Your post isn't very detailed pertaining to how you guys are running events and whatnot. There could be multiple factors for the denial of your Release Promos that you either forgot or neglected to post. Regardless, I don't think it's very wise to start pointing fingers at Wizards without giving full details.
You should try it. It's really good and, I'm not ashamed to say, it has considerably improved my game against RDW by killing turn 1 Figure of Destiny and getting rid of Hellspark Elemental. It's almost like a Healing Salve that cantrips in that way.
Also, against 5 Color, IMO, it's not as dead as Agony Warp since most of the time in game one I use it on my dying creatures to cycle for B in the face of Volcanic Fallout.
Just give it a shot. You shouldn't be too disapointed...
We'll see, I don't expect to see much RDW tonight though at my FNM
"Each planeswalker has a subtype. For example, Garruk Wildspeaker says "Planeswalker -- Garruk" on its type line. These subtypes are also called planeswalker types. These are not creature types; they're an independent list.
* If two or more planeswalkers that share a subtype are in play, they're all put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based effect."
Source: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=magic/planeswalkers/week4
I've been mainly testing game one against Blightning Beatdown. I have an absolutely dreadful time against it. Any ideas on how to improve the matchup? The Blightning list I'm working off of is:
At my Conflux prerelease, I saw some of the worst unsportsmanlike behaviour ever...
Two guys (good friends, actually) are playing in the quarterfinals. We don't really have a certified judge around, because he makes the tournaments much worse prize-wise, but we have lots of people who know the rules, some lvl2 pros and even a lvl3 one.
So this one guy (Tine Rus, maybe you've heard of him) has an amazing "domain" aggro with Hellspark Elementals, Banefire, 3 Exploding Borders etc. so every point of damage counts. His opponent plays that guy that can gain you 2 life at EOT if you control a 5-power critter. On his turn, Rus declares attack, then remembers he could have unearthed a Hellspark, but the other guy doesn't let him take it back.
So on his next turn, the other guy plays a Cliffrunner Behemoth (amazing in the matchup as a lifelinking dude) and says go. Rus untaps and says "too bad you didn't gain life with him". And then the other guy goes on a huge rant about how Rus untapped too quickly, he didn't give him time to gain the life etc. After about 10 minutes of this argument (the other guy wouldn't stop and Rus wouldn't give in), after we've all tried calming them, they finally calm down and play on.
After Rus wins the match, the other guy stands up, says "we're through, don't call me again ..." and leaves. Damn.
Well, both players were in the wrong here. Rus forgot to Unearth, that's that. His opponent needs to declare that he gains the life at end of turn before saying "go". That's also that.
This is from the Conflux PR this past weekend in the second round. My opponent plays out a creature (I honestly don't remember what it was) and passes. I respond with an EOT Path to Exile. My opponent says "okay", and I ask "still done?" to which he replies "yes". I untap and draw, and then he goes "wait, I need to get my land".
In case you didn't know, Path to Exile's "opponent gets a basic land" ability is optional. I point this out. He starts *****ing. "Oh COME ON! These are NEW CARDS!" No, that has nothing to do with it. But I decide to let it slide (which I probably shouldn't have, but I didn't feel like being a jerk). So he gets the land, I cut, and we go about the game. I play out a few creatures, digging for my win conditions (which I do get). The next turn he drops a Wild Leotau and passes. I play a creature and pass. He untaps, draws, and then attempts to swing. I immediately note that the Leotau has been sacrificed, since he chose not to pay the upkeep cost. Again he starts throwing a fit, like I'm trying to actually cheat him out of a game. And again, I point out that these are optional actions and not required by the game. I also point out that I already let the PtE slide, something that I wasn't obligated to do so. Reluctantly, he places Wild Leotau in the graveyard. I sweep him both games, and he just gets up and walks away after signing the match slip.
Ridiculous, yes?
Now I'm not attacking anyone here (well, except my opponent for his attitude) but I will say this: Regardless of whether it's at an FNM/Pre-Release or Grand Prix, if it's sanctioned I will NOT let any "take backs" occur. The reasoning is that this isn't a friendly, casual game that's happening at the moment. It's sanctioned, and if that doesn't mean a single thing to you that's fine. It does to me, and that's how I'll play it out. I think it's great that casual players exist, because they're the main driving force of product sales and keeping this game afloat with financial security. I'll join in on a game of EDH or two and mess around when we're in an unsanctioned match, but I will definitely be enforcing mana burn and missed optional effects and any small things. And no, you can't complain about taking back blockers because of first strike damage.
Cool. I know a few Magic players whom I've shared this link with that would love to see options to JUST see MOTL pricing. Could you make that happen? It's something that I'd love to see myself.
I entered a number of grinders today, and Martyr Proclamation/Life.deck had a huge presence there. It's advantageous in the grinders because of its ability to win on life total when it gets to time. My worry is playing it tomorrow for the actual main event. I was unable to take a single game off of Martyr.
