Note: I've posted this in the budget forum not because of any particular limit on card value, but because I am attempting to build a deck without having to acquire many new cards.
I haven't played much magic in the past year, mainly just making it to a prerelease now and then, but I'm looking to get back into the game. For now, I just want to be able to have fun at an occasional FNM while I start to rebuild a collection of cards in preparation for the upcoming rotation. To get me through the next few months, I thought I'd try to put something together using the cards that I have. Before my hiatus, I'd been gathering cards for a Boros deck, but I never got around to putting it together. As I've been out so long, my skills are rusty and I'm unfamiliar with the meta, so I'm coming here for a bit of advice.
Here are some of the standard-legal rares and mythics at my disposal that I thought might have a place in a R/W deck:
As you can see, part of the challenge is going to be not having complete playsets of nearly any of these. For the rest of my collection, I have a large quantity and variety of RTR block cards to draw on. I have a small amount of Theros block and M14, and no M15 as of yet (however, I do have some cards that are reprints from older sets; for example I'm pretty sure I have 1-2 Preeminent Captains around somewhere). I'm open to trying to pick up a few new cards if need be, although I don't want to invest in anything about to rotate, and my local market is rather small, so availability of any particular card is often an issue for quick builds.
So the question is, given these cards as a starting point, what would you build to last until rotation? I could probably slap together a fast aggro deck pretty easily by focusing on the Battalion mechanic. However, if possible I'd like to find a way to build something a little more mid-range in order to make use of the Aurelias, as I feel it would be a shame to let those rotate without having ever played them outside of the limited events in which they were opened. Still, any advice would be appreciated, and all ideas are welcome.
I went to place my preorder at my regular FLGS today, and was informed that they won't be receiving their buy a box promos of Render Silent, as Wizards of the Coast reports that they have "run out".
Now, these are normally shipped in advance, in the same quantities (10 per store), to the same stores each release. How exactly did they not know how many they needed, and how many they should print?
What bothers me is that these promos are usually the one advantage that an FLGS can offer over ordering online. For WotC to so carelessly screw this up is frankly a bit of a slap in the face of the FLGS owners. I still bought my boxes through the store, as I try to support it however I can, but I know the owner has already had other players not place their preorders once they found out about the lack of a promo card, as if they order online, they don't get the promo either, but they can usually get a slightly lower price.
I'm still working on the decklist, but with the exception of the playset of Trolls, it will be a pretty typical B/G zombies. I had a zombie deck pre-rotation, so I've got all the Innistrad block staples already (Geralf's Messenger, Grave Crawler, etc.)
Blood Artist was one I hadn't considered; I'll have to test it out. Highborn Ghoul seems like more of a sideboard option, considering the abundance of black in the format right now.
I was wondering what the take was on Aven Squire in this deck? It's evasive, exalted, and triggers War Falcon, which would seem to make it a decent option, plus it's cost is a little less color intensive than some of the other creatures in its slot. Are the other 2-drops available just considered to be all-around better? If so, why?
I'm working on a B/G zombie deck, but I don't yet have the full compliment of Lotleth Trolls. I was wondering what might be a good substitute to fill its place in the curve?
Since with 2HG, there are no sideboards, I was considering trying to squeeze in some maindeck artifact/enchantment hate, such as Revoke Existence in the TS deck, or maybe Ancient Grudge in Grixis (although I can't flashback it). I also thought about tossing in a couple of Corrosive Gales, which could go in either deck (TS has the green mana, but Grixis would have more mana to pump into it), but I'm not really sure what I'd cut to run any of this.
Another thought I had was maybe trying Killing Wave as a 1 of (Killing Wave + Massacre Wurm = Catch 22 for opponents ;)), but again, there's a lot of good stuff in there already, and it's tough to cut any of it over another board wiper.
Well, I've done some testing and reworked the deck a little bit. First off, I thought I had a Consecrated Sphinx in my collection, but I couldn't find it, so I think I must have traded it. I'm trying to see if I can get one before the event, but for now I'll have to run without it. Also, I could only locate one Slagstorm. I'm sure I've got a couple more, but I think they have been misplaced since we moved recently.
