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[Arksy]

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Thank you so much for your posts...Really helps a newbie like me who's currently drowning in information.

Just wanted to ask, if modern has the greater scope and larger number of weird card interactions, is it the more popular format on the professional scene?

I also wanted to ask, where can I go to get info on good deck lists, constructions, tactics and news regarding MTG?

 

[Matriox]

Thank you so much for your posts...Really helps a newbie like me who's currently drowning in information.

Just wanted to ask, if modern has the greater scope and larger number of weird card interactions, is it the more popular format on the professional scene?

I also wanted to ask, where can I go to get info on good deck lists, constructions, tactics and news regarding MTG?

MTGSalvation used to be a really good site for magic conversation, but I think the quality has dropped dramatically. I still pop in there every once in awhile just to check out if anything in the Rumor Mill for upcoming magic stuff but typically Reddit has taken that over.

Sites for magic based articles I frequent are Channel Fireball, Starcity Games, and TCG Player. Keep in mind I prefer SCG articles in general, but their good ones are behind a kind of pricey paywall of $50 for a year, for free CFB and TCGplayer have plenty of good content though.

Decklists from previous tournaments are posted on both TCGplayer and Starcity Games depending on who is hosting the event.

 

[kirblar]

MTGSalvation used to be a really good site for magic conversation, but I think the quality has dropped dramatically. I still pop in there every once in awhile just to check out if anything in the Rumor Mill for upcoming magic stuff but typically Reddit has taken that over.

Sites for magic based articles I frequent are Channel Fireball, Starcity Games, and TCG Player. Keep in mind I prefer SCG articles in general, but their good ones are behind a kind of pricey paywall of $50 for a year, for free CFB and TCGplayer have plenty of good content though.

Decklists from previous tournaments are posted on both TCGplayer and Starcity Games depending on who is hosting the event.

Curse buyout and forum software change killed the site. No longer low-impact, no longer a safe place for leaks.

 

[Firemind]

Just netdeck. I use mtgdecks.net. You can even search their database for cards that appeal to you.

MTG Salvation are a bunch of forum communists right now. Can't even post on their outdated constructed subforums.

 

[Matriox]

Curse buyout and forum software change killed the site. No longer low-impact, no longer a safe place for leaks.

They used to be so good too, what a shame. I still like seeing some multiplayer commander decklists in there but Ive lost most patience for the site.

 

[The Technomancer]

Thank you so much for your posts...Really helps a newbie like me who's currently drowning in information.

Just wanted to ask, if modern has the greater scope and larger number of weird card interactions, is it the more popular format on the professional scene?

I also wanted to ask, where can I go to get info on good deck lists, constructions, tactics and news regarding MTG?

I don't know about more popular. It certainly is popular, but its also still a lot more expensive than Standard (and pretty much always will be almost intrinsically)

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Curse buyout and forum software change killed the site. No longer low-impact, no longer a safe place for leaks.

That was right about when my interest started to go down.

I wonder if I still own the Splinter Twin thread? *checks* Hehe. I do. I've tried to offload it for forever; I don't think I've seriously played Modern in over a year now. I bet that primer is super bad at this point.

 

[Matriox]

I'd say the ratio for standard to modern popularity is 2.5:1 but I don't know for certain.

Also, for more references you can also watch all of SCG Open standard tournaments on youtube. It can help you see if you think a deck looks fun to play or how it plays against other decks. Or you can use it to determine if someone is cheating on camera

 

[Angry Grimace]

I really hope at the very least they reprint Squelch soon. I need some hilarity.

 

[red13th]

Follow Channel Fireball's youtube channel! It's great, some stuff like TWoo is wackier and not very newbie friendly, but there's useful videos on Standard and Modern deck techs.

 

[Lucario]

I really hope at the very least they reprint Squelch soon. I need some hilarity.

Shadow of Doubt would also be wonderful.

 

[keeblerdrow]

What are the top 10 2-drops in standard right now? I know caryatid, deathdealer and fleecmane lion are in the list. What else that isn't green?

