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Magic: The Gathering |OT3| Enchantment Under the Siege

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The most important aspect of the Jeskai mirror? Winning the die roll and not mulliganing. I failed to both of these and got smashed.

This limited format is very strange. I still feel behind the curve, but then I watch streamers play it and they also look awkward. And any deck can have a haymaker to win from nowhere; it's kinda crazy.
This is the best limited format since Rise for sure. You've got real options and they're not easy to think about. So much better for the players.
 

Yeef

Member
U/W Heroic was a thing in Theros Block Constructed, some people may be trying to make it a thing in Standard I guess.
A guy around here runs a pretty annoying GW heroic deck that uses hardened scales. He runs full playsets of Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance and 3-of Ranger's Guile. Spot removal is almost always a dead draw against him.
 

inthrall

Member
T1 Swiftspear
T2 Ordeal

Seems. Good.

Satyr Hoplite and Favoured Hoplite are good targets for the ordeals as well, as they can trigger it on turn 3. Red ordeal is also awesome here, and the white ordeal could very well be playable for similar reasons
 
This speculation game is really gratifying. It's exhilarating to see that cards you traded away have gone down while cards you acquired have gone up. Even with my Mardu Ascendancy blunder they're still 50 cents higher than they were when I bought them (using SCG's prices anyway). And my Dig Through Times, Hornet Queens, and probably Doomwake Giants are going to pay off big. Hoping the same happens for Steam Augury.

I should have gotten into this a long time ago.
 

y2dvd

Member
Trying to decide with all the midrange decks going around, if I should have Reprisal in the sideboard. I'm in R/W so I can run Deflecting Palm instead. In before "Why not both?!"

Reprisal
+easier to cast
-doesn't hit a few creatures like Brimaz, Wingmate Roc, Stormbreath, Sarkhan

Deflecting Palm
+can return big damage
-doesn't permanently remove a creature

Devouring Light
+hits Sarkhan and just about every creature minus Stormbreath and hexproof
+Mantis Rider (if running Jeskai) and Seeker can help with convoke cost
+prevents 1 card from hitting the graveyard (not saying much lol)
-without creatures to help with convoke, the double white can make it hard to cast
-it's pretty reactive

Banishing Light
+hits just about everything
-sorcery speed
-3cmc

Suspension Field
+hit's a lot of big toughness creatures that Reprisal would otherwise miss, including Coursers, Brimaz, Mantis Riders, Fleecemane Lion, etc.
+1cmc less than Banishing Light
-doesn't hit noncreature permanents
-doesn't hit most aggro creatures (not that it matters when looking to sb against midrange)

White have quite the options.
 
Deflecting palm also does not target. At all. It say a source of damage of your choice. Hell, it could even negate a true name nemesis swing. So it's a good answer for pro-white and hexproof damage sources.
 

Firemind

Member
Why not Ride Down? Seems like it can force quite a lot of damage with Rabblemasters. Might need God's Willing to protect it though.
 
Today has been a really obnoxious day on the mulligan/mana screw front. I've lost three of the six matches that I've played where at least one game forced a mulligan to five or my deck just didn't cough up lands. Went 1-2 with Jeskai where each match went to 3 games and two of the three matches had horrible mulligans (the 1-land and/or 6-land mulligans, not the color screw mulligans). Then went 2-1 with Abzan, losing game one of the finals to not drawing a third land until turn 8, and losing a tight game two to follow up.

But, on the flip side, I just drafted Utter End, Flooded Strand, Anafenza, and Wingmate Roc in the same draft. So I guess you win some, you lose some.

EDIT: I played it just because I wanted to try it, and my suspicions have been confirmed. Dead Drop is hot garbage in this format. Do NOT play this card.

EDIT2: Saw I had a leftover M15 booster on MTGO. Opened a Garruk. Seems like the kind of card with room to grow; I'll probably hold it for a while.
 
Never really considered trading in or trading for cards, but I have a couple that are reasonably good and don't have a place for them... Do you think it's a good time to offload?:

1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Courser of Kruphix (think I missed the boat a bit on this one)
2 Doomwake Giant (not a pricey one, but it seems like now or never :p)
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Thoughts?

Speaking of which, is True Name Nemesis still a thing in Legacy? I haven't heard much complaining about it lately.