The build was a little creature heavy, so in addition to the missing Sphinx, I pulled one Olivia out. Also, while running alongside TS, I never really liked having Black Sun's Zenith in my hand, as it disrupted our board presence a bit too much. I'll keep it in the side in case I need a heavy sweeper, but I don't think it belongs in the main.
Exsanguinate is amazing; one of my favorite tricks is once I have 7 or 8 mana on the table, Exsanguinate for 5 or 6 damage (10 or 12 total in 2HG), and then on the next turn, drop a Snapcaster Mage and Exsanguinate again! It's an easy way to get 20+ damage out in two turns. Still, I think that I only need one in the deck, so I reduced that.
In place of these cards, I added a little more targeted removal and one more counter (Negate). Here is the deck as it looks now:
The mana base still needs some work. I adjusted it before because I was having trouble getting BB and BBB when I needed it, but then I always seemed to be short on R for Whipflare and Slagstorm. So I've changed it to what you see here, but the balance still feels off. This is why I have trouble with three color decks in the current format. It still works reasonably well, but it is prone to missing a turn here and there due to mana trouble. I'll play with it some more and see if I can smooth it out.
For comparison, here is the TS deck that we worked up:
We've discovered that Signal Pest + Grave Titan can be a lot of fun, since Battle Cry is worded to affect all attacking creatures, not just ones that you control. All in all, these two decks make a pretty fun combination. Thanks Cz for the suggestion!
I'll be reviving these decks for another Standard 2HG game in the near future. I'm doing a bit of research, but does anyone happen to know of any AVR cards that should make their way into these?
What does War Falcon have for breakfast to hit as hard as Grizzly Bears .
Falcons can actually do quite a bit of damage. Take the peregrine for example: It attacks its prey from over 1,000 feet in the air, diving at speeds above 200mph, and striking the prey in the back, breaking bone and severing the spinal cord. They have been known on occasion to take down a full sized buck with this technique.
Switcheroo?!? Seriously? I think WotC has officially run out of decent names for cards (or at least blue sorceries). This sort of gag name belongs in an "Un" set.
I don't really believe in sheltering kids from the human body, so I wouldn't consider age a factor. Of course, unfortunately, not everyone agrees. I find this art to be particularly tasteful compared to MTG's standards, as everything looks to be realistically proportioned.
Well, what you consider a factor and what WotC must consider a factor in order to expect to be a "kid friendly" game are two different things then. The fact is that if they were to use your standard, there's a lot of parents out there that wouldn't let their kids continue buying these cards, which would impact the bottom line. The average person tends to agree that there is a time and a place where some things are appropriate and some are not. Nudity on a card game marketed to kids is generally considered to fall into the innappropriate category. While your own personal beliefs may reject that idea, the views of society as a whole and the open market will dictate what WotC as a company does in order to maintain it's business.
You're right about this particular art though, I don't see anything wrong with it as is, it's just the intial blurry image seemed to create some confusion and even tripped some security alerts (I know my work was another one where the network security blocked it out thinking it was a pornography site).
Context is important. In a game that includes such a young demographic, there are limits to what is appropriate. If the image had truly been as the low-res version made it appear, then yes, that would have been "undignified" for this situation.
I haven't played much magic in the past year, mainly just making it to a prerelease now and then, but I'm looking to get back into the game. For now, I just want to be able to have fun at an occasional FNM while I start to rebuild a collection of cards in preparation for the upcoming rotation. To get me through the next few months, I thought I'd try to put something together using the cards that I have. Before my hiatus, I'd been gathering cards for a Boros deck, but I never got around to putting it together. As I've been out so long, my skills are rusty and I'm unfamiliar with the meta, so I'm coming here for a bit of advice.
Here are some of the standard-legal rares and mythics at my disposal that I thought might have a place in a R/W deck:
As you can see, part of the challenge is going to be not having complete playsets of nearly any of these. For the rest of my collection, I have a large quantity and variety of RTR block cards to draw on. I have a small amount of Theros block and M14, and no M15 as of yet (however, I do have some cards that are reprints from older sets; for example I'm pretty sure I have 1-2 Preeminent Captains around somewhere). I'm open to trying to pick up a few new cards if need be, although I don't want to invest in anything about to rotate, and my local market is rather small, so availability of any particular card is often an issue for quick builds.