 

[kirblar]

What are the top 10 2-drops in standard right now? I know caryatid, deathdealer and fleecmane lion are in the list. What else that isn't green?

Seeker of the Way

 

[Matriox]

What are the top 10 2-drops in standard right now? I know caryatid, deathdealer and fleecmane lion are in the list. What else that isn't green?

Eidolon of great Revel, Nyx-Fleece Ram, Pain Seer, and Ajani's Pridemate spring to mind

 

[Exokell]

Piloting gr monsters right now, went 2 times 3-1 on standard daily. Xenagos is still a ridiculous busted card. I wanna splash thoughtseize though. This deck needs disruption

 

["God's Beard!"]

Speaking of UR Tempo, man does the draft archetype need finishers to work.

I drafted the following card cool:

2x Horde Ambusher
2x Jeskai Elder
2x Jeskai Windscout
2x Bloodfire Expert
2x Force Away
2x Winterflame
2x Act of Treason(with a meandering towershell floating around the draft, no less)
Hordeling Outburst + Trumpet Blast
as well as a bunch of random other typical UR cards.

But with no Mystic of the Hidden Way or Riverwheel Aerialists and only one Arrow Storm, finishing off the game was really hard. So I guess it's possible to run bad with forcing UR. I kept getting passed all these high-pick UR cards, but never seeing the closers really hurt.

I did splash a Sagu Mauler, but it's so terrible in UR. It basically became a huge wall since UR doesn't stop people from actually buildng up a board state over time.

What did overperform was Briber's Purse. Card is so perfect for tempo decks. 0-mana prowess trigger if you need it, and just shuts down a couple blockers/attackers for a few turns which translates into a lot of damage.

 

[Firemind]

Mistfire Weaver, Abzan Falconer, Jeskai Charm, even Leaping Master and Scaldskin are great finishers. You just need to play t3 windscout t4 another evasive creature to start the beating followed by tricks and removal, which is why I love Tormenting Voice so much. So many times I get opening hands with zero action, but thanks to tormenting voice I draw windscout and smooth out my draws. There's always one match where the opponent plays tapped land into tapped land, so it's not like you're pressured. It definitely overperformed for me, more than Cruise. Oh and it makes Set Adrift half decent.

 

[y2dvd]

What are the top 10 2-drops in standard right now? I know caryatid, deathdealer and fleecmane lion are in the list. What else that isn't green?

1 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Seeker of the Way
3 Fleecemane Lion
4 Rakshasa Deathdealer
5 Nyx-Fleece Ram
6 Heir of the Wilds
7 Eidolon of the Great Revel
8 Satyr Wayfinder
9 Pain Seer
10 Rattleclaw Mystic

 

[kirblar]

Pain Seer doesn't belong on that list.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Yeah, Kiora's Follower is better and even Voyaging Satyr is arguably better. Spiteful Returned, Spirit of the Labyrinth and Satyr Firedancer, too.

 

[Firemind]

Does ensoul artifact count?

 

[Matriox]

I mean I don't love pain seer, I think shes good and sees play in mono black agro when it shows its head every once in awhile, I was finding some nongreen was all I said it for.

 

[Yeef]

Genesis Hydra is technically a 2-drop.

Revoker is a pretty solid sideboard card since it can hit mana dorks and planeswalkers alike.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Genesis Hydra is technically a 2-drop.

Revoker is a pretty solid sideboard card since it can hit mana dorks and planeswalkers alike.

I miss Pithing Needle.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Why were they still printing Mana Leak all the way through M12? Did they really believe that Counterspell was too strong at UU and Mana Leak was fine at 1U?

 

[Firemind]

To be fair, Jund was too strong at one point, before hawks and insects ruled the skies.

 

[kirblar]

Why were they still printing Mana Leak all the way through M12? Did they really believe that Counterspell was too strong at UU and Mana Leak was fine at 1U?

By the time they realized it was an issue, it was too late.

