Cipher NagaUB
Creature - Naga Wizard
Pay 2 life: Cipher Naga gains the abilities of any creature on the battlefield until end of turn.
2/2
Chthonic Deathbringer ( No Mana Cost )
Creature - Naga Zombie
You may discard Chthonic Deathbringer from your hand.
Sacrifice a creature: target player loses 2 life. Activate this ability only while Chthonic Deathbringer is in your graveyard.
1/1
Clan Skin-ShedderBGU
Creature - Naga Shaman B: Regenerate Clan Skin-Shedder. G: Clan Skin-Shedder gains Deathtouch. U: exile Clan Skin-Shedder and return it to the battlefield.
4/2
I always find the flavor of being a Planeswalker bizarre.
In truth, I can't help but regard Planeswalkers as mostly terible people. Trying to kill each other for power, summoning innocent people and creatures to fight to the death for us: sacrificing them ( even - especially, in some decks - white-aligned mages ), doing hideous things to them ( Skullclamp and similar ) and their corpses ( Unburial Rites and similar ).
The nicest thing any Planeswalker could do for their respective plane is to stop playing Magic.
Expect the hardcore spikes to either have their decks mostly or completely ready to play, or for them to just draft instead.
How? You can't buy the cards you need until tomorrow.
People have been trading all week for stuff that people opened in the prerelease last weekend. Not to mention, buying the day of what one needs prior to the event.
Red Deck Wins ( mostly likely Rabble Red flavor )
Mono Black Aggro
G/x Courser of Kruphix midrange
G/R Monsters
People saying "What do you mean I can't play [insert RTR card]!?"
I like the Ravnica names, though, so I would have gone for Orzhov Midrange if it were an option, but I went for Deadguy Ale as it's amusing and colorful.
Went 2-2 last night with Merfolk at a Modern night:
2-0 Homebrew Rakdos Control
Interesting deck, but possibly the most favorable match-up I've faced: a deck with no instant wins, and no creatures ( his finishers were manlands and Koth ), that plays lots of spells that cost them life ( Thoughtseize, Night's Whisper ). Game one, dudes swung sideways for lethal; game two, he had massive amounts of discard plus a Lilliana on the go, but forgot Thassa counts multiple Spreading Seas as devotion.
2-1 Burn
Really boring report here, can be summed up by: game one I was faster, game two he was faster, game three I was faster. It almost felt like we were both goldfishing.
1-2 Kiki Pod
Game one he drew a terrible hand and I drew just about a perfect one - I did not know what he was playing, actually, as I swung for lethal turn four. Game two I think I took the wrong tactic and kept a hand containing almost my whole removal/counter suite in the hopes of stopping the combo. Game three I was two points off lethal when he combo's out - I wasted my Spell Pierce countering a massive Chord of Calling, then he combo'd out the next turn.
Though I lost, all in all I felt if I'd have played better, I'd have won, so it's more *me* than the deck. Which brings me to...
2-0 Affinity with extra stuff
I don't know if this deck has a name, but it's kind of like Jund and Affinity had a baby: Affinity's normal players, but wiith Goyf, Thoughtseize, more removal than normal, and minus Thoughtcast, to my surprise.
I could not race it. Even drawing a great hand game two with a boarded-in Hurkl's Recall, I was always two turns behind.
***
I'm a semi-casual player, more FNM than tournaments, but I'd love some tips on playing against Affinity and its variants, and sideboard options. I'm almost tempted by the white splash for Stony Silence as sideboard material, but I do like the easy mana base we have.
I disagree regarding flavor and Zendikar, but given the generally negative tone of the past few storylines ( Innistrad is sort of an exception ), it would come as no surprise to have Zendikar totally gone, with perhaps Planeswalker escapees and the inevitable Eldrazi making their appearance on a known plane. ( But probably not New Phyrexia: "Phyrexia versus Eldrazi: Who wins? Who cares!?" )
Ylem SynthmageR Creature - Weird Wizard
Haste.
As an alternative to paying Ylem Synthmage's mana cost, you may exile an instant or sorcery from your hand.