So the question is, given these cards as a starting point, what would you build to last until rotation? I could probably slap together a fast aggro deck pretty easily by focusing on the Battalion mechanic. However, if possible I'd like to find a way to build something a little more mid-range in order to make use of the Aurelias, as I feel it would be a shame to let those rotate without having ever played them outside of the limited events in which they were opened. Still, any advice would be appreciated, and all ideas are welcome.
Now, these are normally shipped in advance, in the same quantities (10 per store), to the same stores each release. How exactly did they not know how many they needed, and how many they should print?
What bothers me is that these promos are usually the one advantage that an FLGS can offer over ordering online. For WotC to so carelessly screw this up is frankly a bit of a slap in the face of the FLGS owners. I still bought my boxes through the store, as I try to support it however I can, but I know the owner has already had other players not place their preorders once they found out about the lack of a promo card, as if they order online, they don't get the promo either, but they can usually get a slightly lower price.
I believe that is supposed to be Rummaging Goblin.
Blood Artist was one I hadn't considered; I'll have to test it out. Highborn Ghoul seems like more of a sideboard option, considering the abundance of black in the format right now.
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Grave Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Massacre Wurm
Removal Spells (14)
3 Whipflare
1 Slagstorm
2 Go for the Throat
1 Tribute to Hunger
2 Tragic Slip
2 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Devil's Play
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
Draw Spells (7)
4 Think Twice
3 Forbidden Alchemy
Other Spells (1)
1 Exsanguinate
Lands (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Sulfur Falls
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Mountain
4 Island
3 Swamp
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Etched Champion
2 Origin Spellbomb
3 Mox Opal
4 Glint Hawk Idol
Spells (10)
4 Tempered Steel
4 Dispatch
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sunpetal Grove
3 Gavony Township
9 Plains
Since with 2HG, there are no sideboards, I was considering trying to squeeze in some maindeck artifact/enchantment hate, such as Revoke Existence in the TS deck, or maybe Ancient Grudge in Grixis (although I can't flashback it). I also thought about tossing in a couple of Corrosive Gales, which could go in either deck (TS has the green mana, but Grixis would have more mana to pump into it), but I'm not really sure what I'd cut to run any of this.
Another thought I had was maybe trying Killing Wave as a 1 of (Killing Wave + Massacre Wurm = Catch 22 for opponents ;)), but again, there's a lot of good stuff in there already, and it's tough to cut any of it over another board wiper.
I'll be reviving these decks for another Standard 2HG game in the near future. I'm doing a bit of research, but does anyone happen to know of any AVR cards that should make their way into these?
Heh, the name is actually a reference to the plane (SR-71).
Although, on the WotC forums, I do use the art from Zephyr Falcon for my avatar.
What can I say, I like stuff that flies fast
Falcons can actually do quite a bit of damage. Take the peregrine for example: It attacks its prey from over 1,000 feet in the air, diving at speeds above 200mph, and striking the prey in the back, breaking bone and severing the spinal cord. They have been known on occasion to take down a full sized buck with this technique.
Make that creature a Blisterstick Shaman and win the same turn.
Just don't make the mistake of using a Forge Devil!
Well, what you consider a factor and what WotC must consider a factor in order to expect to be a "kid friendly" game are two different things then. The fact is that if they were to use your standard, there's a lot of parents out there that wouldn't let their kids continue buying these cards, which would impact the bottom line. The average person tends to agree that there is a time and a place where some things are appropriate and some are not. Nudity on a card game marketed to kids is generally considered to fall into the innappropriate category. While your own personal beliefs may reject that idea, the views of society as a whole and the open market will dictate what WotC as a company does in order to maintain it's business.
You're right about this particular art though, I don't see anything wrong with it as is, it's just the intial blurry image seemed to create some confusion and even tripped some security alerts (I know my work was another one where the network security blocked it out thinking it was a pornography site).
Because people were trying to figure out why it was setting off pornography filters at work.
I blame the low-res image; at first glance, the armor does look like skin, and the pale white skin looks like the skimpiest of outfits.
Context is important. In a game that includes such a young demographic, there are limits to what is appropriate. If the image had truly been as the low-res version made it appear, then yes, that would have been "undignified" for this situation.
That doesn't count, changelings are just cheating.