Play ABUR Duals and Fetchs. That's the most powerful and consistent manabase that you can build.
Does that help you? Do you take that advice and incorporate it into your deckbuilding where you weren't before?
EDIT: I'm not trying to single you out or anything, but do people who own ABUR Duals and Fetchs actually need to be told to play ABUR Duals and Fetchs? That's the point that I'm trying to make.
Sure, I get it.
I think rankings are only useful for similar effect. And for "known good" cards, primers cover that need better than a list might.
At the risk of going further on a tangent, I actually like the question of "how would you rank the dual lands" - and it comes up a lot (though perhaps more often in EDH where folks are deciding where to draw the line with singletons). Temples/Scry lands started off near the bottom of the list when first announced, and have since climbed pretty rapidly. I'm not sure yet where Tango/Battle lands will land (heh heh). Etc.
Admittedly, even for cards of similar effect, a simple ranking may not be informative enough. Examples - Swarmyard vs. Yavimaya Hollow, or Unholy Grotto vs. Volrath's Stronghold. The latter cards in each pair are good in a broader range of decks, and thus might be higher on any ranking list, but in the right deck, the former cards in the pair can be strictly better.
A tax accountant will probably correct me, but I think that there are three transactions, with tax implications -
Transaction 1 - pay entry fee. I would have thought that the entry fees were taxable revenue as well. If sales tax is 10% and the LGS charges $15, they get to keep $13.64 and pass on 1.36 to the state government.
Transaction 2 - win store credit. Technically, I suspect that anything you "win" is also taxable on federal/state income taxes (in the same way that if you find $5 on the street, you would theoretically declare that as income and pay taxes on it. No one does). Gambling winnings are certainly taxable. If this is revenue for you, then it is also probably a claimable expense for them when they prepare their income taxes.
Transaction 3 - buy stuff with store credit. As covered above, I believe the LGS needs to pay sales taxes on this. They can either charge you ($4 store credit for a pack, plus $0.40 sales tax), or net down their revenue (i.e., keep $3.64 and pass on $0.36 as sales tax).
I suspect many LGSes net this down - i.e., they collected $15/player and record expenses (including prize support) of 4 packs/player.
LoA was at the top of Xyx's list. (I happen to agree with that ranking). Checking now, I see that you had referenced it as well...
I could stand to hear more often about how awesome Gemstone Caverns is - that was completely off my radar before this thread.
I agree with you that these exercises are difficult in part because so much is undefined. With knowledge of a format and a meta and 59 other cards in a deck, we could probably make an informed opinion on what the best last card might be. But we'd probably still have a few different viewpoints (i.e., see every Established Legacy thread). On the other hand, arguing about Bazaar vs. Tolarian Academy (as a hypothetical example) is somewhat more of a nebulous exercise. And even if we nail it, so what? A list of "certified awesome" cards (like your primers) is probably more useful than a ranking of exactly 10 cards whose worth varies based on the deck and meta and all of the other undefined variables.
For cards that do a similar thing (i.e., tap for two colors of mana), then rankings could actually be useful. I still haven't incorporated Temples into my decks (running Shocks instead), and that might be a mistake - and a comparative ranking of dual lands might help point out that mistake.
Inclusion of expensive cards in primers might help two groups of players: 1) those (probably mentally unstable) folks that might spend $300 or even $700 on a card (like me), and 2) those whose groups allow proxies (I don't use them but I know people who do). Oh, third group - those 5 people who played MTG 20 years ago and didn't throw away their cards after quitting for 18 years, and are just now playing again (I met one of these mythical creatures the other night).
Both cards are great, but the former does (nearly) nothing (in my group) before eating removal because of reputation alone, while the latter actually provides some benefit for the investment of a card and 6 mana. The former also leads to some (of the less experienced) players miscalculating who the Threat is at the table, (occasionally) leading to an untimely demise for the C Sphinx player.
I used a lot of qualifiers.
One more qualifier: I also don't play Turn 2 dredge decks that are full of vintage cards, either.
Let's say that you are one of the primary content providers in this subforum (i.e., let's say your login name is Prid3 or Xyx).
Then one way to look at these rankings is as a test of your students. They provide feedback on 1) how well your students have studied and taken your teachings to heart, but also provide feedback on 2) how well you are doing at teaching those students. If folks don't rank Library of Alexandria or Gemstone Caverns in the top 10, then perhaps they haven't heard you talk enough about how awesome those cards are? In relation to other awesome cards.
Hmm, I might think that this depends on the state sales tax rules (and I'm not sure what state you are in). i.e., purchases of gift cards aren't taxable, but whatever you buy with the gift card funds would be taxable. Not sure if that is a direct analogue.
You might ask the store if they were audited recently. They may have found that they owed sales taxes on the value of merchandise redeemed with store credit.
Yeah, the lower power level is part of the appeal (in some groups). In my group, the former (far better card) elicits a groan, while the latter elicits, "oh, that's a good card - I like that card."
And you do realize that Mutilate kills all you creatures...?
Maybe another sweeper OR Bad Moons are needed.
