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Magic: The Gathering |OT3| Enchantment Under the Siege

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Maledict

Member
So, conundrum. Why is the UK not very good at Magic?

There's never been a UK pro-tour winner, nor has a UK team ever done very well in the team events. In terms of the games great players', you see a vast swathe of Americans, Japanese, French and German players along with the Nordic countries and then a few from other regions of the world (Australia, Spain) but the UK seems to be completely absent.

Is the game not as popular over here? Does Games Workshop hoover up a lot of younger players who might otherwise play Magic?
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
You should definitely try to test a lot and get familiar with your deck and its intricacies, but I'm not sure testing in a metagame full of cruise and burn decks (or so I'm told) will accomplish much right now in terms of finetuning and sideboarding. When is the next banned/restricted announcement? January?

If you go to any competitive tournament right now you're absolutely going to run into Cruise/dig decks. And Abzan in Standard, of course. Burn is the only thing that is skews MTGO.

Which is why all the people who test on MTGO test with a group of people they trust.

I've only been playing test games and in about 10 games, I have come across zero UR Delver and only 1 Burn. It's been pretty diverse. Pods, Scapeshift, Geist and a few others. Haven't seen a single Cruise being casted yet.

I haven't decided on a deck yet. All I know is that it will be UWR. I have all the cards I need in paper to build control, Twin or midrange. I am currently testing UWR Midrange and intend to move on to Twin and then control before settling on one of the archetypes.

People are adjusting to the way Cruise and Dig warped the game. I go back on forth on it, but it definitely did shake up the formats a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing, but unless the meta can adapt to a better Ancestor Visions, it may not be around for too long.

I sort of hope it does, to be honest, because it's just such a damn fun card to cast.
 
Black's version of that effect is controlling the turn, e.g. Worst Fears. Not sure how the first one makes any more sense than Time Stop.

Well, black could easily have both effects, and while extra turns are already a once a block effect, the Worst Fears effect seems like a "once every few blocks" effect. As for the Time Stop comparison, do you mean just in terms of flavor? The idea I was going for was that the black mage paralyzes that particular player to stop him or her from acting, as opposed to the time manipulation flavor of blue. Making the effect a sorcery gives a feeling of dread, since even though the player sees it coming, he or she can't do anything about it. Plus, you know, I don't actually want black's turn effects to be as strong as blue's. Come to think of it, maybe a better display of that flavor would be:

Mind Stop - 4BB
Sorcery
Target player skips his or her next turn. That player can't cast spells until the start of his or her next turn.
"As the creature approached, I blinked and suddenly it was morning. Perhaps knowing what happened would only make things worse."

EDIT:
Implant Message - 5BB
Sorcery
Target player skips his or her next turn. That player can't cast spells until the start of his or her next turn.
During that player's next turn, you, permanents you control, and spells you control can't be the target of spells or abilities that player controls. That player can't attack you that turn.
 

ironmang

Member
As far as (most) notable stuff:
1 Rev Trop
1 Rev Savannah
1 Rev Scrubland
4 FS Goyfs
4 FoW
3 Tarns
4 MPR Bolt
2 City of Traitors
1 LotV
1 Foil DRS
1 Foil Decay
2 Foil SFM
1 Foil Jitte (pack)

Might have an entire modern Affinity deck for sale next year unless the format is popular enough locally for me to get use out of 2 decks.

Got some interest for the above but I'm mostly just looking for offers right now since I'm not sure what pricing system to use. If you have offers pm me but I'm not putting price tags on anything at this moment.
 

f0rk

Member
So, conundrum. Why is the UK not very good at Magic?

There's never been a UK pro-tour winner, nor has a UK team ever done very well in the team events. In terms of the games great players', you see a vast swathe of Americans, Japanese, French and German players along with the Nordic countries and then a few from other regions of the world (Australia, Spain) but the UK seems to be completely absent.

Is the game not as popular over here? Does Games Workshop hoover up a lot of younger players who might otherwise play Magic?
People don't like travelling which makes the North / South divide even worse when there aren't really that many competitive events anyway. You saw complaints from Londoners about too many Northern PTQ and vis versa every season.
The top players that regularly qualify for the PT are kinda cliquey dicks from what I can tell so that doesn't help either.
 

OnPoint

Member
Well, black could easily have both effects, and while extra turns are already a once a block effect, the Worst Fears effect seems like a "once every few blocks" effect. As for the Time Stop comparison, do you mean just in terms of flavor? The idea I was going for was that the black mage paralyzes that particular player to stop him or her from acting, as opposed to the time manipulation flavor of blue. Making the effect a sorcery gives a feeling of dread, since even though the player sees it coming, he or she can't do anything about it. Plus, you know, I don't actually want black's turn effects to be as strong as blue's. Come to think of it, maybe a better display of that flavor would be:.

