I'm wondering how people would feel about a 5 deck release which was previous mechanic focused and which the community would like to see expanded. Previous comments from various people seem to imply Kamigawa will not be a place we are likely to see a standard rotation set return to and yet I think soulshift, ninjitsu, and even bushido are mechanics which would make for an interesting commander deck but current card pools make them extremely underwhelming. Transmute and gravestorm are two others which would be nice to see featured.
That being said, is there something that you'd like to see heavily expanded for a specific deck design while bringing back a weaker mechanic? Or is there a tribe which had a neat feature (Rebels for me) which could use a commander focus product?
Click on Cryptic Gateway and activate the ability
Select two Human Wizards on the table
Message box says I may select a creature from my hand
No Human Wizards in hand can be selected
If I select OK it moves past the activated ability leaving the selected wizards tapped.
I've always found Lattice to be an interesting card for situations you don't expect. In a brown deck I'm not sure it's really that important unless you have the ability to actually steal other peoples creatures. The card does have some serious hi-jinks when coupled.
As Hyalapterouslemur stated, with tokens it's a beast for a variety of reasons. Personally, I'll always enjoy it with Thieves' Auction + Confusion in the Ranks.
I'm fairly new to Mtgo and I was wonder from personal experience how long does it take for them to unbug cards? I spent the money and bought the cards to play commander on there and instantly found that one of the cards is bugged. I checked their "known issues" page and it wasn't listed yet the email response I got (which seemed automated) claims that they know about the issue. *insert sarcastic* Good customer service system you got there multi-million dollar company.
I agree to an extent with this concept. However, I wonder by what measure we would compare some previous seasons. My personal last level of attention to standard was back during Worlds 2006. Now here's a question, if Wizards printed several of the commons on those lists today, would they still be considered common level in power? Furthermore, how many of the rares would probably be bumped up to Mythic, especially lands?
I agree though, it feels crappy to have the format being dominated by $20-50 mandatory mythic cards by design. However, this is particularly worse when you're generally absent from going rogue or lucking out with a T2 burn option.
Look into "Gameplays by Clonehead". The editing is is top notch with visual cues and entertainment value (Comedic visuals). The camera work is great. The commentary is relevant, brief and witty. The smalls editions such as the "Card of the Game" and unedited video feed depicting the players is icing. The SCG commentary feels forced with little synergy between players. Many videos feel drawn out, not because of the game, but there is little to say; words seem to dribble without much impact throughout the majority of the game. The few minutes minutes spent at the end of each VS video feels like a terrible version of "The moral of the story is..." lesson of a 2nd grader.
Keep brewing.
I can see your point of view on some of the SCG commentary. That being said, I overly enjoyed the David McDarby vs Danny West videos the most. Once David left I unsubscribed to the channel. What got me about those two was the dynamic they had with each other. The table banter has always been a significant attraction to Magic. That's probably why I do not play competitive at all. Thus, the back and forth between the two was enjoyable to watch and simply listen too in the background.
I highly recommend EVERYONE copy the way SCG did/does their VS series. Top and Go productions did an ok job with theirs but the camera angle was often a problem. You need to either record the audio of the table play or have a pretty good narration voice. I highly doubt very many people will sign up to watch a video of EDH with trance/techno time and time again. To me, it puts even more of a wall up between the viewer and the game.
I have a feeling this is one of those situations where knowing your meta or opponent is a factor. Let's say that the OP had 4 outs in his/her deck. Crypt, StP/PtE, and or Tower. If their draw didn't provide early support for what they knew they could face and they didn't Paris (or whatever they use) that's a poor play choice.
Most of us know the player who will forgo a muligan because they have "good cards" or "combo" in their hand despite knowing that their opponent could easily win (via board state) by turn 3 because they have no defense or outs. This is a player issue and is really REALLY for someone to break.
I dont do it because I cant be bothered. Every other trade I used to do has the guy pull out a phone and check SCG then flip through my binder 10 more times trying to find $1 worth of value so everthing's even. I'm like dawg I just want your Dungeon Geists hurry it up.
This is why I stopped trading years ago. I never played in standard and got completely tired of being asked if I had "trade stuff" only to have them disgusted that I didn't have three pages of Mindsculpters and fetches for them to offer nickle and dime cards in trade. I'd look at their binder and find a $1 or $2 card I'd want and they'd get in a huff that I didn't have some $20 standard staple at the time to trade for them.
Now I simply order everything I want online and save the hassle of carrying around "trade."
If you really want to continue EDH as an FNM, I recommend coming up with a more suitable banned list for your FNM to create a lower power cap on decks.
For example:
-Ban tutors
-Ban some of the stronger infinite combo pieces
-Ban fast mana
And see what that gives you.
