MTG Salvation

In a sealed deck I once used a Resounding Roar to pump a Rhox War Monk, attacked with it, and then used Soul's Fire to deal another six points and gain another six life.

That was fun, but Magma Spray is still the pick.

Quote from theeguy

Uhh, killing or bouncing the creature doesn't stop Soul's Fire (though Agony Warp's first line DOES). Last known information still allows the damage to be dealt based on its power before being killed/bounced.

Killing the creature does stop Soul's Fire from doing anything because Soul's Fire specifically requires the creature you control to be in play in order for it to be a legal target.

One way that your total rating could end up higher than either of your individual ratings is if you win a lot of limited matches against people with low limited but high constructed ratings, and vice versa. Just to use an extreme example, say a person is 1500 limited, 1900 constructed, and 1800 total (he plays more constructed than limited, and is much better at it). Let's say you're 1750 across the board. If you win a limited match against him, your limited rating is so much higher than his that you might only get one point off of him, but his total rating is higher than yours so you'd get quite a few more in that category.

I don't know that that's how your particular score ended up the way it is, but it is an example of how you could hypothetically end up with a total higher than either of your individual ratings.

Of course, it could just be busted, too.

If you have the mana to drop some giant creature worth using Soul's Fire on then you probably have the mana to just play a Blaze-like effect. It's slightly slower, but you aren't begging to get two-for-oned, it isn't a dead card when you don't have any creatures, and if you have to you can use it early to get rid of something small. It's much more reliable.

@ EnricoPalazzo:
That sounds like good advice. Thank you.

Quote from Demonbunny

If Sporting associations could ban South Africa from competing in the past, why can't Spainish individuals be banned from motorsport until their government actually takes actions to stop the behaviour?

While the actions of these Hamilton-bashers are despicable, I don't think you can quite compare it to government-enforced apartheid. They don't represent the official view of the Spainish governemnt. While there probably aren't many Spanish F1 fans who cheer for Hamilton over Alonso, they aren't all racists. Every country has its share of idiots. This whole notion of "Why are Spaniards so racist?" sounds a bit prejudiced in and of itself, doesn't it?

Also, Alonso has spoken out against these people.

It is a little gratuitous. After all, once you've combined the speed of Superman and the Flash, the other guys mentioned don't really add much.

I've been playing Faeries since rotation and I think I'm getting the hang of it but I was hoping to get some advice on sideboarding. I'm using the list LSV posted in his SCG article a couple weeks back:


These are the sideboarding plans I've come up with. In particular I'm wondering about the mirror. I don't have much experience with that and am really just guessing. Any advice is appreciated.
5-Color:
+2 Negate, +2 Mind Shatter, +1 Thoughtseize, +2 Archmage
-4 Agony Warp, -2 Scion, -1 Sower

Faeries:
+1 Thoughtseize, +2 Mind Shatter, +2 Negate, +2 Archmage
-4 Agony Warp, -2 Vendillion Clique?, -1 Sower

Red:
+2 Bottle Gnomes, +2 Flashfreeze, (+3 Infest if they seem vulnerable to it)
-3 Thoughtseize, -1 Sower, (-2 Sower, -1 Jace if Infest comes in)

Reveillark:
+1 Thoughtseize, +2 Mind Shatter, +1 Puppeteer Clique
-1 Agony Warp, -3 Scion

Kithkin:
+3 Infest
-3 Thoughtseize

This just goes to show how silly all of the negativity towards "netdecking" is. If your deck idea is even remotely viable then I can guarantee you that a thousand other people have had exactly the same idea. And a year before any of those people even knew those cards existed, R&D had exactly the same idea. There is no virtue in trying to force yourself to be ignorant about what is going on in the format. If you try to limit yourself to decks that are unique then you will never play Magic again.

Except that if they know you're playing good creatures they aren't going to waste their only removal on your Grizzly Bears.

If you're stealing all their removal with discard, why do you need Teeg? This notion of protecting Teeg with a bunch of other stuff seems off to me. He's just a Grizzly Bears. If he can't protect himself, he's not worth protecting.

Gaddock Teeg is a fine card in a deck that has a use for a bear. He swings for two, and once in a while he will disrupt your opponent's plan. It's a fine card to play if your manabase supports it, but it's not worth bending over backwards to try to include it or to protect it.

When you evoke Mulldrifter or Shriekmaw you're still playing a spell with converted mana cost 5, but they're still creatures so Teeg doesn't interact with them in any way.

Having to block with Tidehollow Sculler against aggro isn't the end of the world. As long as you're trading with something you're still getting a 1 for 1 out of the exchange, along with a free peek at their hand. And you might be bringing the Sculler back with Lark in a little while, as well. I think this deck definitely wants some bear at the two slot, and Sculler fills that role well. With only Mind Stone for acceleration it's important to have options if you don't hit your fourth land.

Hissing Iguanar lets him win if he gets the Sharuum combo going. I don't think it's a really reliable plan, but winning is definitely better than gaining life.

Severed Legion is a decent zombie, a 2/2 with Fear for 1BB. Of course it isn't the powerhouse that Stillmoon is, but there's a reason Stillmoon is $10. Severed Legion fits the same spot on the curve, fits the tribal theme, and shouldn't cost more than a quarter from your local shop. As budget options go you could do worse.

Removing (O-Ring) or disabling (Pithing Needle) the card itself isn't the only way to deal with planeswalkers. You can also nullify them by knowing how to deal with its effect on the game.

How do you deal with Elspeth? Well, what does it do? It makes 1/1 tokens and gives free Angelic Blessings. If your deck is capable of dealing with creatures in general, then you've already dealt with Elspeth. You don't necessarily need a card that specifically removes the planeswalker card if you're able to cope with its effect.

Certainly things like O-Rings are good, but O-Ring is good because it is absurdly flexible. My point is just that you don't need to be narrowly focused on destroying planeswalkers in order to win against decks that use them. Understand their game plan and have a plan of your own for beating it.