I've been considering the usability of Genesis Hydra. Anyone think it's gonna be good?
I think it's cool, but I'm a little sad. I want more hydras so I can make a Rosheen Meanderer hydra tribal deck, but Genesis Hydra doesn't work too well with X spells because X will always be zero.
Aren't there several good hydras with fixed mana costs? Like Hydra Broodmaster for instance.
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"When does a man die? When he is hit by a bullet? No! When he suffers a disease? No! When he ate a soup made out of a poisonous mushroom? No! A man dies when he is forgotten!" Currently Piloting: EDH BGGlissa, The Traitor - Recursion (Primer) WBRKaalia of The Vast URGRiku of Two Reflections WUBSydri, Galvanic Genius UBRamirez DePietro GWKrond, The Dawn-Clad GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician RGOmnath, Locus of Rage
I might use kaboomist, seems like a pretty addition. Paragon is working pretty good (proxy). Rabblemaster I am indeed thinking about but am also needing to decide on what other goblins to add to the deck. As it is fairly goblin-lite. I am fairly excited about the bloodseeker and marauder for different reasons, common reasons being they fit within the three tribal groups and actually do what I need from them in an aggro deck like mine.
With the altac bloodseeker I have had one game so far where it was against my friend's Darien, King of Kjeldor deck. Where a single Sudden Demise, X = 3 and white was the declared color, turned my bloodseeker, equipped with Tenza, Godo's Maul, turned into a 23/2 trampler with first strike. Lovisa died the previous turn, which would have made the bloodseeker easily a 25/4 with first strike and trample.
While with a different game the borderland marauder, I got her up to a 9/4 with the assistance of Lovisa and two activations of Aggravated Assault (1/2 + +2/+2 + +2/+0 + +2/+0 + +2/+0 = 9/4). Usually a 5/4 on average.
23/2 or 25/4 is great, still doesn't beat my best damage dealer I made in a match that could one-shot someone. That honor goes to my Nova Chaser who when combined with Lovisa, Rage Reflection, and Gratuitous Violence became basically a 24/4 with haste, trample, and double strike.
EDIT: I personally cannot wait till Khans of Tarkir as I am hoping for some more gems that will work well within the deck.
Aren't there several good hydras with fixed mana costs? Like Hydra Broodmaster for instance.
Yes, and those will be great to hit. The problem is the vast majority of hydras will be of the "+X 1/1 counters 0/0" variety, meaning there is significantly less chance to hit a good target with Genesis Hydra.
I still intend to try it. Especially as I haven't built the deck yet and it might be fine with any other support creatures or other permanents I have. It just sucks that it's a non-bo with many of its non-plant kin.
I would definitely cut the Primordial for Genesis. The Kalonian as well. X at 6 or higher is basically guaranteed something useful, and its uncounterable card advantage on a large body. I don't know about you, but I hate when my Primordial Hydra gets doombladed.
Alright, 1 mana and a card for a ton of life is maybe not bleeding edge competitive. I still think it's a phenomenally tidy card in a multiplayer format, especially for mill decks that need to buy time against aggressive strategies. I think it's cute alongside Mindcrank, and I'll be trying it in my Phenax deck
I initially read it as "any card" sort of like a reverse liability. Just creatures makes it far less interesting for me.
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"I think EDH would be more fun for the majority of participants if players just showed eachother their decks rather than actually playing games out."
With the altac bloodseeker I have had one game so far where it was against my friend's Darien, King of Kjeldor deck. Where a single Sudden Demise, X = 3 and white was the declared color, turned my bloodseeker, equipped with Tenza, Godo's Maul, turned into a 23/2 trampler with first strike. Lovisa died the previous turn, which would have made the bloodseeker easily a 25/4 with first strike and trample.
