I played in the early days of magic so yea, I know "the power 9" and such and I've played some in the last year so I'm somewhat familiar with the latest releases
But my knowledge of cards has a 15+ year gap in it and with 30,000(?) or more cards that have come and gone in the years where I wasn't playing it could take me a while before (or if) I ever get around to actually reading and studying all of them
So in an effort to round out my card knowledge I'd like to know what cards are now considered "staples", not just in vintage or legacy but in modern, and perhaps even more importantly for commander (which gets a lot of play at the LGS I just moved near)
Basically I want to know what 100 (or so) cards you think I should study and become familiar with that I might have missed
Maybe Im asking this wrong since some staples are probably pretty common and not all that hard to find if sought after, but I guess I just want your list of cards that you think is important that every player should know about and than those are the cards I will learn about first that I might have missed over the last decade and a half away from the game
My suggestion honestly would be to look at the tier 1/tier 2 decks in any given format. In Modern and Legacy the card pools are so large you're just not going to know everything, but if you know the most popular decks you won't be caught by surprise too often. In standard it's pretty easy.
A price guide won't show you everything. Young Pyromancer and Lingering Souls for example aren't cards that top the price charts by any means but they're cards you need to know about.
A price guide won't show you everything. Young Pyromancer and Lingering Souls for example aren't cards that top the price charts by any means but they're cards you need to know about.
Great point. It also isn't specific to a format.
I mostly play pauper so my top 100 would be far different than someone playing Modern and I doubt there are 100 sought after cards in standard at any give time. Lingering Souls is an amazing card but not being pauper legal, wouldn't be something I'd suggest.
I'll give you my top ten pauper cards just for the heck of it and these range from cards I hate, cards I compete against all the time, and cards I love;
Mystical Teachings; An amazing powerhouse that doesn't have a sustainable archetype due to Temporal Fissure decks. Not that it doesn't see play, but there is no control archetype placing in tournaments based around its power.
Dispel; What if I told you that it was the most played card in pauper tournaments? (scroll down a little, it's on the left) If you want a real snap shot of what MTGO pauper is like; Dispel is in 52% of decks but just barely beats out Hydroblast which is in 51% of decks, the top ten are either blue or colorless and include Glimmerpost in the tenth spot at 31% of decks. Yeah, we have a warped meta and we argue about it. Both Dispel and Hydroblast are sideboard because they're very dead against certain tier 1.5 decks that will steam roll you quick if you stumble.
Keep Watch/Rites of Initiation; A two for one. They've newly entered my knowledge pool but they're amazingly effective. Dedicating 8 slots to a combo win through creature rush that dies effectively to the two most played sideboard cards in pauper? No one said I was competitive.
Ghostly Flicker; A surprising powerhouse and primary enabler to go infinite for a big Temporal Fissure, along side Cloud of Faeries, Mnemonic Wall and Cloudpost, and is strong enough to play in blue based Cloudpost decks not trying to storm off since it can gain stupid amounts of life with Glimmerpost or draw cards with Mulldrifters.
Prophetic Prism; Why in the hell is this here? It can be played in any color deck, replaces itself, enables odd sideboard splashes, is the fourth most played card in pauper, has an entire archetype built around reusing it with Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher, enjoys being Ghostly Flickered, and is only beaten by Abundant Growth if you happen to be in green. Which you probably aren't if this is an effect you want.
Ethereal Armor; Single handedly respawned an archetype that is now tier 1.5 or so. It likes to make Gladecover Scout , Slippery Bogle, or Silhana Ledgewalker into HUGE MONSTERS that are only effectively answered by Diabolic Edict and it's brothers in a meta where black is nearly unplayable thanks to the various types of Cloudpost decks. Combine with Rancor, Ancestral Mask, Abundant Growth, maybe a Frog Tongue or two, and everyone's favorite Aura Gnarlid for a super fast and uninteractive deck that only really loses to a barrage of counter magic or it's own dumb luck.
Delver of Secrets; It's obviously dominating in every format. Thankfully, it is a common, so I get to hate it too.
