this is the exact reason why I play commander, and why I got back into magic after over 10 years not playing...It's why I have a griffon tribal EDH deck, and 29 others assembled (with like 5 in various stages of thinking/assembling). I'll play other formats some, mostly because it does scratch that basic magic itch that was present when i first started playing in '93, but the time i spend on that pales in comparison.
also, Koskun Keep was from Homelands, not Alliances
Zombie Trailblazer, Filth and Zombie Master are all good ways to give creatures Swampwalk, though it is somewhat corner case. Trailblazer is also an option to make your non-Swamp lands into Swamps if you don't have Urborg and want to pump up your other swamp dependent spells.
Also another step removed: Expedition Map, Petrified Field and Thespian's Stage. You always want to find Cabal Coffers. If someone destroyed Coffers, you want to get it back. And if you already have Coffers, you want another copy of Coffers.
Also, if you play Hecatomb, remember that you can shoot people and creatures by tapping Swamps while the sacrifice trigger is on the stack. In worst case scenario, it's "X1BB, deal X damage divided as you choose to any number of creatures or players. You may only use mana produced by swamps to pay X." Killed people with this before saccing creatures.
I've been in Rochester for a bit, and I have no idea where/when I can expect to find some people open to playing some EDH
Merged into Local Playgroup thread. - cryogen
I am part of a regular commander league that plays primarily on Thursday evenings at Pair-A-Dice games in Village gate. In general, it's a more relaxed casual venue, message me if you'd like more details
all of the cats will come into play at the same time. Trostani will see each one and trigger, gaining you 2 life 40 times, which will then trigger Archangel fo Thune 40 separate times, marking each creature with 40 +1/+1 counters
I've been contemplating a life gain based commander deck for a few months now, then when spoilers came in, I knew which commander I was going to run it in
I think we get this literally every set now. Anything gets printed that mentions enchantments, people jump onto the "The next set is the Enchantment set!" bandwagon.
The only thing that I think that might have a nugget of truth is that there may be more legendaries than usual. Other than that, I don't see any seeds for Theros in M14.
the fact that we have not ONE, but TWO vanilla black creatures that are zombies (not unusual) but also Minotaurs, when we've had a surfeit of Minotaurs in RTR block, along with Gorgons and sphinxes, which already had me surmising a mythical tribal subtheme (or more) which fits right into a roman/greek mythology theme....seems not just circumstantial...
I had been planning to run a possibility storm/curse of exhaustion deck...but wasn't sure how I was gonna put it all together until last week when the curse theme with sphere seemed like a good one...I'll stick to my original BWR idea at first, but I might try this 4 color
I continue to detest the chainmail art for Chandra. It's depressing that, the one time they make her the featured character of a set, they stick her with this hideous promotional art. I don't usually play Game Day in any case, but it seems like it will be an easy decision this season.
while the breast-shaped chestplate is rather ridiculous and impractical, I appreciate female characters that aren't just next-to-naked ridiculousness...
I like the style of the art and the design of it....would be happy to have this playmat, but I haven't won a gameday since Innistrad, so I'm not holding my hopes up
Maybe there will be some kind of tribal set comming
that's what I've been saying with the increase of Minotaurs and Gorgons and such throughout RTR block, and those being classic greek mythological monsters...
played some nice fun casual commander with friends the other night and the thought of a commander cube came up, with some brief discussion. Was curious if anyone had tried it (I'm sure it's not an original idea) or if anyone had any thoughts/input, as it may be something seriously attempted.
thoughts/issues
draft would start with drafting/bidding for an available commander
decks would be cube drafted normally
drafting a 100 card deck would be long and tedious. since it's a limited selection, a smaller number could be viable, first thought was 50, but 40 may be alright. (might need to be higher because of mill)
initial thought was to start a General pool with the 10 new guild champions
issues that I'm concerned about:
even working a basic setup of the 10 2 color combo generals, which are definitely not equal in commander viability, multicolor cards are about useless in the cube. you either hate them away from the ONE player playing that color pair, ignore them, because no player is playing that color pair, or get free good stuff. how interesting is commander without multicolored cards? the 10 planar dragons could be used for more overlap, but is that effective enough?
cards are far from equal in use from one commander to the next. and while this is true of normal draft I think it could be exacerbated with a commander focus. This could make building the cube more difficult or more bland...
bidding on commanders seems to be the right way to go, allowing the players to settle perceived imbalance, but it leads to knowing what colors your opponents are in. this can have a deleterious effect on drafting. last player bidding can also use this to their benefit. going with the 10 champs example, 4 player pod, 4th player can see what colors aren't being used and have 2 all to themselves.
random commander assignment from a pool of choices gets around some of the issues listed, but at that point the pool needs to be EXTREMELY well balanced (possibly additionally balanced with life handicapping)
so, anyone have any input before I waste more time/thought etc on this project?