This is something that I didn't notice when reading Altac Bloodseeker, and makes him far more dangerous in decks that can play one-sided wraths, or can equip him with something like Darksteel Plate. That's a lot of potential hasty damage to throw out in the late game, as well as a decent 4/6 power first-strike blocker in the mid-game when you can start to hold up removal/barter with the token player. This guy gets a thumbs up from me now.
Statute of Denial is another card I seemed to have missed, and actually looks reasonable as a replacement/back-up Dismiss (for people who can't afford Cryptic Command). If you've got graveyard synergies going on, the looting might even be more attractive than straight draw would have been. I'm also looking at Shield of the Avatar again, as being a Trinket Mage target with a decent equip cost is always reasonable, though it doesn't offer the kind of protections you'd really appreciate in this format.
I would definitely cut the Primordial for Genesis. The Kalonian as well. X at 6 or higher is basically guaranteed something useful, and its uncounterable card advantage on a large body. I don't know about you, but I hate when my Primordial Hydra gets doombladed.
True, but I was talking about my own Vorel deck, which is willing to take the risk of being doombladed for a chance at a 34/34 becoming a 68/68.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
Interesting bit in today's Latest Development article at the main MtG site, re: Hushwing Griff. Especially the bolded bit.
KEN 4/15/2013: Commander needs Torpor Orb redundancy bad.
AF 4/22: Needs stats. I'd like him to have some difference from Aven Mindcensor, unless we're really going to sell the link.
KEN 4/22/2013: BM verbally shopped it at 2/2, trying that.
AF 4/23: If he stays symmetrical (which I hope he does), he can have very aggressive stats.
SPS 5/6/13: Reality check: does this mess up anything big for Huey?
AF 9/13: Is it positive or negative that this guy looks so much like Aven Mindcensor?
TML 9/13/2013: I think it is positive. People like these goofballs.
GSV 10/4: Cool card. I'm interested to see what this does to the Modern Birthing Pod mirror.
Interesting story: We tried out a Torpor Orb guy in M14, but at the time, bestow had the creature enter the battlefield, then turn into an Aura and "snap" onto an opposing creature. Not wanting to accidentally nuke one of the big mechanics from the next set BEFORE we even had a chance to do much design work, that card became Imposing Sovereign. We were a little more confident that Hushwing Gryff wouldn't blow up everything in "Huey" year, so we went with a design that we felt would be interesting for it and provide some more depth for Standard, Modern, and maybe even Legacy.
I always like those developmental articles, both because they give tantalizing glimpses of what could have been (Spirit Bonds without a W cost to create the token? Spirit Bonds with nontoken replaced with nonspirit? Both?) and because they give nice insights into stuff like the turnaround time involved with stuff like Topor Bird. They've obviously heard player complaints about all the powerful Enter the Battlefield effects, and I like that their response is not to tone down the effects, but instead create more tools to help fight it.
This is a bit of a tangent still, but I've already contributed all of my opinions to this thread, hah. I like the red card draw from Chandra, Pyromaster and Prophetic Flamespeaker. I hope they print some kind of Ponder-esque card like
Red Ponder R
Exile the top two cards of your library. You may play them this turn.
Just wanted to say "nailed it", despite being much worse than I had hoped.
Just wanted to say "nailed it", despite being much worse than I had hoped.
I believe they feel that Ponder / Preordain effects are too strong for standard / modern as things stand so its likely that everything we get will be a step down from them going forward until they change their mind on that. It is a cool design though but it has its flaws obviously.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
Yeah, I'll admit it was way too powerful for it's cost Would have liked it better though if it were 2 for 2 instead of 3 for 3.
Yeah, I think 1R for two cards would have been fine. It would be approximately on par with Sign in Blood, which is a card they have had no problem with printing lately. Obviously Sign in Blood is still better, but black is supposed to do draw better than red.
I believe they feel that Ponder / Preordain effects are too strong for standard / modern as things stand so its likely that everything we get will be a step down from them going forward until they change their mind on that.
I think their official stance is more that those cards help good players beat up on noobs too much.