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But my knowledge of cards has a 15+ year gap in it and with 30,000(?) or more cards that have come and gone in the years where I wasn't playing it could take me a while before (or if) I ever get around to actually reading and studying all of them
So in an effort to round out my card knowledge I'd like to know what cards are now considered "staples", not just in vintage or legacy but in modern, and perhaps even more importantly for commander (which gets a lot of play at the LGS I just moved near)
Basically I want to know what 100 (or so) cards you think I should study and become familiar with that I might have missed
Maybe Im asking this wrong since some staples are probably pretty common and not all that hard to find if sought after, but I guess I just want your list of cards that you think is important that every player should know about and than those are the cards I will learn about first that I might have missed over the last decade and a half away from the game
http://www.blackborder.com/cgi-bin/prices/index.cgi?action=welcome
I don't think very many will list 100 cards.
I suppose, but I was hoping for something a bit more personal than just a price guide, maybe asking for 100 was too many
A price guide won't show you everything. Young Pyromancer and Lingering Souls for example aren't cards that top the price charts by any means but they're cards you need to know about.
;Sought after; is a relative term and 'personal' designates individual choices.
Great point. It also isn't specific to a format.
I mostly play pauper so my top 100 would be far different than someone playing Modern and I doubt there are 100 sought after cards in standard at any give time. Lingering Souls is an amazing card but not being pauper legal, wouldn't be something I'd suggest.
I'll give you my top ten pauper cards just for the heck of it and these range from cards I hate, cards I compete against all the time, and cards I love;
Mystical Teachings; An amazing powerhouse that doesn't have a sustainable archetype due to Temporal Fissure decks. Not that it doesn't see play, but there is no control archetype placing in tournaments based around its power.
Crypt Rats; Just as limiting as Krark-Clan Shaman and Martyr of Ashes in deck archetype except it doubles as a finisher and fits the Unearth requirements. I am biased after all.
Dispel; What if I told you that it was the most played card in pauper tournaments? (scroll down a little, it's on the left) If you want a real snap shot of what MTGO pauper is like; Dispel is in 52% of decks but just barely beats out Hydroblast which is in 51% of decks, the top ten are either blue or colorless and include Glimmerpost in the tenth spot at 31% of decks. Yeah, we have a warped meta and we argue about it. Both Dispel and Hydroblast are sideboard because they're very dead against certain tier 1.5 decks that will steam roll you quick if you stumble.
Keep Watch/Rites of Initiation; A two for one. They've newly entered my knowledge pool but they're amazingly effective. Dedicating 8 slots to a combo win through creature rush that dies effectively to the two most played sideboard cards in pauper? No one said I was competitive.
Ghostly Flicker; A surprising powerhouse and primary enabler to go infinite for a big Temporal Fissure, along side Cloud of Faeries, Mnemonic Wall and Cloudpost, and is strong enough to play in blue based Cloudpost decks not trying to storm off since it can gain stupid amounts of life with Glimmerpost or draw cards with Mulldrifters.
Prophetic Prism; Why in the hell is this here? It can be played in any color deck, replaces itself, enables odd sideboard splashes, is the fourth most played card in pauper, has an entire archetype built around reusing it with Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher, enjoys being Ghostly Flickered, and is only beaten by Abundant Growth if you happen to be in green. Which you probably aren't if this is an effect you want.
Ethereal Armor; Single handedly respawned an archetype that is now tier 1.5 or so. It likes to make Gladecover Scout , Slippery Bogle, or Silhana Ledgewalker into HUGE MONSTERS that are only effectively answered by Diabolic Edict and it's brothers in a meta where black is nearly unplayable thanks to the various types of Cloudpost decks. Combine with Rancor, Ancestral Mask, Abundant Growth, maybe a Frog Tongue or two, and everyone's favorite Aura Gnarlid for a super fast and uninteractive deck that only really loses to a barrage of counter magic or it's own dumb luck.
Delver of Secrets; It's obviously dominating in every format. Thankfully, it is a common, so I get to hate it too.