- Ertai Planeswalker
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Member for 15 years, 3 months, and 3 days
Last active Mon, May, 24 2021 04:47:21
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Feb 28, 2018Ertai Planeswalker posted a message on Time Spiral and the MendingGreat story, as always!Posted in: Articles
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Nov 30, 2017Ertai Planeswalker posted a message on If You Can't Take Criticism of Jeremy Hambly, You're Part of the ProblemI don't know what happened with the female gamer / cosplayer exactly, and it's probably not a coincidence this article comes up when the mothership just had a part about harassment as well. And even though I agree with the author's perspective about the uprise of "acceptable nazism" or however you want to call it, this site is not the right place for a piece such as this. If I want serious, soecietal critiscism, I'll visit a website that gives it to me or the political debate subforum. I come here for some relaxation and distance of all life's seriousness to enjoy Magic.Posted in: Articles
No matter how much I agree with the article, please don't post something like this on the site again. -
Sep 28, 2017Ertai Planeswalker posted a message on Who is the Raven Man?What a great article! You got me totally convinced. And don't bother with the length, when it comes to Magic related stuff there is not such thing as too much of a good thingPosted in: Articles
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Sep 12, 2017Ertai Planeswalker posted a message on Changes to MTGSalvation User AccountsAs much as I dislike this change as the next guy, I do want to remind everyone that if you did not pay for anything, you are not entitled to anything.Posted in: Articles
Everybody who paid for your MTGS account, raise your hands -
Sep 11, 2017Ertai Planeswalker posted a message on Changes to MTGSalvation User AccountsOk so basically what ArrogantAxotl said but ok. I'll have to create a new account then. Could the article be updated with a link where to go if you do not have a twitch account yet?Posted in: Articles
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Having said all that, what would make for the most powerfull yet fun to play deck to play against? And what cards or game plan would you suggest for it?
But yeah, it's really the uniqueness of Atraxa's ability that makes her so expensive. If you want to play superfriends there is no commander that comes close. And the chances of her getting a reprint are fairly slim, since 4 color decks are not likely to be the Commander theme any time soon. All we can hope is that she gets reprinted in the inevitable Return to New Phyrexia or that a card will be printed that allows you to proliferate each turn without a mana cost to activate like Atraxa does. Of course, if it is the Return to New Phyrexia option then that set should be at least two years ahead of us for them to insert this card as a reprint keeping Atraxa at a high price for at least two years.
Excellented find on Simulacrum! I will definitly find a spot for that one
As for forcing opponents to attack, this deck's plan is all about maintaining the illusion that opponent's choose not to attack you. I do not want to play anything that somehow inhibits or forces my opponent to do or not do anything as long as they are not doing it to me since all it does is make your presence on the table more prominent thus increasing the chance people attack you. This does not mesh with the game plan to remain as one of the two last players. Literally every time i've seen Goblin Spymaster has hit the table, it's controller consequently got the message from the rest of the table that "we'll attack you, and only you, until you block with it so we can kill it". Cards like Goblin Spymaster and Fumiko would be excellent in a pro-active Judo (Jiu-Jitsu?) deck, but this is not such a deck.
I think ArrogantAxoloti worded it well: it's about the illusion of fairness. As long as I still think I can win, I can enjoy to continue a game I'm losing . Once my loss is secure, then the fun stops very quickly (I can appreciate being outplayed, but not if takes another umpteen turns to finish).
As my sig says: "Cards are only as unfun and/or degenerate as the person playing them allows them to be". If someone uses T&N to get their infinite kill combo then I don't feel that's much fun, but that's because of how they use it. If someone can recover from a board wipe by topdecking T&N and immediately putting two threats into play then there's nothing wrong with that. My own Derevi deck centers around evasive creatures to get untap triggers to use for stuff like Spectral Force, Lux Cannon Phyrexian Colossus and Reveka, Wizard Savant. It's nowhere near oppresive. And yes, Sol Ring and Mana Crypt can lead to explosive starts but topdecking one in turn 10 is making noone happy. Academy Rector is a good card yes, but not OP. It's the rarity of the card on the market that causes it to be an expensive card. Good and powerfull are not neccesarily diametric opposites of fun
Community takeover is not an option. Just look at the sheer amount of disagreement on what is and is not banworthy. I for example, do not think any of the cards the poster above wants banned should be banned. You need a non-democratic authority to settle this. And Wizards has already made their stance that they will not.
