; 5 mana is the "sweet spot" where the game really starts to take off.

Early in the draft try to stick to 1 or 2 colors. If you're in 2-colors, make sure they're enemy colors.

Feat of Resistance is The Truth™

You can just move into four colors if there's really nothing exciting in your chosen clan. Works fine, pack three will have lots of 5+ mana critters going late due to not fitting in the right clans. If you go four color, you can move in and grab them.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Love the Rescue from the underworld in it. Cool deck. Seige Rhino is so crazy good, especialy with whip.

I just imagine casting rescue and saccing a rhino to bring another back. Then just laughing.

It's technically possible to drain 45 life off of 15 Siege Rhino triggers in my deck. I've definitely won games without attacking against decks that hurt themselves too much. I think my record is 6 triggers against Mardu.

 

[Firemind]

Prioritize late game bombs, I would say. Like, more than normal. I thought because the format was slower a fast rush strategy in Mardu might be effective, but I swear to god no-one passed me anything any good above like a four drop and I kept losing too much steam and getting durdle-traded to death

Did your deck have Trumpet Blasts? Believe it or not it's actually playable in this format. I got smashed once by the white overrun that gives creatures +2/+1 and warriors lifelink. I wasn't dead but the lifelink meant I couldn't race anymore. There are a surprising amount of warriors in the set. :lol

 

[duxstar]

Aggro is dead and i've been saying it for awhile ...... Everyone is scared to death of rabble masters; 4 Drown in Sorrows, Anger of the Gods at least with the side board and even more people playing things like Endless Hostilities, and all the life gain; your never coming back. I''ve played Stormbreath Dragon/Sarkhan/Polukranos decks that can't handle them gaining 3 life cause it changes the clock so dramatically; imagine if you have a bunch of 3/3s and 4/4s ? Brimaz gets outclassed fairily quick at 3/4.

The life gain in this set is real; more so than sets I've seen in the past

 

[Negator]

Jeskai burn is an awful matchup for my aggro deck. God damn. Am I just going to have to join the jeskai burn club?

 

["God's Beard!"]

Man, if Pharika's Mender cost 4 instead of 5, I'd totally use it over Nyx Weaver.

 

[kirblar]

Mistcutter Hydra is actively bad in this deck. Can't be reanimated, the decks it preyed on no longer exist. Also, me wants an Archangel in the board here 100% of the time.

You need downfalls in the board for lists still running Stormbreath, btw.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Mistcutter Hydra is actively bad in this deck. Can't be reanimated, the decks it preyed on no longer exist. Also, me wants an Archangel in the board here 100% of the time.

You need downfalls in the board for lists still running Stormbreath, btw.

Yeah I already cut the Mistcutter Hydras for Thoughtseizes, but I'm open to other cards.

I'm actually not worried about Stormbreath anymore. I've got 4 Murderous Cuts and infinite Hornet Tokens.

 

[Arksy]

Helpful info.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write that. It's good how the game keeps staying fresh over time. What's the time period between sets?

I'm loving MTG so far. It's a wonder as to why I didn't make the switch over from Games Workshop games much sooner. This is a much more vibrant and interesting community...far less toxic it seems as well.

It's much better for casuals like me who can just rock up, pay $20 and draft away and have fun for a night instead of having to make a front heavy investment just to get going.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Edit: Wrong thread.

 

[kirblar]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";132937304]Yeah I already cut the Mistcutter Hydras for Thoughtseizes, but I'm open to other cards.

I'm actually not worried about Stormbreath anymore. I've got 4 Murderous Cuts and infinite Hornet Tokens.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, brain fastforwarded the imporatnt part- deals with Sarkhan too in the matchups where both are around. May not be a big deal due to hornets tho.

Also, Doomwake needs to be in the board.

 

["God's Beard!"]

So I'm going to be doing my first Khans draft tonight. Any advice?

All Khans decks should look like this:

Sorry, brain fastforwarded the imporatnt part- deals with Sarkhan too in the matchups where both are around. May not be a big deal due to hornets tho.

Also, Doomwake needs to be in the board.

You're issuing a lot of demands with these questionable cards lol

 

[kirblar]

Doomwake isn't questionable, lol. You can find it with Commune and it blows up token/mystics/rattleclaws/hornets on the other side. It's much better than the first copies of Drown because of that. Plus you do get to trigger Constellation in this deck naturally. It's why Merrian ran the Green devotion list splashing for it.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Doomwake isn't questionable, lol. You can find it with Commune and it blows up token/mystics/rattleclaws/hornets on the other side. It's much better than the first copies of Drown because of that. Plus you do get to trigger Constellation in this deck naturally. It's why Merrian ran the Green devotion list splashing for it.

There's a big difference between my deck and Gb Devotion. Doomwake is a 5-mana sweeper that doesn't even kill Rabblemaster.

It's a great card in Green because of Eidolon of Blossoms, but the trigger is so much worse than say, Wingmate Roc for what I want to do. It's basically a dead mainboard card in too many matchups and not a good sideboard card for the things I need. Why would I bring in a Doomwake Giant? It's slows down my mana curve and doesn't kill things I have trouble with. That's the exact opposite of what you want for your sideboard. Killing my opponent's hornet tokens while keeping mine is so situational and low impact that I don't even care.

 

[y2dvd]

Jeskai burn is an awful matchup for my aggro deck. God damn. Am I just going to have to join the jeskai burn club?

Yes. See my impressions early from FNM and an invi qual I did. A bunch of deck owns aggro. Who needs a 4 mana sweep when you got a few 3 mana sweepers to take care of aggro?