For what it's worth, there could also be something symbolic about the fact that apparently the only two figures that are not falling over are black (and possibly the red one). I think it's very likely to be Hex, but it could be something color specific, particularly something that doesn't affect black.
I really like the card, even though it's very, very powerful. The symmetrical nature and restrictive casting cost (i.e. must have a madness outlet and BUR available) help balance that out. Cards that let you steal things are always a lot of fun, and that fits well with the theme.
Take this praise with a grain of salt, because Ice Cauldron is one of my favorite cards of all time. I enjoy cards that you really have to scrutinize to figure out how best to use it, or even how to use it at all.
Looks interesting. At first glance, my instincts tell me that Lotus Bloom has no place in this deck. I think you'd be better off with another pair of signets. The numbers could use some tweaking, too. Perhaps cut the Think Twices for Compulsive #4, lower the number of Blinks (4 is too many with only 5 CIP creatures in the deck), and replace the Familiars with 1 Phyrexian Totem and another Arbiter. You also need way more removal - Last Gasp, maybe? Another possibility is a Clutch of the Undercity toolbox - on-theme, and tutors for Arbiter, Zombify, and Resurrection.
Just suggestions, but I like the idea of a bounce-based Solar Flare. Good luck with it!
Here is a deck idea I have been playing around with since Time Spiral was spoiled. I finally got to try it in action last FNM, going 6-0 in rounds and 12-2 in games. The deck is loosely based on Solar Flare, but with Green instead of Black. Now that we have Resurrection, the dedication to Black isn't as important. Also, this means Simic Sky Swallower in place of Angel of Despair. The deck performed extremely well, and every single card pulled its weight. I'll present the list and sideboard, then discuss some strategy and highlights.
The deck plays pretty similarly to BUW Solar-Flare, but because you have more of a mid-game, it's not as focused on the "discard-reanimate" theme. There are six terrific Resurrection targets, though more often than not I just hard-cast everything. The Vitu-Ghazis are amazing at forcing creature decks to overcommit into Wrath as well as against control decks with few answers (and is also the reason for the Pendelhaven). Maindeck Stomphowler helps against Signets, Totems, Glare, Worship, or anything else, all while serving up the beats. Also, Windreaver is a great one-of because few decks are playing Sudden Death, so he's a long-term answer along with the City Tree. Panglacial Wurm came out of my library at least a half-dozen times, turning normally marginal late-game landsearch into a 9/5 trampler. Finally, Hierarchs not only give another win condition, but gum up the ground and pad your life against Rakdos and Zoo.
The sideboard helps focus your gameplan a little more, too. The Court Hussars sub in for Remand against decks like Zoo and Rakdos, allowing you more profitable Wraths and a better answer to Giant Solifuge. Ivory Mask and Willbender are for burn decks, since both stop Demonfire aimed at your head. Loaming Shaman is mostly for things like Solar Flare. It's usually better than Tormod's Crypt because it attacks for 3 and can randomly restock your own library if the game goes late. Finally, Grand Arbiter is terrific in control mirrors and against combo decks, especially Solar Flare and Dragonstorm.
Good times, enjoyable article. CI always does a good job of presenting rules in a fun format, and even the newest writer is well suited to this task. I especially liked the theme for this article, too.
For comparison, here's an updated Solar Flare list I've been playing with to test for States. It's inspired by the Japanese version that runs Sift with Clutch of the Undercity as a tutor for Sift, Wrath, or Zombify. Since the metagame's wide open, I decided to play something I would enjoy that's good against random aggro decks. I also own all the cards already, so I don't break the bank on pre-orders.
It might be worth mentioning that while Trickbind can't prevent someone from flipping a Morph face-up, it can counter a Morph trigger (such as Willbender's or Coral Trickster's) just fine. Many people in my experience are confused by this, and it came up a lot with Stifle back in the OLS days.
Another variation on Zombie that's along the lines of what wamyc suggests is negative life points. Basically, once you go below 0, (or otherwise lose), you keep playing like normal, except you can't win. This changes the dynamics a lot, especially if you usually remove players in order to remove their permanents. It's pretty weird at first, but it's actually a lot of fun.
