In my casual circle, I was pretty much the top with my Elf deck back around Onslaught block. Then I went to camp and there were...goblins. Turns out, Elves die to Goblin Sharpshooter. Die really fast. Also, one of the counselors Dark Ritual'd out a turn 1 Phyrexian Negator against me. That also didn't go so well.
At the first Magic meet I ever went to (around Prophecy), a guy played a few decent games with me and then pulled out a full Necro deck just to let me see what the game was really capable of. All friendly but still quite an eye-opener.
SQuirrel swarm and Memory jar/tolarian academy. On the same day.
Another deck early on was a breeding pit/ smokestack deck that started locking everyone down on turn two.
This was during onslaught block and I ran RG Beasts.
when I first started playing there was a very limited cardpool where I lived, I remember every set would come out and sell out, and then there would be a huge gap where nothng was available to buy. I played for years without seeing a real competitive deck, Then my brother put together sligh. Imagine playing in a playgroup for years where sengir vampires and serra angels were your biggest game winners then and running into a deck that consistently puts out turn 5 kills against good decks (and not having a good deck).
After a long break from playing, cephalid breakfast was one of the first decks I played against. I remember thinking a cephalid? really? and then he went off.. haha.. it was awesome.
some guy who played some artifact deck back in 04, it wasn't really affinity but it played stuff like darksteel forge and platinum angel. He made the angel and what else induestructible with the forge.
Incredibly slow but I didn't know how to make consistent decks
Heh. I played with a really underpowered group. I've never sat down against a Legacy strength deck, and the 'Best' decks I played against back in the day were Ageless Entity Lifegain Beatdown (Played incorrectly where lifegain stacked), Slivers (ZOMG 40 different slivers in one deck with a cryptic gateway). One made four creatures huge, unblockable, trample, etc. The other made lots of little guys huge, trampling, unblockable, etc.
That's when I found the joy of mass removal. Yes, I actually thought Plague Wind was an awesome card at the time. Thus I became known as That Black Player, for running nightmare + nightmare Lash + Removal + Discard.And knowing the stack. And knowing the rules.
To this day I don't think the Entity player can make a deck without a Beacon of Immortality in it....
My friend and I went to a card store for the very first time when we were in middle school. This was probably around when Nemesis came out. This guy challenged us to a 2vs1 match. We grabbed our best decks; a RB "destruction" deck filled with creature kill and Stone Rain and a mono green stompy deck, no doubt.
After a few turns of nothing much happening, our challenger did a bunch of stuff that we didn't quite understand, then told each of us to draw 400,000 cards. We were dumbfounded. It wasn't until years later that I figured out the guy who smashed us was playing Palinchron High Tide.
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A tier 3 Legacy deck was named after me. What have you done with your life?
I think some people don't understand that the Mirrans are the bad guys. Arcbound Ravager is Mirran. Phyrexia are the good guys coming in to conquer an evil, evil world.
I was traumatized by the Time Sieve combo deck at FNMs. Mostly because I hated sitting and watching the time go by once they started to go infinite. Always seemed to be counterproductive to the game to play a deck that doesn't allow for any interaction with your opponent. At that point, you might as well stay home and play with yourself.
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I liek Phelddagrifs.
Official Knitter of the Crafters.
Currently knitting: It's a surprise!
It was Tolarian Academy Palinchron Combo.. It was my first competitive event, it was a PTQ, I was running a mono red deck that featured 4x flames of Rath..
The first powerful deck I played against (in my first game of magic, actually) was classic Suicide Black - Dark Ritual -> Negator, Masticore, Hymn, Carnophage, etc. However, the first deck that owned me out of nowhere was probably the original Broodstar Affinity. I had never seen a deck that could empty its hand and swing with huge flying dudes by turn 3. I also played against Staxxx with Welder, Smokestack, Metalworker, and Tanglewire (among other things) very early on. I'm willing to bet my early experiences with cutthroat decks like these shaped me into playing the decks I most enjoy now - fast combo, suicide, and board control.
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Legacy: UBRGW T.E.S. UUUSpiral Tide
Modern: UBR Grixis Control
EDH: UB Oona, Queen of the Fae
Combo is a part of magic. If you cant deal with combo then your not a magic player.
There were two decks that really gave me issues, both around the same time.
First was the Reset Stasis deck that popped up immediately after Legends release. I was pretty set on playing the Jihad and Crusade powered white weenie deck at the time, and I had no game against Reset Stasis. Stasis? Do you have Reset? Have I seen an Icy or Twiddles? *scoop*
The other was what I saw as the original stompy deck, as put together by Joel Lytle. Scryb Sprites, Flying Men, Unstable Mutation, Giant Growth ... HULK SMASH YOUR FACE. We had all been working with an Ankh-a-Geddon deck that used Consecrate Land and Mishra's Factory to great effect, but when Joel brought out this stompy deck shortly before Nats, it was our turn to cry.
i played casual for a number of years on and off since Urza block... and decided to up the ante when ZEN first came out with FNMs and what not... so the first honest real traumatizing deck i played is a tie between two decks.
i was running a slow version of R/G Valakut/Baloths (only a rogue deck back then) i thought i was on top of the world. and then my second opponent of the night came in with the alara dredge deck that was less than $5 for the whole deck. Got him to 2 Life and he dropped his graveyard on the board and swung for overkill. every game.
then I met U/W tapout i think it was. the one with elspeth, Knight of the white orchard, everflowing chalice, etc... and i got locked out real fast.
i quickly learned my mistakes that night.