Traditionally hasn't the bolded been white's thing? Cards like Abeyance, Orim's Chant, Silence, Stonehorn Dignitary and Auralia's Fury already kind of do that.
 
How morphing looks
morph-progression_2.gif
 

ultron87

Member
It's going unmorphed -> morphed -> unmorphed. Just as if you played it from your hand.

Didn't notice the scaly dragon looking tails that make up the ball before. It isn't as obvious on the morph token.
 

ElyrionX

Member
People are adjusting to the way Cruise and Dig warped the game. I go back on forth on it, but it definitely did shake up the formats a bit. Not necessarily a bad thing, but unless the meta can adapt to a better Ancestor Visions, it may not be around for too long.

I sort of hope it does, to be honest, because it's just such a damn fun card to cast.

I definitely see a lot more graveyard hate online than I do in paper and it's obviously not great for my Snaps.

Also yesterday I ran into this dude who played Worship and Thrun main deck. Like how was I even supposed to deal with that shit with my UWR Geist deck? Without Worship, I would have won that game.

And I am also having very bad matches against Pod both in paper and online. Yesterday against Pod, even when I burned off his T1 and T2 dorks in game 1 and 2, he somehow still had enough fuel to finish me off. Yeah, I was mana screwed in game 2 but still that deck seems to have so much tempo. I was removing so many of his creatures but they just kept coming.
 

Arksy

Member
Amazing art, but I don't really get the card to be honest. The reveal seems really good for the mana cost but the exile until it dies...seems a bit more limited. I suppose it's cheap as hell.
 
Amazing art, but I don't really get the card to be honest. The reveal seems really good for the mana cost but the exile until it dies...seems a bit more limited. I suppose it's cheap as hell.

It's a 2 mana enchantment creature that is semi-useful. It'd be good fodder in a constellation deck, if you want more enchantment triggers. I used it in my Strength From the Fallen deck last spring.

Guys, I'm headed to the Open in Columbus. This is gonna be my first SCG event. Even though I've been rocking Abzan at most of my FNMs and local tournaments, I've also been practicing my own brew of Temur for a while. I shaped mine to be more in line with Jeff Hoogland's listing as he has good reasoning for his choices.

Temur into CounterBurn

Let me know what you think, guys. Me and a couple friends agree that this deck and a Jeskai Burn deck might be best to take on the meta we'll find at Columbus. A lot of people will be playing that ascendency deck or gunning for it. This deck and his Jeskai aim for the people that are aiming at the current "king" of standard brews.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
How much would a Red Dark Ritual mess up Legacy?
 

duxstar

Member
It's a 2 mana enchantment creature that is semi-useful. It'd be good fodder in a constellation deck, if you want more enchantment triggers. I used it in my Strength From the Fallen deck last spring.

Guys, I'm headed to the Open in Columbus. This is gonna be my first SCG event. Even though I've been rocking Abzan at most of my FNMs and local tournaments, I've also been practicing my own brew of Temur for a while. I shaped mine to be more in line with Jeff Hoogland's listing as he has good reasoning for his choices.

Temur into CounterBurn

Let me know what you think, guys. Me and a couple friends agree that this deck and a Jeskai Burn deck might be best to take on the meta we'll find at Columbus. A lot of people will be playing that ascendency deck or gunning for it. This deck and his Jeskai aim for the people that are aiming at the current "king" of standard brews.

Why not just run something like back to nature to contend with the Jeskai deck, I assume that's what Eidolon is for, and back to nature at least can also be brought in for the constellation decks.

I also thoroughly disagree with goblin rabblemasters in the Temur decks, he does nothing to help your stubborn denials and on turn 3 there's things like Boon satyr that help you out more and allow you to keep up counter spells on their turn.

The coursers don't fit at all and are only there to filter lands as far as I can tell.

I'd also pack 3 angers in the side, when you bring it in you'll want to draw it (red aggro and Jeskai)

Good luck with the deck, I play it right now and love it even if it isn't perfect atm.
 

f0rk

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";137724568]I'm telling you guys, Hooting Mandrills is a strict upgrade to Wild Nacatl.[/QUOTE]
This might be the silliest thing you've ever posted
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
This might be the silliest thing you've ever posted

I just assumed he was drunk and won a draft with 4 Mandrills on board.

I've been messing with Zoo in modded DotP 2014 (best single player Magic in the universe, btw) and it's an absolute blast to play. I may build that deck next. It's so much fun hitting with a 4/5 Lynx.
 