Exile an instant or sorcery from your hand: Ylem Synthmage gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
1/1
It's interesting - definitely worth play-testing. I think I might want it more in mirrors or against red aggro decks versus the slower mid-range ones. Something that surprised me in play-testing was that despite all the self-inflicted life-loss through Pain Seer, Boon of Erebos, and Herald of Torment ( and occasionally Erebos, God of the Dead for cards ), one can often close out the game against mid-range before their beaters become relevant.
If a lot of people start picking up this deck post rotation, I'm slightly worried about a lot of decks playing Drown In Sorrow. That card is great against this deck as, even if we have enough of a hand to reestablish board presence, our only hasty creature is Mogis's Marauder.
I'm more or less happy with Boon of Erebos, but at times I think we'd do much better with a black Giant Growth of some sort. The regenerate comes in handy now and then, though.
I am sticking with Spiteful Returned for now as a four-of. It may change in the new meta, but I like its ability to keep the pressure on in the face of Sylvan Caryatid and Nyx-Fleece Ram.
Despise interests me, given than Khans hasn't given Control much of anything. I'm thinking of trying 2 Thoughtseize / 1 Despise with one of each in the sideboard. Opposing threats are generally harder to deal with than removal, and Despise hits all the threats minus the life loss.
2-0 Unexpected Results combo deck. Simple rout, the combo is fun but just can't race aggro.
2-1 Selesnya Aggro. First game was simple outracing. Second game lost to a resolved Unflinching Courage. Third was somewhat amusing with a double-bestowed Spiteful Returned bumping into a Nyx-Fleece Ram and doing a lot of work in unlikely circumstances.
2-1 Jeskai ( Are we calling W/U/R that, yet? ) Control. The first one he drew the wrong lands to Verdict, and I swamped him. The second game was very, very grindy - I got him down to one life, but he Sphinx'd for a grossly large amount and it was pretty much done. Third game was shorter: Erebos acted as an excellent block to Elixir of Life, and my little guys won handily.
2-0 Mono Black Devotion splash/White. The first game he drew a lot of removal and not many threats - Pain Seer proved remarkably good in keeping the threats coming. The second game felt unfair as he simply got stuck on two lands most of the game.
Observations from play-testing and tonight in general:
I used Bestow much more frequently than I thought I would. Turn four was a Bestow creature on another creature half the time.
Our deck feels less vulnerable to Thoughtseize than most others. Rarely is there a key thing to grab in this deck's opening hand that sets us back more than, say, a random discard would.
Both in playtesting and in matches this deck feels very consistent, versus my experience with Mono Blue which can be much more explosive, but also, at times, have total dud hands.
Boon of Erebos is the trickiest card in this deck. It is difficult to decide whether to use it before damage to kill their creature, after damage to save yours, or on an unblocked as essentially a black Shock.
I look forward to seeing how this does post-rotation!
crippling blight does not deal with courser. bile blight/ulcerate does.
Courser of Kruphix is four toughness. Unless you have twoUlcerates or Bile Blights, or it's taking damage from one of your creatures, they will not remove it from the table.
Oupheomancer2GG
Creature - Ouphe Wizard
Whenever a creature spell with a converted mana cost of three or greater is cast, put a 2/2 green Ouphe with Hexproof on to the battlefield under your control.
1/4
Onyx Whisperer4
Artifact Creature - Golem Wizard
Sacrifice an artifact: you may choose a new target for a spell.
Onyx Whisperer's toughness is equal to the number of artifacts you control.
1/*
Cipher Naga UB
Creature - Naga Wizard
Pay 2 life: Cipher Naga gains the abilities of any creature on the battlefield until end of turn.
2/2
Chthonic Deathbringer ( No Mana Cost )
Creature - Naga Zombie
You may discard Chthonic Deathbringer from your hand.
Sacrifice a creature: target player loses 2 life. Activate this ability only while Chthonic Deathbringer is in your graveyard.
1/1
Clan Skin-Shedder BGU
Creature - Naga Shaman
B: Regenerate Clan Skin-Shedder.
G: Clan Skin-Shedder gains Deathtouch.
U: exile Clan Skin-Shedder and return it to the battlefield.