I believe they feel that Ponder / Preordain effects are too strong for standard / modern as things stand so its likely that everything we get will be a step down from them going forward until they change their mind on that.
I think their official stance is more that those cards help good players beat up on noobs too much.
I thought it was because they made decks too consistent too easily. Too little variance leads to very stagnant and predictable games and metagame.
I thought it was because they made decks too consistent too easily. Too little variance leads to very stagnant and predictable games and metagame.
I read an article I think about the time something happened to Ponder in some format I don't play and they were basically saying it widened the gap too much between the pros and non-pros (basically that it's much more effective in the hands of a good player than a bad one). I'm not good at finding stuff like this and it was years ago that I read this but that's what I recall. If they have stuff like Birthing Pod legal in Modern and Stoneforge in Legacy I doubt they're that worried about lack of variance.
I think their official stance is more that those cards help good players beat up on noobs too much.
Actually it is. If Magic was only skill based like Chess I imagine it would be a lot less popular. Making it easier for bad players to win is actually fine in moderation and healthy for the game.
I think their official stance is more that those cards help good players beat up on noobs too much.
Actually it is. If Magic was only skill based like Chess I imagine it would be a lot less popular. Making it easier for bad players to win is actually fine in moderation and healthy for the game.
Better that Magic be less popular than let casuals overrun it. I think Jivan and I would agree here.
I think their official stance is more that those cards help good players beat up on noobs too much.
Actually it is. If Magic was only skill based like Chess I imagine it would be a lot less popular. Making it easier for bad players to win is actually fine in moderation and healthy for the game.
Better that Magic be less popular than let casuals overrun it. I think Jivan and I would agree here.
It's not better for Wizards' profits, and since they're a business, that's what they care about. If mediocre players think they have a chance for the big leagues, or are simply able to pull off a win occasionally at an FNM, mediocre players are encouraged to stay in the game and keep spending money, and since by definition (normal curve and all that) there will be more mediocre and poor players than there will be truly good players, that's how you make the money.
If the only people who bought cards were pros and people who play at that level, Magic would have died out a long time ago.
Is there something I'm missing about soul of ravnica? The ability to draw cards for the colors you control seems ridiculously overpriced in anything but 5-color.
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I could definitely see myself running it in place of Mistcutter Hydra or Bane of Heroes, but definitely not Kalonian Hydra or Primordial Hydra
Currently Piloting:
EDH
BGGlissa, The Traitor - Recursion (Primer)
WBRKaalia of The Vast
URGRiku of Two Reflections
WUBSydri, Galvanic Genius
UBRamirez DePietro
GWKrond, The Dawn-Clad
GWUDerevi, Empyrial Tactician
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage
Modern
UG Infect
Lovisa Coldeyes the Barbaric Warlord (EDH)
Labyrinth Smackdown (Standard, RR Minotaur Tribal RR)
Jeopardy (Casual)
(U/B)(U/B)(U/B) JUMP IN THE LINE, ROCK YOUR BODY IN TIME
(R/W)(R/W)(R/W) RISING FROM THE NEON GLOOM, SHINING LIKE A CRAZY MOON
(U/R)(R/G)(G/U) STEALIN' WHEN I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUYIN'
With the altac bloodseeker I have had one game so far where it was against my friend's Darien, King of Kjeldor deck. Where a single Sudden Demise, X = 3 and white was the declared color, turned my bloodseeker, equipped with Tenza, Godo's Maul, turned into a 23/2 trampler with first strike. Lovisa died the previous turn, which would have made the bloodseeker easily a 25/4 with first strike and trample.
While with a different game the borderland marauder, I got her up to a 9/4 with the assistance of Lovisa and two activations of Aggravated Assault (1/2 + +2/+2 + +2/+0 + +2/+0 + +2/+0 = 9/4). Usually a 5/4 on average.
The Paragon of Fierce Defiance has been pretty good to me so far. He basically acts as a mini-Lovisa.