Firemind

Member
For the Temur deck, Ashcloud Phoenix seems very good. Evasion and ferocious in one package for one mana less than stormbreath.

I'm not a fan of Boon Satyr with its double green man cost tbh. A 4/2 man doesn't accomplish much either in this meta. The only boon is the flash and option to bestow. Rabblemaster on the other hand can battle rhinos. I'd even look into playing Stoke the Flames. Rattleclaw Mystic seems significantly better than Caryatid. Rabblemaster and Caryatid look awkward together.
 
General sort of question - the Jared Boettcher thing actually got my thinking a little bit. Why are there so many people that consistently do exceptionally well at SCG opens (e.g. Ross, Boettcher, etc) but do nothing at PTs?
 

Firemind

Member
Cause SCG opens are for scrubs.

More serious answer: SCG opens are more like grand prix than pro tours. To do consistently well in grand prix is no easy feat. The only limited savants I can think of that can master a format is Watanabe and Kai and Finkel in their prime.
 

OnPoint

Member
General sort of question - the Jared Boettcher thing actually got my thinking a little bit. Why are there so many people that consistently do exceptionally well at SCG opens (e.g. Ross, Boettcher, etc) but do nothing at PTs?

You'll notice that some players like Jensen and Duke have stopped going to them almost entirely.They're one of the most visible and regular tournaments and are produced pretty well from a watchability standpoint, but they're not always among the best in terms of competition.

Personally I love the Legacy days. But that's just the old folgie in me.
 
General sort of question - the Jared Boettcher thing actually got my thinking a little bit. Why are there so many people that consistently do exceptionally well at SCG opens (e.g. Ross, Boettcher, etc) but do nothing at PTs?

Because you get free wins at Opens. You don't get free wins at the PT.
 

kirblar

Member
If someone's grinding the SCG Opens and putting up insane results, though, its definitely an alarm bell- the only guys to do that (and not quit because the EV isn't there) are cheaters.
 
If someone's grinding the SCG Opens and putting up insane results, though, its definitely an alarm bell- the only guys to do that (and not quit because the EV isn't there) are cheaters.

Excluding the SCG contributors, of course, who do it to maintain the image of the Open Series and validate their position as contributors.
 

bigkrev

Member
General sort of question - the Jared Boettcher thing actually got my thinking a little bit. Why are there so many people that consistently do exceptionally well at SCG opens (e.g. Ross, Boettcher, etc) but do nothing at PTs?

You answered your own question. It's a lower level of competition that is filled with cheaters.
 

kirblar

Member
Excluding the SCG contributors, of course, who do it to maintain the image of the Open Series and validate their position as contributors.
Yeah, if you're getting comped by SCG, that's a whole other thing. (And even they flame out of tournaments at 0-2/3 all the time. It happens.)
 
You answered your own question. It's a lower level of competition that is filled with cheaters.

Oh, it's not necessarily filled with cheaters. It's just not filled with professionals; the Standard opens are just filled with FNM heroes. It's a fine place to go if it's near you and you want something more challenging than your local FNM, but it doesn't pay well enough to be worth grinding the circuit.

Legacy is different, I suppose. If you love Legacy, it can be hard to find tournaments to attend. I imagine there are a lot of players who are willing to travel moderate distances to play the Legacy opens just because they love Legacy.
 
Why not just run something like back to nature to contend with the Jeskai deck, I assume that's what Eidolon is for, and back to nature at least can also be brought in for the constellation decks.

I also thoroughly disagree with goblin rabblemasters in the Temur decks, he does nothing to help your stubborn denials and on turn 3 there's things like Boon satyr that help you out more and allow you to keep up counter spells on their turn.

The coursers don't fit at all and are only there to filter lands as far as I can tell.

I'd also pack 3 angers in the side, when you bring it in you'll want to draw it (red aggro and Jeskai)

Good luck with the deck, I play it right now and love it even if it isn't perfect atm.

For the Temur deck, Ashcloud Phoenix seems very good. Evasion and ferocious in one package for one mana less than stormbreath.

I'm not a fan of Boon Satyr with its double green man cost tbh. A 4/2 man doesn't accomplish much either in this meta. The only boon is the flash and option to bestow. Rabblemaster on the other hand can battle rhinos. I'd even look into playing Stoke the Flames. Rattleclaw Mystic seems significantly better than Caryatid. Rabblemaster and Caryatid look awkward together.

I appreciate the input, both of you.

