MTG Salvation

When I try to add this set, this error message pops up:
"Cannot create file "C:\Program Files (x86)\Magic Workstation\DATA\Sets.dat". Access is denied."

Then, when I try to save the updated masterbase, I get another error message. Any ideas for why this might be, and how I could fix it?

I recently reinstalled Magic Workstation on my computer, and after downloading the masterbase I tried to add the Commander 2013 and Born of the Gods patches to it. However, after going through all the usual steps, both times I got an application error which said "Cannot create file "C:\Program Files (x86)\Magic Workstation\DATA\Sets.dat". Access is denied." I also got an error when I tried to save the masterbase after that. Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it?

Buried Ruin seems like it could be a contender for the nonbasic slots in Tempered Steel. It has to compete with Inkmoth Nexus and Contested War Zone. Some testing is in order.

On second thought, this deck isn't going to be budget. I also didn't realize how cheap Strip Mine is.

Changes:
-1 Mountain
-1 Ghost Quarter
-1 Goblin Gardener
-1 Relic of Progenitus
+1 Goblin Settler
+1 Wasteland
+1 Strip Mine
+1 Crucible of Worlds

Here's my Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker deck, which is built for competitive duels. The deck tries to play a bunch of creatures with enters-the-battlefield triggers and then drop Kiki-Jiki so that you can use their effects again and again. Here's the list:



Changelog:

The deck can do some pretty ridiculous things, like turn two Mind Stone, turn three Goblin Settler, turn four Kiki-Jiki, copy the Settler. Goblin Matron also helps you search up the combo of Kiki-Jiki, Lightning Crafter and Skirk Prospector. You can also keep them from being able to attack with Kiki-Jiki and Shrieking Mogg. Another cool combo is Liquimetal Coating and Kiki-Jiki+Manic Vandal, Shattering Pulse, or Viashino Heretic to repeatedly destroy permanents.

The advantage of playing a mono-red deck is that you get to play hate cards like Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon and Ruination. The deck also has somewhat of a land destruction theme, and can create LD locks using a creature with an ETB ability and Kiki-Jiki, with Wasteland/Strip Mine/Tectonic Edge/Dust Bowl and Crucible of Worlds, or with Journeyer's Kite+Dust Bowl.

Any ideas for how I could improve the deck?

Uril, the Miststalker seems to be one of the more popular generals out there, both due to its invulnerability to removal and the fact that it's the best Naya general by a lot. Due to the abundance of Uril decks, I want to make sure that I have ways to deal with him. However, it has been difficult to find good answers to Uril for my Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker deck, because red doesn't have sacrifice effects or enchantment removal. At the moment the main way I have to deal with him is Kiki-Jiki+Shrieking Mogg or Thundermare, which can tap him down every turn, but this is easily disrupted and I'm trying to find more solid answers. Chump-blocking with guys doesn't really work either when they play something like Armadillo Cloak or Runes of the Deus. Any ideas for how I could deal with Uril using red or artifact cards?

Cultural Exchange, and I second Rhystic Study. Also, Rite of Replication is probably in the top five blue cards for EDH, especially for multiplayer because you can kick it more reliably. It either works as General removal, which is very valuable for blue, or you make five copies of something which should win you the game.

Quote from darcanegel

Is this thread talking 1v1 or multiplayer? 1v1 is pretty hard to beat clique, but multiplayer is definitely doable. I would go so far as to say that mono-blue doesn't have much of an advantage in multiplayer at all - the hate balances the power, generally.

Yeah, I'm talking about 1v1, I have an EDH tournament coming up and I want to be prepared to beat decks like Clique, Zur and Sharuum. So far, the best anti-blue Generals that I can come up with seem to be Thrun, the Last Troll, Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, Llawan, Cephalid Empress, Akroma, Angel of Fury, and Thada Adel, Acquisitor. The problem with these generals though is that they are monocolored, making the deck inherently worse overall. Also, generals like Jaya Ballard and Llawan are good against blue but not good against anything else, and playing a monored deck does not seem like the best choice overall.

Can anyone think of some good multicolored generals that are good against blue? Some people have mentioned Wort the Raidmother, and I think Wrexial might be good as well. Other suggestions?