It's probably the sole reason my friends and I became a real playtest group since one of us went from "casual" decks to a tournament worthy deck and the rest of us either had to lose to him every game or step up our own game.
What traumatized me was to see a deck like UWr Team America being competitive when I came back to the game during Alara/Zendikar Standard after a 9 year absence. How could such a $700 janky deck survive against counterspells? oh, yeah, later I noticed that Counterspell was no longer printed
I started playing Magic the summer before 4th Edition came out (when Revised was scarce). The first deck that ever really traumatized me was a Power 9 deck largely build around Timetwister. It was frightening. I was in awe.
SQuirrel swarm and Memory jar/tolarian academy. On the same day.
Another deck early on was a breeding pit/ smokestack deck that started locking everyone down on turn two.
This was during onslaught block and I ran RG Beasts.
On Modern Masters 2:
Will be kept until 12/31/2013 to prove if Right or Wrong.Proven right 1/27/20131 Blazing Archon
1 Empyrial Archangel
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
4 Putrid Imp
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Terastodon
4 Careful Study
2 Daze
4 Entomb
4 Exhume
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Ponder
4 Reanimate
4 Animate Dead
Lands
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Island
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
Yeah, it's not like the thread is made for telling stories or anything.
I think my first real wake up call was playing against Wildfire when it was new. So painful.
After a long break from playing, cephalid breakfast was one of the first decks I played against. I remember thinking a cephalid? really? and then he went off.. haha.. it was awesome.
The reason I refuse to play control.
"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire." - Jaya Ballard
Incredibly slow but I didn't know how to make consistent decks
standard
BU control
BG infect
modern:
mill
edh:
devour for power
Shizuko ramp
Goblins with the "damage on the stack" rules really sucked too. (This was back when I was playing Elves and couldn't afford Steely Resolve.)
That's when I found the joy of mass removal. Yes, I actually thought Plague Wind was an awesome card at the time. Thus I became known as That Black Player, for running nightmare + nightmare Lash + Removal + Discard.And knowing the stack. And knowing the rules.
To this day I don't think the Entity player can make a deck without a Beacon of Immortality in it....
:symb::symr: Malfegor :symb::symr:
:symu::symu: Sakashima the Imposter :symu::symu:
:symw::symw: Darien, King of Kjeldor :symw::symw:
:symr::symr: Ashling the Pilgrim :symr::symr:
:1mana::1mana: (Placeholder) :1mana::1mana:
After a few turns of nothing much happening, our challenger did a bunch of stuff that we didn't quite understand, then told each of us to draw 400,000 cards. We were dumbfounded. It wasn't until years later that I figured out the guy who smashed us was playing Palinchron High Tide.
Burn in hell Lin-Sivvi, burn in hell.
Official Knitter of the Crafters.
Currently knitting: It's a surprise!
Whoa. Did that just..happen?
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
UBRGW T.E.S.
UUUSpiral Tide
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
EDH:
UB Oona, Queen of the Fae
Combo is a part of magic. If you cant deal with combo then your not a magic player.
First was the Reset Stasis deck that popped up immediately after Legends release. I was pretty set on playing the Jihad and Crusade powered white weenie deck at the time, and I had no game against Reset Stasis. Stasis? Do you have Reset? Have I seen an Icy or Twiddles? *scoop*
The other was what I saw as the original stompy deck, as put together by Joel Lytle. Scryb Sprites, Flying Men, Unstable Mutation, Giant Growth ... HULK SMASH YOUR FACE. We had all been working with an Ankh-a-Geddon deck that used Consecrate Land and Mishra's Factory to great effect, but when Joel brought out this stompy deck shortly before Nats, it was our turn to cry.
i was running a slow version of R/G Valakut/Baloths (only a rogue deck back then) i thought i was on top of the world. and then my second opponent of the night came in with the alara dredge deck that was less than $5 for the whole deck. Got him to 2 Life and he dropped his graveyard on the board and swung for overkill. every game.
then I met U/W tapout i think it was. the one with elspeth, Knight of the white orchard, everflowing chalice, etc... and i got locked out real fast.
i quickly learned my mistakes that night.
Currently Playing
UTron
Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
TRADE ME!!!
It's probably the sole reason my friends and I became a real playtest group since one of us went from "casual" decks to a tournament worthy deck and the rest of us either had to lose to him every game or step up our own game.
My Trade Thread
Current Decks:
Legacy:
GWR Punishing Maverick
UW Miracles
UR Sneak and Show
GWB Enchantress
Royal Assassin
Destroyed my young dreams, back in 1996. :/
Fuark, how can we beat flying!?!
I started putting giant spiders maindeck in my slow ramp.dec