Also, I'm not the one who manages the Type 4 stack in my group, so I don't remember what all's in the stack. I could probably give a rough list, but just about any other Type 4 article has those. I'm more interested in encouraging experimentation than anything else.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I had originally intended to address Five Point Star (which is what I always called Color Wars) because it was the first way I learned to play 5-player Magic. However, it had two strikes against it: 1) as Finn mentioned, it is not fun to be the first one out, and 2) I haven't played it in a really long time. So there's something else new to try out.
Aranan's differences in card evaluations make me think of one of the things I love about those all-too-few chances I get to play just for fun: it's completely different every time. Each group has its own tastes, and what's ridiculously powerful and considered uncool in one group might be perfectly fine with another. For example, my impressions of Mirrorwood Treefolk most likely stem from my mental association of it with Glarecaster, an obviously better card in this format. Also, having been killed by Good Buddy* no less than twice (mostly because of the regeneration) makes me think he's better than he would be in other people's piles.
I hope that the people who have read my series get some great inspiration on how to go about engineering a casual environment that allows the most number of people to have a good time without alienating anyone else. Especially with a new set on the cusp of release, it's a great time to try some of these Limited-based formats as well.
*i.e. Lord Of Tresserhorn. Good Buddy was his playtest nickname because he's 10/4.
This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, The Perfect Casual Format, Pt. 3. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
I'm rather glad that this was never a format. All the decks would just be 3-5 color monstrosities wiht $$$$$$$ mana bases. Good ridance to the best set of Flavor, but the worst of cons/draft
That's still better than a lot of current Standard decks. And is that "good riddance" to Rav Block or Kami block? It sounds like what most people say about Kami block, but if you mean that for Ravnica...um...well I guess I just have to say I disagree. It's fun to draft and Standard Constructed is just about the best it's ever been. But to each his/her own, I suppose.
I enjoyed this article, even though it's for a format that paper-only players will never really have the chance to enjoy. And data from the Team RBC event at Charleston backs up your information, too. I kept telling people Skeletal Vampire is good, but it's hard to think well of him when you still have Kokusho in Standard.
Incidentally, Mortify doesn't "straight up" kill Skelly unless you have no bats in play, which is part of what makes him so good. Putrefy, Devouring Light, and Condemn will put him down for good with no bats, though (but who plays those?)
But if Suspend lets you play the card without paying its cost, and the rules for Suspend tell us that cost doesn't matter when looking to when you can play the Suspend ability, why doesn't Lotus Bloom work?
And don't forget Thermopod. I used it to make snow mana several times at the release event and had to explain that it does indeed make snow mana when it coughs up R for eating one of your guys, regardless of whether that guy is snow itself.
The most common mistake I see by a LARGE margin is taking phases out of order. This usually comes in two flavors:
1. People drawing immediately upon the start of their turns. Since I play mostly at FNM, I tend to remind people that it's Untap, Upkeep, Draw. This resulted in four sacrificed permanents from opponents I played during the course of the Coldsnap Release due to forgetting Upkeep costs.
2. The assumption that Combat ends a player's turn, i.e. forgetting your opponent's Second Main Phase. I have a lot of newer players who immediately begin untapping after I attack, and I have to remind them that my turn isn't over until I say so. Especially with ten pitch cards and two 0-cost spells around right now, even being tapped out doesn't mean you are done.
Take this praise with a grain of salt, because Ice Cauldron is one of my favorite cards of all time. I enjoy cards that you really have to scrutinize to figure out how best to use it, or even how to use it at all.
Just suggestions, but I like the idea of a bounce-based Solar Flare. Good luck with it!
Excellent Pastries
4 Condemn
4 Remand
2 Farseek
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Compulsive Research
4 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Wrath of God
2 Resurrection
2 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Windreaver
3 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Panglacial Wurm
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Pendelhaven
2 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
2 Brushland
2 Azorius Chancery
4 Temple Garden
4 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
3 Plains
2 Island
Sideboard
4 Court Hussar
3 Loaming Shaman
3 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
2 Willbender
2 Ivory Mask
1 Krosan Grip
The deck plays pretty similarly to BUW Solar-Flare, but because you have more of a mid-game, it's not as focused on the "discard-reanimate" theme. There are six terrific Resurrection targets, though more often than not I just hard-cast everything. The Vitu-Ghazis are amazing at forcing creature decks to overcommit into Wrath as well as against control decks with few answers (and is also the reason for the Pendelhaven). Maindeck Stomphowler helps against Signets, Totems, Glare, Worship, or anything else, all while serving up the beats. Also, Windreaver is a great one-of because few decks are playing Sudden Death, so he's a long-term answer along with the City Tree. Panglacial Wurm came out of my library at least a half-dozen times, turning normally marginal late-game landsearch into a 9/5 trampler. Finally, Hierarchs not only give another win condition, but gum up the ground and pad your life against Rakdos and Zoo.