If you don't have mana drain, there also Plasm Capture and Scattering Stroke as the more budget friendly alternatives.
Otherwise, a dual land cycle based on one of the future sight duals would be nice.
As for the flying under the radar part: I've found that even though people know this deck, they tend to leave it alone anyway because "this turn that is more important". Whatever "that" is varies from turn to turn but it's usually something an opponent has. I also tend to find that people knowing this deck actually helps you: they know they should not be attacking you because you will screw them over when they do. Sometimes it almost feels like you're playing mono blue draw go: people are afraid to mess with you if you have mana open even when you do not actually have anything to stop it.
The whole idea of this deck is to punish opponents who go over the top on something by turning that something against them. Of course, the judo style cards you need might depend a bit on your meta. Of course, if people prepare for your line of play and save a counterspell for everything it's going to become hard to resist, but that goes for every deck. I think it would require a table wide collaboration between the opponents that they leave each other alone for a few turns while they build up to collectively to smash you but in my group this never happens. If it does in your group, you could add Abeyance and/or Orim's Chant to the deck to be sure your actual finisher is not countered or prevented. If infinite combo is a thing in your meta, you could add Praetor's Grasp to remove a key combo piece (Laboratory Maniac anyone?)
While that might help every now and then, so far I have not suffered from this problem. I manage to keep a full hand yes, but it's not like opponents never do anything that warrants an answer.
Nevertheless, if you want some support this way you could also add Nephalia Academy. Together with the aformentioned Reliquary Tower you accomplish the same effect as a library of leng. Just mind your colors though! If discard is running rampant in your meta, don't forget to add Spiritual Focus.
Thanks. And be sure to tell if you have any interesting additions for this deck.
This.
I tried this, built a deck around Padeem, Consul of Innovation. It revolves around getting out Mycosynth Lattice and Darksteel Forge protecting Platinum Angel or Platinum Emperion. Additionally, I hexproof myself with Orbs of Warding and remove everything that my opponent might play that can bust through this from their deck with Jester's Cap. I then proceed to win through attacking with a few huge artifact beaters and/or a Thopter token army. Works like a charm, but I haven't killed a single opponent with it yet, since they usually scoop once my pieces are in place. It overcompensating I know, but should that be the norm for decks to be able to carry out a game plan consistently? It turned out to be my most competitive Commander deck (And not the most fun to play!).
For example, I played Queen Marchesa with the point of the deck to encourage opponents to attack each other instead of me so I am left with the last opponent. I do this through making me the least attractive choice to attack. Not impossible (Pay 15 per creature!) but for example with No Mercy. All my No Mercy effects got exiled last game, not one destroyed. With My Titania deck, my Lightning Greaves / Swiftfoot boots are always exiled so people can keep Titania off the table more easily (Which the then do). In my Noyan Dar deck, it's the Sacred Ground (next to the boots / greaves) or Terra Eternal. In my Angus Superfriends/Enchantment deck the good enchantments always end up exiled so Replenish and Open The Vault are mediocre effects at best.
It's not that I don't understand that my opponents try to target important cards for my commander, can't blame them. I do the same to them. It's why I run recursion engines so I can recur the kind of cards I need.For example, my Titania deck runs Crucible of Worlds, Buried Ruin and Haunted Fengraf. These together allow me to eventually get every creature or artifact back. However, with exile these answers are more permanent. I like to build decks that feel different from deck to deck and this usually involves around building a certain synergy with the commander. It's what makes playing the deck feel different from a goodstuff deck (Who would play Sacred Ground outside of Noyan Dar?). I find it increasingly difficult to build these kind of decks in such a way that they can somewhat reliably carry out their game plan, even when facing some opposition. Whether this execution allows me to win is something else, for now i'm just talking about actually being able to generate some Elementals with Titania or animating some land with Noyan Dar etc. For me, winning is less important than having a fun game.