MTG Salvation

Quote from Tzefick »

And for the most part they are not played in heavily different deck-types. This fellow seems like he wants to be played in a BW wheenie aggro-shell, while Xenagos fits best into either mid-range or aggro.

To be honest you have a solid B/W Tokens shell at the moment for standard without using much more spoiled cards in Khans. All you really need is a better two mana kill spell the than Bileblight. Throw in Brimaz, Elspeth, Ajani Steadfast, Thoughtseize, Brain Maggot, Hero's Downfall, Banishing Light, and man have we got a less powerful version of B/W tokens in modern.

Oooh I like the idea! Plus you have Brimaz, and a few other token producers like Raise the Alarm. So maybe also Thoughtsieze and Hero's Downfall for fun times.

Just so people know, the Ipad version of the game is free to download and start playing. However when it comes to continuing story lines and such you must pay extra for each plane. The Steam and xbox versions will have all the planes unlocked. The different versions on steam are the following...

Special Edition: Comes with the soundtrack, wallpapers, and Godsend Part 1 in PDF format.

The ultimate edition contains all of the cards from the start (No campaign play through). Microtransations for the premium packs still exists.

Quote from Planeswalker420 »

Black aggro and midrange are also both likely to keep a decent position going into the fall. Black might lose Pack Rat and Desecration Demon, but it does not lose Thoughtseize or Hero's Downfall.

I don't know, Black Devotion doesn't seem in a good spot with the loss of Underworld Connections. The continual card advantage was a HUGE part of the deck, combined with the two devotion it gained. So the loss of Desecration Demon, Pack Rat, Underworld Connections, Ultimate Price, Devour Flesh, and Doom Blade will probably leave the deck in shambles. Not to mention lack of mutavault will also leave it more vulnerable to creature based strategies.

Black Aggro looks to still be in a great spot however. Jund Will probably still be very strong with Xenagos, Stormbreath, Pulkranos, Courser of Kruphix, Thoughtseize, ect. Burn may or may not still be a thing depending on which if there are good replacements for Boros Charm, and Warleader's Helix.

Control is also iffy, due to the loss of Supreme Verdict, Jace, Architect of Thought and Sphinx's Revelation.

But this is all guessess looking towards September with no information on Khans.

I know Dwarfs aren't a creature type that people have been asking for forever. So I could see that being the new thing, "That people wanted for a long time, that we've done before." Considering there's only a handful of dwarf cards (38) and the last time we saw any was in Eventide.

I think a lot of people are confusing the word Combo and synergy together in this thread. A combo is something that generally wins you the game once it's assembled. The most recent standard decks that were combo like that would have to be the Pyromancer Ascension deck in Alara + Zendikar, and Splinter Twin in Zendikar + Scars. Both of those decks had a lot of checks around it by requiring multiple pieces to assemble or by being prone to spot removal at the right time.

Combo decks require a lot of checks and balances to be considered "Fair" in a format. However a lot of those checks and balances can lead to un-fun formats for other deck arch types. Too much removal and suddenly creature based decks aren't as playable. Too many combo pieces and you're easily disrupted or hated out.

Quote from drakeavril

I'm looking at Brimaz, king of oreskos and was wondering the best way to abuse him. Any ideas, he seems a bit slow despite only being 3cc and has 4 toughness. Is standard just too fast now?

It's generally due to the fact that a lot of creatures that Brimaz has to fight through (Since he comes down around turn 3) are much larger than him. Desecration Demon, Polukranos, World Eater, and a few others do a great job of locking him out of combat. Combined with the removal suites that Mono Black and U/W Control Variants are running, it makes him terribly difficult for him to safely attack.

Another thing is that Brimaz is currently fighting for a spot in which white decks have a PLETHORA of options to play. From the new Banishing Light to Ajani, Caller of the Pride there are a lot of card at the three slot, help decks deal with answers better than Brimaz, or can instantly win you the game.

Quote from DarkRitual

I disagree. If he's sneezing in people's faces or has snot dribbling down his face, that would be one thing (I'm not watching so I suppose he could be doing either of these things). At any large public gathering, you run the risk of getting sick. You hear about it happening all the time for things like PAX or Comic Con. I guarantee he's not the only sick person at the event.