The sideboard helps focus your gameplan a little more, too. The Court Hussars sub in for Remand against decks like Zoo and Rakdos, allowing you more profitable Wraths and a better answer to Giant Solifuge. Ivory Mask and Willbender are for burn decks, since both stop Demonfire aimed at your head. Loaming Shaman is mostly for things like Solar Flare. It's usually better than Tormod's Crypt because it attacks for 3 and can randomly restock your own library if the game goes late. Finally, Grand Arbiter is terrific in control mirrors and against combo decks, especially Solar Flare and Dragonstorm.
Solar Flare
4 Remand
4 Azorius Signet
4 Compulsive Research
3 Mortify
4 Wrath of God
3 Zombify
2 Sift
2 Persecute
1 Clutch of the Undercity
1 Sengir Nosferatu
2 Twisted Abomination
4 Angel of Despair
2 Avatar of Woe
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Godless Shrine
1 Underground River
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Adarkar Wastes
2 Watery Grave
4 Orzhov Basilica
4 Island
4 Plains
5 Swamp
Sideboard
3 Bottle Gnomes (Zoo/Red aggro)
3 Darkblast (Aggro/Mana creatures/Bob)
3 Sacred Ground (KarstenBot/Wildfire)
2 Disenchant (who knows? - Enduring Renewal/Debtors' Knell, maybe?)
1 Nightmare Void (Random control)
1 Ivory Mask (Burn)
1 Jester's Cap (SSS/combo)
1 Clutch of the Undercity ("uncounterable" tutor)
Also, I'm not the one who manages the Type 4 stack in my group, so I don't remember what all's in the stack. I could probably give a rough list, but just about any other Type 4 article has those. I'm more interested in encouraging experimentation than anything else.
Aranan's differences in card evaluations make me think of one of the things I love about those all-too-few chances I get to play just for fun: it's completely different every time. Each group has its own tastes, and what's ridiculously powerful and considered uncool in one group might be perfectly fine with another. For example, my impressions of Mirrorwood Treefolk most likely stem from my mental association of it with Glarecaster, an obviously better card in this format. Also, having been killed by Good Buddy* no less than twice (mostly because of the regeneration) makes me think he's better than he would be in other people's piles.
I hope that the people who have read my series get some great inspiration on how to go about engineering a casual environment that allows the most number of people to have a good time without alienating anyone else. Especially with a new set on the cusp of release, it's a great time to try some of these Limited-based formats as well.
*i.e. Lord Of Tresserhorn. Good Buddy was his playtest nickname because he's 10/4.
That's still better than a lot of current Standard decks. And is that "good riddance" to Rav Block or Kami block? It sounds like what most people say about Kami block, but if you mean that for Ravnica...um...well I guess I just have to say I disagree. It's fun to draft and Standard Constructed is just about the best it's ever been. But to each his/her own, I suppose.
Incidentally, Mortify doesn't "straight up" kill Skelly unless you have no bats in play, which is part of what makes him so good. Putrefy, Devouring Light, and Condemn will put him down for good with no bats, though (but who plays those?)
1. People drawing immediately upon the start of their turns. Since I play mostly at FNM, I tend to remind people that it's Untap, Upkeep, Draw. This resulted in four sacrificed permanents from opponents I played during the course of the Coldsnap Release due to forgetting Upkeep costs.
2. The assumption that Combat ends a player's turn, i.e. forgetting your opponent's Second Main Phase. I have a lot of newer players who immediately begin untapping after I attack, and I have to remind them that my turn isn't over until I say so. Especially with ten pitch cards and two 0-cost spells around right now, even being tapped out doesn't mean you are done.