4/2
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I always find the flavor of being a Planeswalker bizarre.
In truth, I can't help but regard Planeswalkers as mostly terible people. Trying to kill each other for power, summoning innocent people and creatures to fight to the death for us: sacrificing them ( even - especially, in some decks - white-aligned mages ), doing hideous things to them ( Skullclamp and similar ) and their corpses ( Unburial Rites and similar ).
The nicest thing any Planeswalker could do for their respective plane is to stop playing Magic.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
This, also, most stores allow preoders.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I feel almost sure I'll see:
Red Deck Wins ( mostly likely Rabble Red flavor )
Mono Black Aggro
G/x Courser of Kruphix midrange
G/R Monsters
People saying "What do you mean I can't play [insert RTR card]!?"
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
"Oh, no, it's okay, it says I *may* choose for you lose life/discard/sacrifice a creature, etc. I'm just not in that kind of mood today."
- said no ( especially no B-loving ) Magic player ever.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I'm thinking of playing the following list at the next FNM:
4 Tormented Hero
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Pain Seer
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Mogis's Marauder
4 Herald of Torment
SPELLS
3 Thoughtseize
2 Boon of Erebos
2 Bile Blight
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Hall of Triumph
22 Swamp
3 Master of the Feast
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Dark Betrayal
1 Thoughtseize
1 Despise
2 Pharika's Cure
1 Bile Blight
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Festergloom
Still have my doubts on Master of the Feast, but removal is a little more expensive going forward, so, we'll see.
I'm actually expecting quite a few mirror matches, as this deck plan seems popular, hence three SB Dark Betrayals.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I like the Ravnica names, though, so I would have gone for Orzhov Midrange if it were an option, but I went for Deadguy Ale as it's amusing and colorful.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Went 2-2 last night with Merfolk at a Modern night:
2-0 Homebrew Rakdos Control
Interesting deck, but possibly the most favorable match-up I've faced: a deck with no instant wins, and no creatures ( his finishers were manlands and Koth ), that plays lots of spells that cost them life ( Thoughtseize, Night's Whisper ). Game one, dudes swung sideways for lethal; game two, he had massive amounts of discard plus a Lilliana on the go, but forgot Thassa counts multiple Spreading Seas as devotion.
2-1 Burn
Really boring report here, can be summed up by: game one I was faster, game two he was faster, game three I was faster. It almost felt like we were both goldfishing.
1-2 Kiki Pod
Game one he drew a terrible hand and I drew just about a perfect one - I did not know what he was playing, actually, as I swung for lethal turn four. Game two I think I took the wrong tactic and kept a hand containing almost my whole removal/counter suite in the hopes of stopping the combo. Game three I was two points off lethal when he combo's out - I wasted my Spell Pierce countering a massive Chord of Calling, then he combo'd out the next turn.
Though I lost, all in all I felt if I'd have played better, I'd have won, so it's more *me* than the deck. Which brings me to...
2-0 Affinity with extra stuff
I don't know if this deck has a name, but it's kind of like Jund and Affinity had a baby: Affinity's normal players, but wiith Goyf, Thoughtseize, more removal than normal, and minus Thoughtcast, to my surprise.
I could not race it. Even drawing a great hand game two with a boarded-in Hurkl's Recall, I was always two turns behind.
***
I'm a semi-casual player, more FNM than tournaments, but I'd love some tips on playing against Affinity and its variants, and sideboard options. I'm almost tempted by the white splash for Stony Silence as sideboard material, but I do like the easy mana base we have.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I disagree regarding flavor and Zendikar, but given the generally negative tone of the past few storylines ( Innistrad is sort of an exception ), it would come as no surprise to have Zendikar totally gone, with perhaps Planeswalker escapees and the inevitable Eldrazi making their appearance on a known plane. ( But probably not New Phyrexia: "Phyrexia versus Eldrazi: Who wins? Who cares!?" )
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Ylem Synthmage R
Creature - Weird Wizard
Haste.
As an alternative to paying Ylem Synthmage's mana cost, you may exile an instant or sorcery from your hand.