It saw play in the old days primarily in Control decks, where it's not really busted. It's busted in Tempo decks, which emerged w/ the Delver/Snappy/Geist shell.

 

[Angry Grimace]

By the time they realized it was an issue, it was too late.

It saw play in the old days primarily in Control decks, where it's not really busted. It's busted in Tempo decks, which emerged w/ the Delver/Snappy/Geist shell.

Mana Leak basically is Counterspell enough of the time I can't figure how they thought one was busted and the other wasn't. Hell, sometimes Mana Leak is better.

 

[Firemind]

I admit Mana Leak was the reason, the missing puzzle piece if you will, that I qualified for a PTQ. It made the Jund matchup an even playing ground and was evidently busted in the UW control matchup which were trying to battle through a sea of Jund.

 

[y2dvd]

Genesis Hydra is technically a 2-drop.

Revoker is a pretty solid sideboard card since it can hit mana dorks and planeswalkers alike.

Yeah I had considered those but you're never gonna drop Genesis Hydra on T2, and Revoker along with Satyr Firedancer missed the list behind what I listed.

 

[SigmasonicX]

The story of Narset. It seems like Narset is basically a Disney princess, leaving her duties to go reading and such. Glad to see that there is corruption within the higher-ups of Jeskai too, instead of that clan being perfect. The reference to Narset having visions of other worlds definitely makes it seem like she'll become a planeswalker.

Before, I had assumed that only planeswalkers would be going back in time for Fate Reforged, but I'm starting to think that the khans and other select characters will end up being dragged back in time too. After all, there's not much of a point in focusing so much on Taigam if he won't appear in the past for Fate Reforged and he won't be the same, if he even exists, in the alternate future for "Louie".

 

[kirblar]

The story of Narset. It seems like Narset is basically a Disney princess, leaving her duties to go reading and such. Glad to see that there is corruption within the higher-ups of Jeskai too, instead of that clan being perfect. The reference to Narset having visions of other worlds definitely makes it seem like she'll become a planeswalker.

Before, I had assumed that only planeswalkers would be going back in time for Fate Reforged, but I'm starting to think that the khans and other select characters will end up being dragged back in time too. After all, there's not much of a point in focusing so much on Taigam if he won't appear in the past for Fate Reforged and he won't be the same, if he even exists, in the alternate future for "Louie".

Yeah, Narset PW in Set 3 was looking fairly likely already, this pretty much cinches it.

Also - w/ Clans/Factions like Rav/Khans- they intentionally have the factions take on all the "bad" qualities of the colors. Why? Because "good" is boring.

 

[G.ZZZ]

Mana leak was too good because that standard had hexproof stupid creatures + delver. Mana leak is shitty when blue don't have the best creatures in the game available. As is counterspell, spell is just solid and had to get faded out only because of wotc phylosophy change (players don't like those mechanics, let's nerf counterspell and stone rain ok).

 

[kirblar]

Mana leak was too good because that standard had hexproof stupid creatures + delver. Mana leak is shitty when blue don't have the best creatures in the game available. As is counterspell, spell is just solid and had to get faded out only because of wotc phylosophy change (players don't like those mechanics, let's nerf counterspell and stone rain ok).

The issue is that they like aggressive blue tempo decks to potentially be a thing. (like Mono-U last year.) It also doesn't prevent 2-color aggro decks from getting access to it.

 

[Angry Grimace]

The story of Narset. It seems like Narset is basically a Disney princess, leaving her duties to go reading and such. Glad to see that there is corruption within the higher-ups of Jeskai too, instead of that clan being perfect. The reference to Narset having visions of other worlds definitely makes it seem like she'll become a planeswalker.

Before, I had assumed that only planeswalkers would be going back in time for Fate Reforged, but I'm starting to think that the khans and other select characters will end up being dragged back in time too. After all, there's not much of a point in focusing so much on Taigam if he won't appear in the past for Fate Reforged and he won't be the same, if he even exists, in the alternate future for "Louie".