I've been watching a lot of the Legacy tournaments that SCG puts on and I've seen it every time. Not every match, of course, but there are decks with it. It seems to be pretty respected, still.
 

Firemind

Member
Bad on d.
And Deflecting Palm is bad on offense.

If you expect to face a lot of midrange, then you're usually screwed anyway if you're behind. Only burn can give you the reach to close out a game, which none of the white removal on the list can do. Ride Down can function as answer 5-x to Courser and force some damage as a bonus. Reprisal doesn't hit Courser, Devouring Light doesn't give you the extra damage and Banishing Light costs the same as Courser.

In the end, in a R/W deck, I think Chained to the Rocks is the best catch-all answer while letting you apply pressure.
 

kirblar

Member
And Deflecting Palm is bad on offense.

If you expect to face a lot of midrange, then you're usually screwed anyway if you're behind. Only burn can give you the reach to close out a game, which none of the white removal on the list can do. Ride Down can function as answer 5-x to Courser and force some damage as a bonus. Reprisal doesn't hit Courser, Devouring Light doesn't give you the extra damage and Banishing Light costs the same as Courser.

In the end, in a R/W deck, I think Chained to the Rocks is the best catch-all answer while letting you apply pressure.
Ride Down is also much more conditional and Deflecting Palm can create unwinnable board states.

And yeah, you have Chained to the Rocks for removal - Palm is more of a threat to randomly blow someone out.
 

Wichu

Member
I've been goldfishing pure ramp + Villainous Wealth. It seems it might be pretty explosive... if you can draw a Villainous Wealth. Dig Through Time helps here (the deck doesn't really have problems hardcasting it), but there's still the risk of just ramping into nothing. Mulliganing doesn't really help, since it needs all the cards it can get.

My record so far is X = 40 on turn 5 (Nykthos + Verdant Haven/Market Festival + Voyaging Satyr/Kiora's Follower will do things like that). Turn 5 appears to be the sweetspot of ramping enough to cast it for a good amount.

It probably won't be nearly as hilarious in actual games (where stuff like Anger of the Gods is a thing), but I'm sure it will go off often enough to be worth playing for fun.

T1 Forest, Elvish Mystic (1 devotion)
T2 Nykthos, Voyaging Satyr, Elvish Mystic (3 devotion)
T3 Verdant Haven on Nykthos, Voyaging Satyr (5 devotion)
T4 Verdant Haven on Nykthos (6 devotion), tap Nykthos for 3, Voyaging Satyr Nykthos, use 2 to make 8 mana (9 mana total), Voyaging Satyr Nykthos again, use 2 to make 8 mana (15 mana total), Dig Through Time finding Market Festival and Villainous Wealth (7 mana left), Market Festival on Nykthos, Voyaging Satyr (8 devotion)
T5 Nykthos is now +10 mana (8 devotion + 2 Verdant Haven + Market Festival). Elvish Mystic x2 + Forest = 3 mana, Nykthos -> 13 mana, Voyaging Satyr x3 -> 43, Villainous Wealth for X = 40
 

kirblar

Member
I've been goldfishing pure ramp + Villainous Wealth. It seems it might be pretty explosive... if you can draw a Villainous Wealth. Dig Through Time helps here (the deck doesn't really have problems hardcasting it), but there's still the risk of just ramping into nothing. Mulliganing doesn't really help, since it needs all the cards it can get.

My record so far is X = 38 on turn 5 (Nykthos + Verdant Haven/Market Festival + Voyaging Satyr/Kiora's Follower will do things like that). Turn 5 appears to be the sweetspot of ramping enough to cast it for a good amount.

It probably won't be nearly as hilarious in actual games (where stuff like Anger of the Gods is a thing), but I'm sure it will go off often enough to be worth playing for fun.
Could you just dump Wealth into a Jeskai Ascendancy deck as an alternate win-con?
 

Firemind

Member
JARomQP.png

ABOUT TIME.

Edit: Okay, so Sarkhan didn't actually outright win me games, but one time he got me a 2-for-1 and the other time a Warleader Helix + Flame Rift. Even better if you rebuy him with the sage.

Also, I'm now convinced Tormenting Voice is better than Treasure Cruise in the Jeskai tempo draft deck. Having an uncastable Treasure Cruise in your opening hand feels awful, but Tormenting Voice is awesome in triggering prowess and fixing your hand.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
But that can get palmed! :D
If you can produce enough mana to make Villanous Wealth something other than an exercise in mental masturbation you could use that mana to cast something less dumb, just saying.
 