Exile an instant or sorcery from your hand: Ylem Synthmage gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
1/1
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
It's interesting - definitely worth play-testing. I think I might want it more in mirrors or against red aggro decks versus the slower mid-range ones. Something that surprised me in play-testing was that despite all the self-inflicted life-loss through Pain Seer, Boon of Erebos, and Herald of Torment ( and occasionally Erebos, God of the Dead for cards ), one can often close out the game against mid-range before their beaters become relevant.
If a lot of people start picking up this deck post rotation, I'm slightly worried about a lot of decks playing Drown In Sorrow. That card is great against this deck as, even if we have enough of a hand to reestablish board presence, our only hasty creature is Mogis's Marauder.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
I'm more or less happy with Boon of Erebos, but at times I think we'd do much better with a black Giant Growth of some sort. The regenerate comes in handy now and then, though.
I am sticking with Spiteful Returned for now as a four-of. It may change in the new meta, but I like its ability to keep the pressure on in the face of Sylvan Caryatid and Nyx-Fleece Ram.
Despise interests me, given than Khans hasn't given Control much of anything. I'm thinking of trying 2 Thoughtseize / 1 Despise with one of each in the sideboard. Opposing threats are generally harder to deal with than removal, and Despise hits all the threats minus the life loss.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Played the following list tonight:
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Pain Seer
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Herald of Torment
4 Mogis's Marauder
3 Thoughtseize
3 Boon of Erebos
3 Bile Blight
1 Hall of Triumph
Lands
4 Mutavault
18 Swamp
2 Master of the Feast
4 Lifebane Zombie
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
2 Dark Betrayal
4 Hero's Downfall
The only change post-rotation is Rakdos Cackler being Bloodsoaked Champion and losing the Mutavaults. The sideboard will be rather significantly different, of course.
I went 4-0:
2-0 Unexpected Results combo deck. Simple rout, the combo is fun but just can't race aggro.
2-1 Selesnya Aggro. First game was simple outracing. Second game lost to a resolved Unflinching Courage. Third was somewhat amusing with a double-bestowed Spiteful Returned bumping into a Nyx-Fleece Ram and doing a lot of work in unlikely circumstances.
2-1 Jeskai ( Are we calling W/U/R that, yet? ) Control. The first one he drew the wrong lands to Verdict, and I swamped him. The second game was very, very grindy - I got him down to one life, but he Sphinx'd for a grossly large amount and it was pretty much done. Third game was shorter: Erebos acted as an excellent block to Elixir of Life, and my little guys won handily.
2-0 Mono Black Devotion splash/White. The first game he drew a lot of removal and not many threats - Pain Seer proved remarkably good in keeping the threats coming. The second game felt unfair as he simply got stuck on two lands most of the game.
Observations from play-testing and tonight in general:
I used Bestow much more frequently than I thought I would. Turn four was a Bestow creature on another creature half the time.
Our deck feels less vulnerable to Thoughtseize than most others. Rarely is there a key thing to grab in this deck's opening hand that sets us back more than, say, a random discard would.
Both in playtesting and in matches this deck feels very consistent, versus my experience with Mono Blue which can be much more explosive, but also, at times, have total dud hands.
Herald of Torment's flying is extremely helpful. I may try mainboarded Master of the Feast... but that card advantage, yikes!
Boon of Erebos is the trickiest card in this deck. It is difficult to decide whether to use it before damage to kill their creature, after damage to save yours, or on an unblocked as essentially a black Shock.
I look forward to seeing how this does post-rotation!
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Courser of Kruphix is four toughness. Unless you have two Ulcerates or Bile Blights, or it's taking damage from one of your creatures, they will not remove it from the table.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Oupheomancer 2GG
Creature - Ouphe Wizard
Whenever a creature spell with a converted mana cost of three or greater is cast, put a 2/2 green Ouphe with Hexproof on to the battlefield under your control.
1/4
Onyx Whisperer 4
Artifact Creature - Golem Wizard
Sacrifice an artifact: you may choose a new target for a spell.
Onyx Whisperer's toughness is equal to the number of artifacts you control.
1/*
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
Mizzix Of The Izmagnus : wheels on fire... rolling down the road...
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.