I'm loving it! It's cost 2UB for a steal creature until they discard 2 and give you two. With a dark ritual you could even get it out turn two. This is one card I'd want four of, just saying.
Fathom Mage and Treasury thrull would be my top two, Fathom mage for the card draw but you'd need a way of getting rid of his counters, and Treasury Thrull for the graveyard advantage if you can get damage through.
They've been hinting at merfolk, kraken and lovecraftian "deep ones" for a while now throughout previous sets and Magic has never done a water/nautical theme before for a set.
Now before everyone goes and argues: but then all cards would have to be blue, I'd like to remind them that New Phyrexia and Innistrad also managed to not be entirely black, despite that being what you'd expect from a storyline villain/horror plane respectively.
White: Based around beaches and more focus on their bird tribes. Humans would be part of harbor communities.
Blue: No need to elaborate.
Black: Lovecraftian "deep ones" or a more Caribbean style dark magic based around flooded groves and bayous.
Red: Volcanic islands, steam vents and goblin pirates. Especially goblin pirates.
Green: Either mangrove forests or if that becomes more black-oriented, then kelp fields or reef ecosystems.
Well said. This brings a lot of new flavor into the mix, but I do hope that WotC uses one of the planes used on the plane chase cards...seems like it would be a waste to create them and never go there...
I'm with what button said. RtR is much more control-friendly, huge amounts of casual cards available and EDH powerhouses. However, I'm not seeing the potential for a lot of differentiation when it comes to standard. Most likely will keep to casual and EDH fun times.
The death itself is not entirely unfavorable in my eyes because after you die you'll cease to exist (for purposes of this forum) and no longer be able to experience the tedium and deaths of those around you, in addition to other bad happenstances. The idea of death being bad may only be caused by the self-preservation instinct so far as I can tell though.
After seeing how far the first movie brought us into the story I really questioning how much he can really make fans of "The Hobbit" happy by what's left.
I would love to use him as an EDH General. He has a lot of potential, and while it was mentioned that CIP ablities won't work, he'd still do very well if he was a copy of the 5 titans, and many other vicious creatures with activated abilities. Also adds great support, somewhat in the way sakashima the imposter could help. I think the best way is to turn some of your opponent's best creatures against them...tons of control/combo potential. My second favorite leader of the Guilds this cycle (Rakdos is a very impressive commander, and 100x better than the original) who has tons of playability potential.
I think this deck is a little artifact-heavy, particularly if you want card draw. I'd remove the darksteel forge and ingot, izzet signet and keyrune. I understand that some of these can be for ramp, but they're too expensive for what you're getting IMO. Swap those with Puzzle box, Venser, and I'd aquire either a Mana Flare, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, or Caged Sun. Mana Flare and caged sun are best for budget concerns, and this will get you ramp.
Drop mana-charged dragon (love him, but unreliable that someone else will help) and swap with Balefire for additional crowd control. Whirlpool Warrior is fun for a quick Puzzle Box effect, and Mindmoil will make you sick of drawing cards, but the effect becomes obscenely hilarious with Firemind out.
Frost Titan, Trinket Mage and Kederekt Leviathan I'm a little iffy about for this deck. You can leave a few of your card-drawing instants/sorceries as a sideboard to search for with Mystical tutor. Hope this helps!
There are all sorts of valid arguments around archtypes. I personally play a lot of aggro because that's what I've just become best at. I can play control and combo and have built a few decks based on control (rarely have the cards for combo) but I can't seem to quite get the "nuances" to playing control. However, I've learned very well how to time an attack, what to block, and carry a few kill spells for any annoying blockers. In my casual play group we have guys who're really good at control and mid-range, and one guy is the best swarm-player I know.
Sometimes things don't go 100% our way in the course of the game, we scoop and move onto the next one. It's no big deal and we generally know what to expect when playing one another. As for aggro players never playing a counterspell, that's just wrong, or getting mad and just scooping, also wrong. I think the biggest hatred from people against other archtypes is that they can't (or are unwilling to) adapt at making their decks perform better against a rival archtype.
For instance, tired of getting creature spells countered? Throw in Leyline of Lifeforce and mulligan until it's in opening hand. I've thrown 4 of those in a B/R aggro deck and the mono-blue counter deck player against me wasn't too happy, but knew it was a fair move. Adaptability is the best way to win at magic, regardless of your playstyle.
As to answer the original question of why we associate I believe Valerion and LBS gave great answers. It's to fit into a style we like best, it's based on awesome decks we saw starting out, and I'm certain there's a color element as well. We as humans always want to associate and be accepting in our groups (like Magic Players) but at the same time we also want our own flair, our own identity in the mix (such as a U/R aggro delver deck).
The creation of the Guilds allowed us to find a better description of our play styles via the colors, but for those who are okay with being a little more generalized are okay with the Alara shards being a representation of our personal "piece" of the color pie. I'm not saying these are the ONLY elements of the game, but I believe these hold a lot of what we're looking for when we play the game.
Deck
4x Crypt rats
4x Pack rats
4x Gnat Misers
4x locuts misers
20x swamps
Well said. This brings a lot of new flavor into the mix, but I do hope that WotC uses one of the planes used on the plane chase cards...seems like it would be a waste to create them and never go there...
Drop mana-charged dragon (love him, but unreliable that someone else will help) and swap with Balefire for additional crowd control. Whirlpool Warrior is fun for a quick Puzzle Box effect, and Mindmoil will make you sick of drawing cards, but the effect becomes obscenely hilarious with Firemind out.
Frost Titan, Trinket Mage and Kederekt Leviathan I'm a little iffy about for this deck. You can leave a few of your card-drawing instants/sorceries as a sideboard to search for with Mystical tutor. Hope this helps!
Sometimes things don't go 100% our way in the course of the game, we scoop and move onto the next one. It's no big deal and we generally know what to expect when playing one another. As for aggro players never playing a counterspell, that's just wrong, or getting mad and just scooping, also wrong. I think the biggest hatred from people against other archtypes is that they can't (or are unwilling to) adapt at making their decks perform better against a rival archtype.
For instance, tired of getting creature spells countered? Throw in Leyline of Lifeforce and mulligan until it's in opening hand. I've thrown 4 of those in a B/R aggro deck and the mono-blue counter deck player against me wasn't too happy, but knew it was a fair move. Adaptability is the best way to win at magic, regardless of your playstyle.
As to answer the original question of why we associate I believe Valerion and LBS gave great answers. It's to fit into a style we like best, it's based on awesome decks we saw starting out, and I'm certain there's a color element as well. We as humans always want to associate and be accepting in our groups (like Magic Players) but at the same time we also want our own flair, our own identity in the mix (such as a U/R aggro delver deck).
The creation of the Guilds allowed us to find a better description of our play styles via the colors, but for those who are okay with being a little more generalized are okay with the Alara shards being a representation of our personal "piece" of the color pie. I'm not saying these are the ONLY elements of the game, but I believe these hold a lot of what we're looking for when we play the game.