I think it was around antiquities time, because I seem to remember it having ornithopter and something else really big, maybe juggernaut? I remember it accomplishing being silly and little else
also, Koskun Keep was from Homelands, not Alliances
I also run deserted temple so i can use Cabal Coffers more than once, or even Crypt of Agadeem
I am part of a regular commander league that plays primarily on Thursday evenings at Pair-A-Dice games in Village gate. In general, it's a more relaxed casual venue, message me if you'd like more details
I would definitely also run Test of Endurance
No Rhox Faithmender?
what about Exsanguinate?
Lim-Dul's Vault also comes to mind
Blood Seeker
Markov Blademaster
Kalastria Highborn
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Fiend of the Shadows
Sangromancer
Falkenrath Noble
some of the better spells I like
Terminate
Agonizing Demise
Rakdos Charm
I run these 2 cards to help vamps swing in and get their bonuses
Bedlam
Outmaneuver
I also added some theme-y stuffs
dragon Blood
Blood Feud
Exquisite Blood
Vampiric Fury
Vampiric Link
Vampiric Embrace
she was also one of the first commanders I put Illusionist's Bracers into, because it's pretty fun with her
the fact that we have not ONE, but TWO vanilla black creatures that are zombies (not unusual) but also Minotaurs, when we've had a surfeit of Minotaurs in RTR block, along with Gorgons and sphinxes, which already had me surmising a mythical tribal subtheme (or more) which fits right into a roman/greek mythology theme....seems not just circumstantial...
while the breast-shaped chestplate is rather ridiculous and impractical, I appreciate female characters that aren't just next-to-naked ridiculousness...
I like the style of the art and the design of it....would be happy to have this playmat, but I haven't won a gameday since Innistrad, so I'm not holding my hopes up
that's what I've been saying with the increase of Minotaurs and Gorgons and such throughout RTR block, and those being classic greek mythological monsters...
thoughts/issues
draft would start with drafting/bidding for an available commander
decks would be cube drafted normally
drafting a 100 card deck would be long and tedious. since it's a limited selection, a smaller number could be viable, first thought was 50, but 40 may be alright. (might need to be higher because of mill)
initial thought was to start a General pool with the 10 new guild champions
issues that I'm concerned about:
even working a basic setup of the 10 2 color combo generals, which are definitely not equal in commander viability, multicolor cards are about useless in the cube. you either hate them away from the ONE player playing that color pair, ignore them, because no player is playing that color pair, or get free good stuff. how interesting is commander without multicolored cards? the 10 planar dragons could be used for more overlap, but is that effective enough?
cards are far from equal in use from one commander to the next. and while this is true of normal draft I think it could be exacerbated with a commander focus. This could make building the cube more difficult or more bland...
bidding on commanders seems to be the right way to go, allowing the players to settle perceived imbalance, but it leads to knowing what colors your opponents are in. this can have a deleterious effect on drafting. last player bidding can also use this to their benefit. going with the 10 champs example, 4 player pod, 4th player can see what colors aren't being used and have 2 all to themselves.
random commander assignment from a pool of choices gets around some of the issues listed, but at that point the pool needs to be EXTREMELY well balanced (possibly additionally balanced with life handicapping)
so, anyone have any input before I waste more time/thought etc on this project?
way back in the long ago I played a deck with camouflage, raging river and false orders.
I think it was around antiquities time, because I seem to remember it having ornithopter and something else really big, maybe juggernaut? I remember it accomplishing being silly and little else
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/19254/breaking-news-magic-2014-duels-of-the-planeswalker
of course I'm aware that it doesn't mean it'll be in m14, but it seems likely
− Sliver Construct
− Predatory Sliver
− Groundshaker Sliver
− Megantic Sliver
− Blur Sliver
− Striking Sliver
− Thorncaster Sliver
− Battle Sliver
− Sentinel Sliver
− Bonescythe Sliver
In addition, Hive Stirrings, a sorcery that creates Sliver tokens, will also be included in Magic 2014.