We tried a few years ago for the League concept which supported the Point System. I've heard better stories from those adventures than I have coming out of FNM. I don't know the current rules, if the stores operate the event as FNM can they create their own ban list?
I apologize if this has been addressed previously, but I'm too lazy to look at everyone else's posts.
I highly suggest you get into the habit of sleeving your cards before you play with them. Some people will say, "what if they have no value?" or "It's a waste of time if you change your decks often." However, I have learned that accidents, as well as lack of cleanliness from certain places, can be a serious issue, and ruin cards very quickly. Even if you want to make lots of changes, card sleeves are relatively inexpensive, and will protect cards that can potentially be worth hundreds of dollars. It might seem tedious, but once you develop your own techniques to sleeve and unsleeve cards quickly and efficiently, you will get used to it.
There are multiple reasons why I play every, single, deck sleeved. Most of them might not be of concern to you, since you're just starting out, but over time, you will develop your own habits, which might cause you to want to keep extra sleeves with you, just in case.
Additionally to this, learn how to shuffle sleeved decks without ruining the cards. I've never understood the point of sleeving the cards if your going to monkey hard shuffle the living hell out of them.
To the OP, an odd suggestion is to check out the magic the gathering website and look for the old theme decks and read the articles. See what may or may not call to each of your individual tastes. Most old Theme Decks cannot be directly purchased sealed but can however be ordered fairly cheap as individual cards via online retailers. Most of the "rares" in them are about $0.25 these days. There are some exceptions and outliers, such as Rats Nest from Kamigawa which had Jitte or one of the Sunburst Decks from 5th Dawn which had Sundering Titan I believe. For the most part however, you can recreate these decks for just a few dollars. The nice part in theory is that they were created to function and that allows you both to have a solid base to start.
I'd also suggest looking at old Tournament Decks. After the death of the Extended Format many deck staple cards dropped in price heavily. While some have gone back up with the Modern Format, most of the real driving force cards of that format where pre-eighth edition. This means there are some very interesting concepts and deck techs out there to dabble with for a reasonable price compared to their hay-days. Additionally, these articles can help create new thoughts on deck creation and even simple raw education for magic in general.
That being said, is there something that you'd like to see heavily expanded for a specific deck design while bringing back a weaker mechanic? Or is there a tribe which had a neat feature (Rebels for me) which could use a commander focus product?
Select two Human Wizards on the table
Message box says I may select a creature from my hand
No Human Wizards in hand can be selected
If I select OK it moves past the activated ability leaving the selected wizards tapped.
As Hyalapterouslemur stated, with tokens it's a beast for a variety of reasons. Personally, I'll always enjoy it with Thieves' Auction + Confusion in the Ranks.
I agree though, it feels crappy to have the format being dominated by $20-50 mandatory mythic cards by design. However, this is particularly worse when you're generally absent from going rogue or lucking out with a T2 burn option.
I can see your point of view on some of the SCG commentary. That being said, I overly enjoyed the David McDarby vs Danny West videos the most. Once David left I unsubscribed to the channel. What got me about those two was the dynamic they had with each other. The table banter has always been a significant attraction to Magic. That's probably why I do not play competitive at all. Thus, the back and forth between the two was enjoyable to watch and simply listen too in the background.
Most of us know the player who will forgo a muligan because they have "good cards" or "combo" in their hand despite knowing that their opponent could easily win (via board state) by turn 3 because they have no defense or outs. This is a player issue and is really REALLY for someone to break.
#endofthread
Now I simply order everything I want online and save the hassle of carrying around "trade."
Additionally to this, learn how to shuffle sleeved decks without ruining the cards. I've never understood the point of sleeving the cards if your going to monkey hard shuffle the living hell out of them.
To the OP, an odd suggestion is to check out the magic the gathering website and look for the old theme decks and read the articles. See what may or may not call to each of your individual tastes. Most old Theme Decks cannot be directly purchased sealed but can however be ordered fairly cheap as individual cards via online retailers. Most of the "rares" in them are about $0.25 these days. There are some exceptions and outliers, such as Rats Nest from Kamigawa which had Jitte or one of the Sunburst Decks from 5th Dawn which had Sundering Titan I believe. For the most part however, you can recreate these decks for just a few dollars. The nice part in theory is that they were created to function and that allows you both to have a solid base to start.
I'd also suggest looking at old Tournament Decks. After the death of the Extended Format many deck staple cards dropped in price heavily. While some have gone back up with the Modern Format, most of the real driving force cards of that format where pre-eighth edition. This means there are some very interesting concepts and deck techs out there to dabble with for a reasonable price compared to their hay-days. Additionally, these articles can help create new thoughts on deck creation and even simple raw education for magic in general.