23/2 or 25/4 is great, still doesn't beat my best damage dealer I made in a match that could one-shot someone. That honor goes to my Nova Chaser who when combined with Lovisa, Rage Reflection, and Gratuitous Violence became basically a 24/4 with haste, trample, and double strike.
EDIT: I personally cannot wait till Khans of Tarkir as I am hoping for some more gems that will work well within the deck.
Lovisa Coldeyes the Barbaric Warlord (EDH)
Labyrinth Smackdown (Standard, RR Minotaur Tribal RR)
Jeopardy (Casual)
I still intend to try it. Especially as I haven't built the deck yet and it might be fine with any other support creatures or other permanents I have. It just sucks that it's a non-bo with many of its non-plant kin.
I would definitely cut the Primordial for Genesis. The Kalonian as well. X at 6 or higher is basically guaranteed something useful, and its uncounterable card advantage on a large body. I don't know about you, but I hate when my Primordial Hydra gets doombladed.
Seriph0 on cockatrice
EDH Decks
WBGKaradorWBG
I initially read it as "any card" sort of like a reverse liability. Just creatures makes it far less interesting for me.
This is something that I didn't notice when reading Altac Bloodseeker, and makes him far more dangerous in decks that can play one-sided wraths, or can equip him with something like Darksteel Plate. That's a lot of potential hasty damage to throw out in the late game, as well as a decent 4/6 power first-strike blocker in the mid-game when you can start to hold up removal/barter with the token player. This guy gets a thumbs up from me now.
Statute of Denial is another card I seemed to have missed, and actually looks reasonable as a replacement/back-up Dismiss (for people who can't afford Cryptic Command). If you've got graveyard synergies going on, the looting might even be more attractive than straight draw would have been. I'm also looking at Shield of the Avatar again, as being a Trinket Mage target with a decent equip cost is always reasonable, though it doesn't offer the kind of protections you'd really appreciate in this format.
RRR - Bosh's School of Hard(cover) Knocks
True, but I was talking about my own Vorel deck, which is willing to take the risk of being doombladed for a chance at a 34/34 becoming a 68/68.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/m-files-magic-2015-part-1-2014-07-11
Just wanted to say "nailed it", despite being much worse than I had hoped.
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
I believe they feel that Ponder / Preordain effects are too strong for standard / modern as things stand so its likely that everything we get will be a step down from them going forward until they change their mind on that. It is a cool design though but it has its flaws obviously.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
cEDH: [G(U/R) Animar] - [(U/B)(G/W) Redless Wheels] - [(G/U)(W/B) Redless Pod] - [(B/G)W Ghave Metapod]
Yeah, I think 1R for two cards would have been fine. It would be approximately on par with Sign in Blood, which is a card they have had no problem with printing lately. Obviously Sign in Blood is still better, but black is supposed to do draw better than red.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
Cube: WUBRG Pauper Cube GRBUW
Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
I thought it was because they made decks too consistent too easily. Too little variance leads to very stagnant and predictable games and metagame.
R Citizen Cane (Feldon of the Third Path)
Wonderful logic for a competitive game. Good thing FoF isn't legal in modern, someone might get sad they screwed up piles. Can't have that.
Better that Magic be less popular than let casuals overrun it. I think Jivan and I would agree here.
----------------------------
Club Flamingo Wins: 10
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EDH Decks
BG Vicious Varolz | RW Jor Kadeen, the Mean Machine | RG Atarka: Muh_Dragons.dec (WIP) | WU Brago, Blink Eternal (WIP)
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It's not better for Wizards' profits, and since they're a business, that's what they care about. If mediocre players think they have a chance for the big leagues, or are simply able to pull off a win occasionally at an FNM, mediocre players are encouraged to stay in the game and keep spending money, and since by definition (normal curve and all that) there will be more mediocre and poor players than there will be truly good players, that's how you make the money.
If the only people who bought cards were pros and people who play at that level, Magic would have died out a long time ago.