The Eidolons, Coursers, and Caryatids are a meta call on my part. There are likely going to be a ton of tag-a-long Jeskai Asc/Heroics showing up this weekend and also a ton of things aiming for them. I am trying to shape my deck around both.

The Eidolons are a good hoser against the deck because it relies so heavily on casting 1 mana spells in multiples and I decided to attack that side of it, rather than removing the Ascendency. My plan for the Ascendency is to just counter it and never let it hit the board. I agree with maybe upping the angers, though, because that is also an effective hoser against constellation, given that all but 3-4 creatures in the entire deck are 1 or 2 toughness.

Coursers are there to make sure I have a "threat" out which filtering lands to the battlefield. It's a strange choice for what should be a more-aggro-than-midrange deck, but in playtesting, I was too often dying with a stormbreath in my hand before I put those in.

I was running Rattleclaw Mystics until Wednesday night. I love it's aggressive posture. But I also expect to see a ton of Jeskai burn and tempo this weekend, as it's possible the best meta call right now. It holds up well against the abzan decks, it boards into control for GB Constellation, and it hoses the combo deck with almost no changes. The call was that mystics die to Lightning Strike and Magma Jet and Carytids don't. Otherwise I would be playing the Mystics.

Rabblemaster can steal games and is also good for a post combat Crater's Claw. Three mana threats are pretty important in the face of so many decks that don't even play a spell til turn 2. I agree that he looks awkward beside Caryatid, though.

I played with Ashcloud Phoenix and I really liked it. I found it to be a 2/2 with me at 5 mana and not 6, more often than not, but it's still a fantastic 2 for 1. I originally had 2 in the main and then they moved to the board, and then got outed by the move to a counter burn board. They could almost replace the Rabblemasters, if that card wasn't so efficient at managing the mind game.

Firemind, what would you cut for Stoke? I tried to fit that in, but I didn't want to drop my creature count and the charm, denial, and claw are a really good fit.
 

bigkrev

Member
Oh, it's not necessarily filled with cheaters. It's just not filled with professionals; the Standard opens are just filled with FNM heroes. It's a fine place to go if it's near you and you want something more challenging than your local FNM, but it doesn't pay well enough to be worth grinding the circuit.

Legacy is different, I suppose. If you love Legacy, it can be hard to find tournaments to attend. I imagine there are a lot of players who are willing to travel moderate distances to play the Legacy opens just because they love Legacy.

Oh, I was just being reductive :p

The truth is, if you want to "go pro" in Magic, the SCG circuit isn't where you want to be focusing your energy- it doesn't award pro points. As getting to Platinum provides insane rewards (3000 dollars, airfare and hotel for all pro tours, 300 dollars to show up at Grand Prix, 3 byes AND free sleep in specials, ect), if I was going to spend money traveling for Magic, i'd be traveling to GPs with the hope of getting onto the Pro Tour.
 

OnPoint

Member
This was supposed to make me laugh, I think. Instead it just made me cry :(

http://themeadery.org/articles/wiza...ops-surprise-version-5-of-mtgo-fans-lose-shit

“Frankly, I’m completely speechless,” said long-time MTGO critic and sometimes Magic Pro Brian Kibler. “It may be time for me to stop writing about Magic, since I no longer have anything to complain about. With Lifebane Zombie out of Standard and a functioning version of Modo, what’s the point?”

:lol
 

kirblar

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";137781457]1-mana 4/4 trampler is the Evander Holyfield of competitive magic. Won me so many games at Oakland. 8 trample power turn 4 in a deck with no ramp yo.[/QUOTE]
Might be good in Legacy once Cruise/Dig get axed.
 
GB, I wish we could use our pet cards in the same deck. Imagine mandrills, next turn into Become Immense, each for 1 mana. 10/10 trampler thanks.

I wanted to fit 2 copies of my pet card into the temur deck so badly. It would also be a ferocious enabler. But this is the nature of pet cards, they all fit your every strategy so well. They're fucking sirens.
 

f0rk

Member
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";137781457]1-mana 4/4 trampler is the Evander Holyfield of competitive magic. Won me so many games at Oakland. 8 trample power turn 4 in a deck with no ramp yo.[/QUOTE]
That's nowhere near strictly better than a turn 1 3/3 that needs no support from janky mill cards. In Modern Zoo it might be OK but it's taking the 3 drop slot (where you do 2 things on the same turn) not 1 drops.
 
That's nowhere near strictly better than a turn 1 3/3 that needs no support from janky mill cards. In Modern Zoo it might be OK but it's taking the 3 drop slot (where you do 2 things on the same turn) not 1 drops.
If Bazaar of Baghdad was standard legal I wouldn't need janky mill cards :(
 
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