It seems to me, and I'm sure that most people would agree with me on this, that most of the broken EDH decks out there are blue: Vendilion Clique, Arcum, Sharuum, Zur, Erayo, and Azami, to name a few. Braids and Rofellos are probably the best non-blue EDH decks I can think of, and both are banned. I think that in a competitive setting, if one wants to gain an edge against the best decks, they need to be playing a deck that will be good against blue.

What general would you recommend if you want to beat blue decks? Thrun, the Last Troll comes to mind, but I'd like to hear some other ideas. Also, what cards come to mind that are good against blue decks that won't be bad if your opponent isn't playing blue?

I've been hearing rumors that the Titans have been confirmed to be in M12, but as far as I know the only basis for this is that three of them were used as promos for Duels of the Planeswalkers. This is no guarantee that they will be in the set, as Wizards has been known to create promos that aren't Standard legal. I certainly hope that they aren't in M12, because their power level is so high that it prevents a huge number of cards from seeing play that otherwise could be quite good, such as Thrun, the Last Troll, Baneslayer Angel and Sphinx of Jwar Isle.

Is there any other basis for the belief that the Titans are going to be in M12, or are the DOTP promos the only reason behind this?

Now that we have the entire spoiler for New Phyrexia, it is obvious that the set is quite powerful and will be shaking things up quite a bit in both Standard and Legacy. However, my favorite thing about the set is that the most powerful cards seem to be uncommons rather than rares or mythics, which is very nice from a budget standpoint.

The best card in the set by most people's judgment so far seems to be Mental Misstep, which is definitely going to change Legacy quite a bit. I can't think of a single deck that this card isn't good against, and I'm not sure if I would still play Elves in Providence now that this card is going to be everywhere.

Some other uncommons that will likely have a big impact are Beast Within, Dispatch, Exclusion Ritual, Caress of Phyrexia, Despise, Dismember, Geosurge, Gutshot, and Brutalizer Exarch. There are a few chase mythics, like Karn Liberated, Sword of War and Peace and Phyrexian Obliterator, but pretty much no chase rares, with the possible exception of Surgical Extraction, which will probably lose value quickly once people realize it isn't as good as it looks. Hex Parasite, Puresteel Paladin and Phyrexian Metamorph are good, but they are greatly eclipsed by the power of the uncommons in the set.

Overall, I think that Wizards really did a great job with the set, and on top of that the best cards from it are going to be quite affordable.

What are your thoughts about the power levels of the uncommons versus the rares and mythics of the set?

It seems like the Praetors were all designed with EDH in mind, and all of them will likely make great generals, although I think Vorinclex is probably the best one. Green also gets Beast Within, Brutalizer Exarch, Birthing Pod and Triumph of the Hordes, all of which seem really good for EDH.

Some other highlights for EDH include Shattered Angel, Phyrexian Ingester, Caress of Phyrexia, Life's Finale, Praetor's Grasp, Caged Sun, and Soul Conduit, as well as the Chancellors and the Shrines.

Also, I have to say that Bludgeon Brawl and Darksteel Relic are some of the most ridiculous cards since Steamflogger Boss.

Where can I find the images from the godbook? People are saying the whole set has been spoiled, but there are only a few cards in the first post.

Quote from Dyne

There was also 32 copies of Preordain. Should we ban this?

The answer is no, to both.

Yes, there were also 32 copies of Preordain, but this is only because every deck was running blue for Jace. Preordain is merely a good blue card, and does not win games on its own. There were also at least three Mana Leaks in every deck, and this is again because of Jace.

If anything, this proves that the Jace problem is even worse, because it isn't an artifact like Skullclamp so it forces players to play blue to be competitive. If the fact that Jace caused all eight decks to run the same 10 cards isn't the sign of a broken format, then I don't know what is.

Since yesterday's top 8 at Grand Prix Dallas/Fort Worth which contained 32 copies of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, there has been a lot of discussion about whether Jace TMS should be banned.

Many people have responded to this by saying that Jace won't be banned because players have invested money in playsets and Wizards doesn't want to anger these people. This is a good point, but I personally believe that Jace TMS is far too powerful and dominant in the current Standard environment, and should be banned for the health of the format. For reference, here's an article on why Wizards banned Skullclamp: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/af17

Jace TMS fits all the same criteria for banning a card that Skullclamp did, and therefore I think it should be banned. However, there does seem to be a legitimate argument for not banning it as well.

Thoughts?