Not really a fan of meld in anything but 60 card non-singleton decks. Too unreliable, and I don't use any unless the base card is good and meld is just icing on the cake.
I'm still not a fan of meld in EDH. And it just seems "too Yugioh" for me.
I will say, they make neat Tooth and Nail pairs, but I've had better.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Well, there's an argument that a wide availability of magic would retard technological development. Ravnica melds the two together (as far as I'm aware its the only other setting with guns*, but there's are magic based guns). Its a common excuse for why many fantasy settings get stuck somewhere around mid Hundred Years War for thousands of years. Its like, why waste time on researching chemicals in the hope that one will blow up when a wizard can cast Fireball? Also, in the real world, the sciences (and pre-science alchemists and natural philosophers) attracted the smartest people (along with politics). In a magical setting, the smartest people tend to have magical ability and so research magic rather than the mundane. Far fewer top minds dedicated to technological advancement.
*besides the lasers that Urza tricked out his mechs
You've got the guys that shoot Geistflame out of handheld flamethrower thingies, too.
Sure, a wizard can cast a fireball, but finding a hundred wizards to round your army out seems time consuming and expensive. Arming a bunch of dumb goblins with firearms and sending them at your foe? That's a replenishable and effective (and disposable!) way to wage war. And that's not to mention the benefits provided against enemies who are naturally immune to the aforementioned fireball.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Well, there's the usual q combos, though most of those require green just for a mana source, and then I can just use Experiment Kraj.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
I love cards like this, makes every game different from the previous one. Alongside Experiment Kraj nad Necrotic Ooze, it's great fun to puzzle up the pieces and form voltron of utilities.
Seriously though, this guy is more than likely to go bonkers no matter what blue deck you put him in. Put him in for funsies, and as people say, randomness(from your opponents' cards) is fun. Put him in a deck that takes advantage of him itself; hehehehehahhahahahAHAHAHAH *ahem* 'Scuse me.
Looking at Quicksilver Elemental, I really wish they would print a commander that is a activated abilities focused 5 color Necrotic Ooze with a Torpor Orb effect to help stop the rampant ETB: The Gathering EDH games. Barring the spikey optimized lists that would probably pop up with the usual Kiki-Jiki infinites, I think it would be an open ended fun commander to build around. Probably will never happen though.
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"People are the worst. The worst thing about music is that people play it." - Mike Patton
One of those rare cards that gets better the more colours you run. OG Duals, Shocks, Tangoes and Bicycle lands all appreciate this one.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Obvious staple in any multi deck that can run it. On one occasion however a guy at my LGS did jam it into his mono green deck without thinking. Most dissapointing farseek ever.
Going back a little, the art on Vengence is brutal, and I thought vengeance would have been more of a red/ black thing rather than white.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
There's really no reason NOT to run Farseek in a G deck, unless it's monogreen. Maybe you don't need a Forest, but having an extra Island would be great for your Simic deck to screw with someone's mind after your turn. Or you want to drop an extra Mountain for that Valakut trigger(or any other specific landfall trigger). Just great all around.
I disagree, conditionally. Most of those cards(save for Spoils) function best if your deck is tilted more in favor of green. Spoils and Farseek give you incredible flexibility not only by picking the land type you want, but also allowing you to grab non-basics(to an extent). Being able to grab a Stomping Ground for hitting the aforementioned Valakut trigger, AND a Forest drop trigger is great. But let's say you're running GWR; grabbing a Sacred Foundry for the trigger AND getting Emeria, the Sky Ruin going is another option. The more colors you run, the better Farseek and Spoils are over the other options.
In mono- and two-colour decks, Nature's Lore and Three Visits are the best 2 drop ramp sorceries thanks to getting the land untapped and being able to hit non-basic forests. Once you're up to three colours and above though, Farseek is an excellent tool for both ramping and fixing.
Farseek keeps getting better considering they keep on printing dual type lands. If you're not running mono green and have a handful of dual type lands, you're golden with Farseek.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Hm...I can see a use for that with a big non-trample deathtoucher giving you a pseudo-wrath, or forcing an opponent to block with a support creature. Beyond that, I'm drawing a bit of a blank, though I know there's other uses.
Not really a must have though, unless you're running an enchantress-type deck.
There will be many times when the ability is useless. You have not trouble triggering it, but requiring a creature to be blocked leaves the opponent with a ton of control outside of situations where they have very few creatures, at which point its pseudo evasion for the creatures that don't have to be blocked. Its one of those weird mechanics that has a lot of uses that aren't particularly strong and pretty unreliable, but which can occasionally make a huge impact (forcing an opponent who only has a Kozilek to block your death toucher while your better creatures get through can be a huge swing). Lure effects are far better, and when do ever run lure effects?
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The Meaning of Life: "M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations"
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
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Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I will say, they make neat Tooth and Nail pairs, but I've had better.
On phasing:
You've got the guys that shoot Geistflame out of handheld flamethrower thingies, too.
Sure, a wizard can cast a fireball, but finding a hundred wizards to round your army out seems time consuming and expensive. Arming a bunch of dumb goblins with firearms and sending them at your foe? That's a replenishable and effective (and disposable!) way to wage war. And that's not to mention the benefits provided against enemies who are naturally immune to the aforementioned fireball.
Here's a card for all the Johnnies among us.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
On phasing:
I love cards like this, makes every game different from the previous one. Alongside Experiment Kraj nad Necrotic Ooze, it's great fun to puzzle up the pieces and form voltron of utilities.
A toolbox list I made a while back, requires update: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/758675-kraj-necrotic-ooze-toolbox
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
But the real joy is in stealing the activated abilities of your opponents' creatures.
Seriously though, this guy is more than likely to go bonkers no matter what blue deck you put him in. Put him in for funsies, and as people say, randomness(from your opponents' cards) is fun. Put him in a deck that takes advantage of him itself; hehehehehahhahahahAHAHAHAH *ahem* 'Scuse me.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
One of those rare cards that gets better the more colours you run. OG Duals, Shocks, Tangoes and Bicycle lands all appreciate this one.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Probably one of the first cards I add to my Gx decks. I'd file this under "Format Staple", honestly.
Going back a little, the art on Vengence is brutal, and I thought vengeance would have been more of a red/ black thing rather than white.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
- Farseek
- Hunting Wilds
- Nature's Lore
- Ranger's Path
- Skyshroud Claim
- Spoils of Victory
These plus Cultivate, Kodama's Reach and Tempt with Discovery is my usual go to ramp suite.I disagree, conditionally. Most of those cards(save for Spoils) function best if your deck is tilted more in favor of green. Spoils and Farseek give you incredible flexibility not only by picking the land type you want, but also allowing you to grab non-basics(to an extent). Being able to grab a Stomping Ground for hitting the aforementioned Valakut trigger, AND a Forest drop trigger is great. But let's say you're running GWR; grabbing a Sacred Foundry for the trigger AND getting Emeria, the Sky Ruin going is another option. The more colors you run, the better Farseek and Spoils are over the other options.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
While Reap and Sow is my favorite, this speeds up the deck better.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
I've got a Gruul deck that uses manadorks to ramp into MLD, and it basically runs no land-search ramp. So there are still exceptions. But not many.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Hm...I can see a use for that with a big non-trample deathtoucher giving you a pseudo-wrath, or forcing an opponent to block with a support creature. Beyond that, I'm drawing a bit of a blank, though I know there's other uses.
Not really a must have though, unless you're running an enchantress-type deck.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!