Its not actually a foregone conclusion the future will be "alternate" in Dragons of Tarkir - its possible they merely bring Ugin back with them, which brings back the "cloud" that the dragons come out of, which just restores dragons to the existing Tarkir.

 

[ultron87]

Its not actually a foregone conclusion the future will be "alternate" in Dragons of Tarkir - its possible they merely bring Ugin back with them, which brings back the "butt" that the dragons come out of, which just restores dragons to the existing Tarkir.

I feel like that version would've have ended up as a small third set. They keep saying that the story justifies the block's draft structure so two very different presents with the past set as the bridge makes a lot of sense.

 

[kirblar]

I feel like that version would've have ended up as a small third set. They keep saying that the story justifies the block's draft structure so two very different presents with the past set as the bridge makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, the present has to radically change to justify it.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I feel like that version would've have ended up as a small third set. They keep saying that the story justifies the block's draft structure so two very different presents with the past set as the bridge makes a lot of sense.

Haha! Somebody has a cloud-to-butt plugin installed. Teehee.

 

[ultron87]

Haha.

"Butt the dragons come from" totally made sense to me. And gave me a pretty funny mind picture of Ugin.

 

[bigkrev]

Someone on Reddit did a great job writing about various buylists
http://www.reddit.com/r/mtgfinance/...reat_buylist_review_part_1_intro_through_scg/
http://www.reddit.com/r/mtgfinance/comments/2jzkii/the_great_buylist_review_part_2_abu_through/

Lots of great stuff- like that Card Kingdom is where you go to sell large quantities of the same card, or that Gaming ETC pays significantly more money for bulk rares from Reviesed-Masques

 

[Angry Grimace]

Haha.

"Butt the dragons come from" totally made sense to me. And gave me a pretty funny mind picture of Ugin.

Ugin is a giant taco that poops dragons, I guess.

 

[OnPoint]

Yeah, Narsett feeling like she doesn't belong and dreaming of other worlds... She's gonna PW

 

[Firemind]

I remember Dark Ritual, Counterspell, Stone Rain, Pillage, Opposition etc. were in the same Standard block, which weren't oppressive at all. If any, it made for a healthy environment where every colour had something going for them.

Speaking of reminiscing about the good old days, what are you guys' favourite deck archetypes over the course of the history of the game? The ones you had the fondest memories of?

I've been playing MTG for as long as I can remember, but the first time I had a real breakthrough was when a little enchantment called Fires of Yavimaya got spoiled. I knew instantly it had synergy with Saproling Burst and Blastoderm. This was a time when netdecking wasn't prevalent, so every player brewed his own Fires deck. Some splashed white or black or had pro blue bears and chimeric idols. One day I entered a nationals qualifier with my own Fires brew with three Shivan Wurms, two Two-Headed Dragons and a full set of Ghitu Fire. I aced that qualifier. That day I faced so many mirrors where they had no answers. It was glorious, especially when I'm twelve and beating these neckbeards twice my age.

There are a lot of other decks I had an amazing time with; Lightning Angel in Invasion Block Constructed and Time Spiral/Ravnica standard block; Naya Spectral Force/Mystic Enforcer/Boom/Bust/Flagstones in Time Spiral block constructed, which later transitioned into Fiery Justice/Mystic Enforcer/Boom/Bust/Goyf when Future Sight came out; the Swans of Bryn Aggrol/Seismic Assault/Cascade/43 land deck where I had a lot of fun with at GP Barcelona, but fizzled against mono red one match and ultimately finished 6-3 day one; my PTQ winning Grixis Hits deck, featuring the 'unfair' Mana Leak during a time where everyone and their mom played BB Elves; and my Pyromancer's Ascension list at nationals where I narrowly punted the match for top 8 and finished 9th on tiebreakers against CawBlade of all decks.

There were a few times where I thought I'd stop playing Magic forever, but you always come back at some point in life. You always do.

 

[acheron_xl]

I always had tons of fun with mono-brown and counterhammer. And any deck with Armageddon. Being a total dick was a ton of fun back then. They kind of neutered those strategies over time.