Figure of Destiny is, for the most part, exclusively dedicated to make game two against Faeries much easier. When you cast a turn one Figure, your opponent has sideboarded out what were "dead" cards in game one (Threads of Disloyalty, Vedalken Shackles) and therefore usually has no response to Figure until it gets in for at least six damage. By the time it's answered, you've got a hand packed of burn spells to deal with them.
Pithing Needle helps in almost every matchup. It shuts down Mutavault, Riptide Laboratory, Umezawa's Jitte, Arcbound Ravager, Martyr of Sands (easily your worst matchup), Glen Elendra Archmage, etc.
Pyrostatic Pillar is the answer to combo decks, especially Elves and storm. Elves literally folds to Pyrostatic Pillar.
Relic of Progenitus can remove crucial graveboard cards in Loam, Dredge, Martyr, and Swans (I'm looking at you, Conflagrate). It may seem narrow at first, but the number of targets it hits is amazing.
Shattering Spree is self-explanatory, it's artifact hate. Gets past Chalice for 1, gets there when taking out Affinity.
I'm going to finalize my decklist before the GP tomorrow. I'm open to all suggestions!
this is going to probably come across the wrong way, but...
define good. to everyone.
there's good in competitive, and then there's good in casual. WoTc has to straddle the fence for both. what's the bane of casual players may never even make it to an FNM. they market their product to both people, and try to make cards that are appealing as such.
the one thing they do however that angers me is not offer enough budget alternatives to Tourny caliber cards. during ravnica they had common lands that produced dual colors. they weren't the best, but they were serviceable and got the job done. they were COMMONS.
lorwyn came, and with it the Vivids. which were UNCOMMONS.
and with shadowmoore, we got zilch for budget players, but reflecting pool and essentially the rise of 5cc with it's 200 dollar + mana base. uh, what?
in shards what do budget players have to look forward to? signets too clunky and slow to play or uncommon tap lands. I understand that .50 cents a piece won't really break the bank, but compared to .10, it adds up. and there's not really a lot of choice other than to buy the tap lands, or filters, or whatnot, since the only competitive mono-color deck right now is kithkin.
oh, wait. they've got figure of destiny, which runs from 15-25 most places. ARGH!!!!!!!!
this takes away from my original point. WotC has to do what's best for both audiences; they're also going to do what sells packs. if this means hyper expensive lands, they'll do that. if it means broken ass commons, they'd do that too.
oy, greed eh?
EDIT: hopefully with smaller set sizes, we'll see less terrible commons. there's not anything I can really think of off the top of my head that was just god awful in limited with Shards; hell, let's keep up some home.
DOUBLE SUPER EDIT: your paragraph about rares? spot on.
Five Color's manabase is nowhere close to $200. You're looking at a set of Pools, which is rougly $70-$80, in fact I just found two Tempest ones (albeit in VF condition) for $35.
Everything else consists of just cheap filters @ roughly $3-5 a piece and seven filters, we're looking at $21 to $35. The Vivid lands you probably already have. If not, they're under $2.00/set in most places. Oh and some run like, all of two painlands (also $3-5 each).
Figure of Destiny runs around $10-13 in most places, I've never seen it anywhere close to $@5.
It's not the manabase that jacks up Five Color's value. It's just the Reflecting Pools and Cryptic Commands.
I'm not here to bash you, I just don't like you grossly overstating values here =]
That link should tell you all you need to know
What do you guys think?
<snip> There's more pictures and all.
I played it at the ARB Pre-Release and it was loads of fun.
Advertising is only allowed in signatures.
We'll see, I don't expect to see much RDW tonight though at my FNM
4 Mistbind Clique
2 Scion of Oona
3 Sower of Temptation
4 Spellstutter Sprite
Spell - 22
3 Agony Warp
4 Bitterblossom
4 Cryptic Command
2 Jace Beleren
1 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Sage's Dousing
2 Terror
3 Thoughtseize
2 Faerie Conclave
5 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
3 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
4 Underground River
2 Countersquall
3 Deathmark
2 Flashfreeze
3 Infest
1 Persuasion
2 Remove Soul
2 Vendilion Clique
Thoughts? I'm expecting lots of Five-Color Control and Tokens at the tournament I'm attending.
Nicol Bolas is a Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon named Nicol Bolas.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is a Planeswalker - Bolas
"Each planeswalker has a subtype. For example, Garruk Wildspeaker says "Planeswalker -- Garruk" on its type line. These subtypes are also called planeswalker types. These are not creature types; they're an independent list.
* If two or more planeswalkers that share a subtype are in play, they're all put into their owners' graveyards as a state-based effect."