If you can produce enough mana to make Villanous Wealth something other than an exercise in mental masturbation you could use that mana to cast something less dumb, just saying.

I think you might be understating it a little. A Villainous Wealth lets you play multiple spells for free (regardless of their mana costs!), and gives you lots of card advantage at the same time. Yeah, at X = 37 then Fireball is better, but at X = 5, Villainous Wealth is usually superior.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
If I'm building a deck to produce as much mana as possible, I'm going to cast the dumbest win-con I can find.

Like Omnipotence.
Or Door to Nothingness.
Hardcast Emrakul all day errday.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Khans is amazingly fun, both in limited (which I 've already played more of than any format since INN) and the standard environment it created. I am in love with it.
 
Do you think it's a good time to offload?:

1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Courser of Kruphix (think I missed the boat a bit on this one)
2 Doomwake Giant (not a pricey one, but it seems like now or never :p)
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Thoughts?

Still wondering.. :)

I was visiting a buddy today who's recovering from a recent surgery, so I bought a box of Khans and we did some Winston Drafts. Super fun! A little one-sided, but the format and draft was pretty interesting. Khans is rad, no question.
 

Wichu

Member
If you can produce enough mana to make Villanous Wealth something other than an exercise in mental masturbation you could use that mana to cast something less dumb, just saying.

Yeah, but winning with your opponent's cards. Also you get to cackle maniacally while doing it. Just Fireballing Crater's Claws-ing your opponent is about 10% as satisfying.
 
Never really considered trading in or trading for cards, but I have a couple that are reasonably good and don't have a place for them... Do you think it's a good time to offload?:

1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Courser of Kruphix (think I missed the boat a bit on this one)
2 Doomwake Giant (not a pricey one, but it seems like now or never :p)
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Thoughts?

Rabblemaster should hold for a little while longer. I don't think it'll go up though.

Courser is probably safe to unload. I don't see it increasing after the Pro Tour.

I'm personally holding my Doomwake Giants. I expect them to go up after the Pro Tour. They also keep selling out at Starcity (it's happened 3 times in the past week), which to me is an indicator that they'll go up again.

Eidolon, to me, seems like it could actually go up because it hurts Jeskai Ascendancy so badly. This one is more of a guess than the others in my mind, though.
 

Corum

Member
Me and a fellow M:TG newbie are going to our first FNM tonight, what should I expect and do any veterans have tips?
 

Wichu

Member
Me and a fellow M:TG newbie are going to our first FNM tonight, what should I expect and do any veterans have tips?
Depends on the store - the one I go to is the only place I know of that runs FNM in a reasonably-sized university city, so it's pretty competitive. But even then, there are always a few people just there to have fun, with janky homebrews or modified intro packs.

FNM is a casual event, so people should be willing to help you out with any problems - just don't be afraid to ask. Most importantly, have fun ;)
 

MjFrancis

Member
Eidolon, to me, seems like it could actually go up because it hurts Jeskai Ascendancy so badly. This one is more of a guess than the others in my mind, though.
Eidolon pushed Modern Burn into a tier 1 deck, and is hidden away in the third set of the Theros block. Hurting Jeskai Ascendancy even a little bit is just the icing on the cake. It's going to creep up continuously unless it's reprinted in an Event Deck or somewhere else.

I'm on the fence about my own Rabblemasters right now. I still don't have the last few pieces for a R/W Standard Burn deck, and if I'm not going to play it I'd rather sell now than spend another $20 to complete the deck.
 

OnPoint

Member
I think I wanna trade my Coursers and Cariyatids for Fetches in some way. If anyone is interested I have them up for grabs.

Khans is amazingly fun, both in limited (which I 've already played more of than any format since INN) and the standard environment it created. I am in love with it.

Huh. Where the hell have you been
 

Arksy

Member
Tonight I participated in my third FNM and my third draft.

Out of eight, I came third and scored myself two booster packs and the Fanatic of Xenagos card!

I went 2:0, 2:1 and then 1:2.

I'm still terrible, and still learning...but I'm pretty stoked by the result.
 