I personally always carry hand sanitizer, ibuprofen, water, and a few other things on me for large events. But like Dark Ritual said, there are plenty of ways for you to personally keep your immune system strong (Zinc, lots of Vitamin C, Washing your hands frequently, ect.) but also for the people who are sick at these events. Anytime I've noticed anyone looking kind of ill, I always offer hand santizer before they touch anything of mine.

Quote from Organic_Buffalo

I'm assuming dictate of the twin gods? Or was it dictate of heliod?

Dictate of the Twin Gods into Spark Trooper for the win. Gaining 12 Life seems good.

Quote from Xequecal

Other than Mana Confluence, there was a grand total of three Journey into Nyx cards in all of the T8 maindecks. Grand total of nine in the entire top 16.

It's a small set. Outside of a few new versions of decks, and maybe Orzhov Aggro becoming a thing (Which didn't this tournament) I doubt we'll see a lot of cards from JOU. We saw the majority of cards we expected to see (Banishing Light, Deicide, Mana Confluence, Temple of Malady/Epiphany), we saw a few surprises (Ur GOD), and we saw a lot of cards in the sideboard with Magma Spray, and Nyx-Fleece Ram.

Alara Zendikar Standard. I'm on WW he's on Green Eldrazi Ramp. I'm on the play.

Me T1: Plains, Steppe Lynx, Pass.
Him T1: Forest, Pass.
Me T2: Marsh Flats, Plains, Swing 4, Steppe Lynx, Pass.
Him T2: Forest, Rampant Growth, Forest, Pass.
Me T3: Knight of the White Orchid, Plains, Arid Mesa, Plains, Swing 12, Pass.
Him: Scoop.

Quote from Ulquiorra9000

I'm considering swapping out my three Sin Collector in my Orzhov midrange deck for three of these. I have enough removal so I won't often have to chump block with the Maggot, so I think it'll work out. Would you guys run this in such a deck? I have around eleven or so removal spells and a few finishers like Obzedat and Blood Baron, plus Tithe Drinker and Herald of Torment.

You bring up a great point about Sin Collector. As of right now I think any deck that's playing Black and White, is probably going to head over towards that route if they want a discard effect in tandem with Thoughtseize, Duress, ect. That being said come rotation, it's very easy to see how this card will takes it's place.

The only downside is game 2 against enchatnment removal, he'll always have to take that card instead of say a Planeswalker or a removal spell.

Quote from turlockmike

Quote from Antny223

I can see the banlist remaining empty. Standard is the easiest format to balance and I don't think monoblack is anywhere near as oppressive as CAW blade or the like.

Lifebane is not even close to being bannable IMO.

Mono Black is 30% of top decks on mtgo and wins a huge percentage of tournaments. Is that not strong enough? Does it need to be 50%?

CawBlade was only banned when it made up around 80% of the meta.

Quote from ancienthonor

maybe some chained to the rocks

Outside of Sacred Foundry, there are no mountains in that deck. He would have a hard time using Chained to the Rocks.

@OP

I played a very similar deck back in the fall, but it struggles against certain cards. With Lifebane Zombie running rampant, it makes a lot of the creatures in your deck easy picking. That combined with Thoughtsieze and any Black removal spell, can really put a damper on your plays. Your deck currently has no way to recover from constant removal, or strong discard effects. The cards you're adding from Journey to Nyx give you no sustainability in that sense. I only managed to do well with the deck because I found room to run Heliod, God of the Sun in order to generate creatures when I had nothing to do, or to extend without playing more cards in my hand.

So why would you play this deck (especially when you're playing 4 copies of Mana Confluence) as opposed to a W/b shell abusing cards like Pain Seer, Xathrid Necromancer, Ultimate Price, Thoughtseize, Orzhov Charm, and Aerthos, God of Passage? Or even a blue shell that can take advantage of Detention Sphere, Lyev Skyknight, and Ephara, God of the Polis?

Another comment is that, I would main board Imposing Sovereign over Akoan Hoplite, and cut that card completely. As it stands Imposing Sovereign, completely ruins blocking for your opponent whenever they resolve a creature, or turns off haste creatures from red decks. Regardless of which color you choose to splash, Imposing Sovereign needs to be at least a 3 of in your main board.

Quote from MisterDizzy

Being equipment that adds no relevant protection makes it auto bad.

Untrue here. If it gives haste or has a low mana cost (IE Sword of Vengeance,Adventuring Gear, Trusty Machete, or Basilisk Collar) they can be worth playing in aggro decks.