Source: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=magic/planeswalkers/week4
Here's what I'm working with at the moment:
4 Mistbind Clique
2 Scion of Oona
2 Sower of Temptation
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
Spell
4 Bitterblossom
1 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
2 Jace Beleren
2 Peppersmoke
2 Remove Soul
3 Terror
3 Thoughtseize
2 Faerie Conclave
5 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
3 Underground River
3 Countersquall
3 Flashfreeze
4 Infest
2 Peppersmoke
2 Remove Soul
1 Thoughtseize
I've been mainly testing game one against Blightning Beatdown. I have an absolutely dreadful time against it. Any ideas on how to improve the matchup? The Blightning list I'm working off of is:
4 Demigod Of Revenge
4 Figure Of Destiny
4 Hellspark Elemental
3 Mogg Fanatic
3 Shambling Remains
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Blightning
4 Flame Javelin
4 Incinerate
3 Volcanic Fallout
Land
4 Auntie's Hovel
2 Ghitu Encampment
4 Graven Cairns
9 Mountain
4 Sulfurous Springs
Well, both players were in the wrong here. Rus forgot to Unearth, that's that. His opponent needs to declare that he gains the life at end of turn before saying "go". That's also that.
In case you didn't know, Path to Exile's "opponent gets a basic land" ability is optional. I point this out. He starts *****ing. "Oh COME ON! These are NEW CARDS!" No, that has nothing to do with it. But I decide to let it slide (which I probably shouldn't have, but I didn't feel like being a jerk). So he gets the land, I cut, and we go about the game. I play out a few creatures, digging for my win conditions (which I do get). The next turn he drops a Wild Leotau and passes. I play a creature and pass. He untaps, draws, and then attempts to swing. I immediately note that the Leotau has been sacrificed, since he chose not to pay the upkeep cost. Again he starts throwing a fit, like I'm trying to actually cheat him out of a game. And again, I point out that these are optional actions and not required by the game. I also point out that I already let the PtE slide, something that I wasn't obligated to do so. Reluctantly, he places Wild Leotau in the graveyard. I sweep him both games, and he just gets up and walks away after signing the match slip.
Ridiculous, yes?
Now I'm not attacking anyone here (well, except my opponent for his attitude) but I will say this: Regardless of whether it's at an FNM/Pre-Release or Grand Prix, if it's sanctioned I will NOT let any "take backs" occur. The reasoning is that this isn't a friendly, casual game that's happening at the moment. It's sanctioned, and if that doesn't mean a single thing to you that's fine. It does to me, and that's how I'll play it out. I think it's great that casual players exist, because they're the main driving force of product sales and keeping this game afloat with financial security. I'll join in on a game of EDH or two and mess around when we're in an unsanctioned match, but I will definitely be enforcing mana burn and missed optional effects and any small things. And no, you can't complain about taking back blockers because of first strike damage.
Where are you getting the price guide source from? It'd be great to see options for setting which sources to search from, such as MOTL and SCG.
Maybe you could also include comprehensive rulings via CrystalKeep?
The most important function to me is selecting which sites to draw pricing from
But good job, sir. I haven't made anything out of my iPhone SDK so I can't complain THAT much.
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic
Spells
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
2 Incinerate
4 Lava Spike
4 Magma Jet
4 Rift Bolt
3 Shard Volley
4 Shrapnel Blast
2 Smash to Smithereens
4 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
11 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Pithing Needle
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Shattering Spree
Figure of Destiny is, for the most part, exclusively dedicated to make game two against Faeries much easier. When you cast a turn one Figure, your opponent has sideboarded out what were "dead" cards in game one (Threads of Disloyalty, Vedalken Shackles) and therefore usually has no response to Figure until it gets in for at least six damage. By the time it's answered, you've got a hand packed of burn spells to deal with them.
Pithing Needle helps in almost every matchup. It shuts down Mutavault, Riptide Laboratory, Umezawa's Jitte, Arcbound Ravager, Martyr of Sands (easily your worst matchup), Glen Elendra Archmage, etc.
Pyrostatic Pillar is the answer to combo decks, especially Elves and storm. Elves literally folds to Pyrostatic Pillar.
Relic of Progenitus can remove crucial graveboard cards in Loam, Dredge, Martyr, and Swans (I'm looking at you, Conflagrate). It may seem narrow at first, but the number of targets it hits is amazing.
Shattering Spree is self-explanatory, it's artifact hate. Gets past Chalice for 1, gets there when taking out Affinity.
I'm going to finalize my decklist before the GP tomorrow. I'm open to all suggestions!
Five Color's manabase is nowhere close to $200. You're looking at a set of Pools, which is rougly $70-$80, in fact I just found two Tempest ones (albeit in VF condition) for $35.
Everything else consists of just cheap filters @ roughly $3-5 a piece and seven filters, we're looking at $21 to $35. The Vivid lands you probably already have. If not, they're under $2.00/set in most places. Oh and some run like, all of two painlands (also $3-5 each).
Figure of Destiny runs around $10-13 in most places, I've never seen it anywhere close to $@5.
It's not the manabase that jacks up Five Color's value. It's just the Reflecting Pools and Cryptic Commands.
I'm not here to bash you, I just don't like you grossly overstating values here =]