Matriox

Member
I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on investing in Khans cards at this moment to sell.. There is so much being opened right now that I feel like the whole Khans market will implode leaving fetches and planeswalkers at/around $15 at best. Bought a few cheap playsets of Daring Thief for the chance we see that Robots deck running around soon and some Steam Augury, love those things with these delve draw spells.
 

y2dvd

Member
I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on investing in Khans cards at this moment to sell.. There is so much being opened right now that I feel like the whole Khans market will implode leaving fetches and planeswalkers at/around $15 at best. Bought a few cheap playsets of Daring Thief for the chance we see that Robots deck running around soon and some Steam Augury, love those things with these delve draw spells.

Planeswalkers will be fine. Look at the PWs outside the Khans set. Most retained their value if not going up a little higher. Khan's PW is flat out better than all except Elspeth which is up there with them. Sorin and Sarkhan will stay higher than $15 as they are highly playable. Fetches may go down that low but they will spike back up after rotation.
 

Matriox

Member
Planeswalkers will be fine. Look at the PWs outside the Khans set. Most retained their value if not going up a little higher. Khan's PW is flat out better than all except Elspeth which is up there with them. Sorin and Sarkhan will stay higher than $15 as they are highly playable. Fetches may go down that low but they will spike back up after rotation.

Khans will be the most opened set, I just dont see Sarkhan retaining $40 even in the near future, unless he is played as a 4 of in the top PT decks this weekend. I dropped a couple of bucks on some Crater's Claws just because they have been seeing decent play and were only $1 but those are the only Khans I've bought as singles. Waiting on PT to throw up all of my pulls.

EDIT: went in on a couple playsets of Herald of Torment and Anger of the Gods, they seem decently well positioned to go up. Also dropped some money on Perilous Vault for EDH and possible playability I've seen in some UB/UR control decks that have randomly top 8'd, and some Stain the Mind because they were dirt cheap.
 
So. An idea just cam to me. Twinflame in a naya deck with hornet queen, wingmate roc, and rabblemaster as targets? It's probably a little bit of a win-more board state with roc and the hornets, but a pre-combat Twinflame on a rabblemaster would net you 1 more goblin token and a free minimum 4/2 attacker for the turn.

In other news, a deck very similar to the abzan I took to the MI tcg state championships took first in Texas. I'm becoming convinced that rakshasa deathdealer is a real card.
 

Matriox

Member
In other news, a deck very similar to the abzan I took to the MI tcg state championships took first in Texas. I'm becoming convinced that rakshasa deathdealer is a real card.

Deathdealer can be brutal, unfortunately has diminishing returns as multiples but can really close out a game. It makes me wonder why Savage Knuckleblade has a "can only use this once" clause with his pump but Rakshasa Deathdealer doesnt..
 

Wichu

Member
It makes me wonder why Savage Knuckleblade has a "can only use this once" clause with his pump but Rakshasa Deathdealer doesnt..
Colour pie. The +X/+X until EOT ability is in both green and black. Green's version is a one-shot boost (the Rootwalla ability), while black's is reusable (the 'shade' ability). Deathdealer is black so gets the reusable 'dark magic' version, but Knuckleblade can only get the one-shot 'burst of strength' version.

If Knuckleblade's ability was +X/+0, that could be reusable since that's a red ability.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Colour pie. The +X/+X until EOT ability is in both green and black. Green's version is a one-shot boost (the Rootwalla ability), while black's is reusable (the 'shade' ability). Deathdealer is black so gets the reusable 'dark magic' version, but Knuckleblade can only get the one-shot 'burst of strength' version.

If Knuckleblade's ability was +X/+0, that could be reusable since that's a red ability.

This is true, plus I bet they didn't want to make one of the color modes on the Knuckleblade significantly better than the others
 
Cause one starts as a 4/4 and the other as a 2/2. Rakshasa is a durable threat with 2 mana up during combat. I played him effectively against a burn player this past weekend. He thought he was trading 1 for 1 with me at least a couple of times and got worried about it. So when I attacked with 6 mana up he lightning strike'd it. I think he imagined I'd let it go or re gen it. I pumped it to a 4/4 instead. He cast another strike on it. He thought I'd regeneration it, but I pumped it two more times. So instead of just taking 2 that turn he was now -2 cards and -8 health.

It's not strictly better than fleece mane lion, who everyone wants to compare it to, but it's a good card. A jund aggro deck would love this card, I think.
 
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