 

[ElyrionX]

The story of Narset. It seems like Narset is basically a Disney princess, leaving her duties to go reading and such. Glad to see that there is corruption within the higher-ups of Jeskai too, instead of that clan being perfect. The reference to Narset having visions of other worlds definitely makes it seem like she'll become a planeswalker.

Before, I had assumed that only planeswalkers would be going back in time for Fate Reforged, but I'm starting to think that the khans and other select characters will end up being dragged back in time too. After all, there's not much of a point in focusing so much on Taigam if he won't appear in the past for Fate Reforged and he won't be the same, if he even exists, in the alternate future for "Louie".

Yeah, Narsett feeling like she doesn't belong and dreaming of other worlds... She's gonna PW

The player guide in the KTK fat pack refers to Narset as having a "secret potential". Definitely going PW. As a Jeskai player in both Standard and Modern, I am very excited about this.

 

[G.ZZZ]

The issue is that they like aggressive blue tempo decks to potentially be a thing. (like Mono-U last year.) It also doesn't prevent 2-color aggro decks from getting access to it.

Mostly U-based tempo decks weren't really a thing until they printed delver. Before it was RUG, UGW, or BUG decks that used green creatures coupled with cheap countermagic and removal from the tertiary color. And Mystic Enforcer. What a deck boys.
But since wotc campaign for giving blue the best creature (both aggressive Delver, midrange TNN, plus classic late-game finishers) and planeswalkers, giving them countermagic was obviously too much.

EDIT: best was Urza block constructed. I played wildfire vs Elves all day long boys. Thorn elementals vs Crater Hellions. But my first and favourite deck was a RG deck when format still didn't have an official name i think, around Revised, with Kirds, Fireballs, channel, Llanowar Elves, Shivan Dragons, the G enchantment that made a land give 2 mana, the Druid that untapped a land as an ability, Lightning bolt, Dragon Pups, and i think i had 2 main Tranquility because sideboard didn't exist back then lol and everyone played Circle of protection : red. I still remember my first tournament i lost in the finals because i didn't know that Circle could block also creature damage and not only spells (that's what i thought it said because it said source and not creature or spell).

 

[y2dvd]

I broke my philosophy of not buying singles and shelled out for some Brimazs. Feels bad man. I just could not find anyone with copies of it for trade. I can find people carrying around any other cards. Oh well.

 

[The Technomancer]

I've never played constructed enough to weigh in, but Zendikar limited was some of my favorite Magic ever and a big part of why Landfall is one of my all time favorite mechanics

 

[divisionbyzorro]

The only constructed deck that I ever got goosebumps playing was the Angel of Glory's Rise reanimate deck at the end of Scars/Inn standard. Essentially just the Block deck with some upgrades. I loved that thing. So janky. So sweet.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Randomly, I feel like making "suspend 1" its own mechanic has some potential, and it has enough design space on its own for at least a small set. MaRo has said that they have no intention of bringing back suspend in Standard because of how confusing players found it with the time counters, but "suspend 1" can be implemented without any counters. You can pay less for a spell, but with the weakness that your opponents have a round to prepare for it, and if it's a creature, you can't block right away. Unlike suspend, I imagine this version wouldn't automatically give creatures haste, unless the equivalent of "enters the battlefield tapped" is enough of a drawback for the lower cost.

Slow Devastation - 4WW
Sorcery
Delay 2WW (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay 2WW and exile it. At the beginning of your upkeep, cast it without paying its mana cost.)
Destroy all creatures and planeswalkers.

Slow Turtle - 3U
Creature - Turtle
Delay 2U
2/4

Slow Destruction - 3B
Sorcery
Delay 1B
Destroy target creature.

Slow Charger - 3R
Creature - Beast
Delay 2R
Haste
4/1
(Plus, you know, Rift Bolt)

Slow Growth - 2G
Sorcery
Delay G
Target creature gets +5/+5 until end of turn.