So does Damnation and Wrath of God - if you're having to play a Wrath effect, odds are that you are so far behind that you don't care about losing your creatures as well. I do like Lashwrithe in a Swamps-matter deck since it can make a creature immune to Mutilate, or if it's still attached to the germ, then all you lose is the germ. Unless mass artifact removal is common in your group, it's a pretty good card and one I'm always happy to see, even in multiples. Though it doesn't need to be a 4-of and the 4-drop slot has great competition.
I would still want to get some early creature drops in there. In groups that are new to MP, many folks will still run duel decks - i.e., complete with 1, 2 and 3 drops. You may not want to give 3 opponents 3 free swings at you while waiting for the 4 drops or a board wipe. Vampire Nighthawk helps a litte, but depending on how aggressive your group is, you might consider some 1 or 2 drops as well.
Underworld Connections is a strong recommendation as well. Someone (probably Prid3) had proposed a rule of thumb of including 6 draw spells in a deck - I want to see one every game, so I'm a strong believer.
I'm not saying that you CAN'T make a Korlash deck, but the difference between spending $22 on a set of Korlash and $5.50 on a Nykthos or $8 on a Phyrexian Arena or $13 on a Cabal Coffers is that you can use the latter three in a broader variety of decks (and you don't need a full playset). Just something to consider.
Valakut works in both SP and MP settings. Red doesn't do a lot of things (like card draw), but it can do direct damage (to creatures and players), destroy artifacts, and destroy (nonbasic) lands.
Some differences: generic card draw (Syphon Mind) over Liliana to ensure I made land drops, some variety in mana sinks (Army of the Damned, Drana to go with Exsanguinate), some early creature drops that remain useful throughout a game, reusable recursion, different options for ramp (Cabal Coffers) and Urborg to make everything a swamp. Korlash was probably the weakest card in the deck - i.e., I wanted two of them before playing one, then I wanted to recur the one you discarded over and over. It's kinda durdly and still only nets one swamp/turn - there are more efficient ways to ramp in Black.
With $80, I might try instead something that ramps (Crypt Ghast), but doesn't rely on Korlash. This deck comes out under ~$40 (shipped!) using TCG's massentry and cards are all under $2, except for Demigod of Revenge (@$3). Any additional funds might go into Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Phyrexian Arenas.
I would run 4 Lashwrithe before the first Squelching Leeches and I would also consider warm bodies over the rituals. You might also consider shaving Nightmares. And in this deck, Mutilate is a very inexpensive Damnation.
Wiki notes that they are still in production - and a quick search for cartridges by the manufacturers listed below appears to bear that out.
Commercial ammunition for weapons chambered in .303 British is readily available, as the cartridge is still manufactured by major producers such as Remington, Federal, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Prvi Partizan and Wolf. Commercially produced ammunition is widely available in various full metal jacket bullet, soft point, hollow point, flat-based and boat tail designs—both spitzer and round-nosed.
I am in a serious magic slump. I'm still having fun playing the game, but I can't seem to think of anything fun to build anymore.
Don't force it?
Deck building inspiration might wane - and even love for MTG might wane - but it usually comes back. I'll go months without seeing anything interesting. Which doesn't mean that there ISN'T anything interesting, it just means I'm not in that mental space to build something new.
Have: ~30 60-card decks plus a few 100-card decks.
Want to build: just about everything Prid3 posts, exalted, knights, soldiers, counters, Dragonstorm...
Thanks, Tremor88 - I had given up on the deck, but thanks to your persistence, I'll revisit. Per Xyx, I want to kill some people W1TH DR4G0Nz omglol!!!1!
I typically only have to do 40 damage to close out a game, which is certainly within reach with a couple dragons. I like the idea of (occasionally) playing a deck that can do funny things, but that doesn't win ALL the time.
[Snip] I know I would grab Wurmcoil Engine at the first opportunity, though.
I forget so many things. The whole reason I put WCE in the deck was for the life gain - i.e., when I spend the first few turns tutoring for an playing 'posts, all attacks come in my direction. So I'm keeping WCE.
I think rankings are only useful for similar effect. And for "known good" cards, primers cover that need better than a list might.
At the risk of going further on a tangent, I actually like the question of "how would you rank the dual lands" - and it comes up a lot (though perhaps more often in EDH where folks are deciding where to draw the line with singletons). Temples/Scry lands started off near the bottom of the list when first announced, and have since climbed pretty rapidly. I'm not sure yet where Tango/Battle lands will land (heh heh). Etc.
Admittedly, even for cards of similar effect, a simple ranking may not be informative enough. Examples - Swarmyard vs. Yavimaya Hollow, or Unholy Grotto vs. Volrath's Stronghold. The latter cards in each pair are good in a broader range of decks, and thus might be higher on any ranking list, but in the right deck, the former cards in the pair can be strictly better.
Transaction 1 - pay entry fee. I would have thought that the entry fees were taxable revenue as well. If sales tax is 10% and the LGS charges $15, they get to keep $13.64 and pass on 1.36 to the state government.
Transaction 2 - win store credit. Technically, I suspect that anything you "win" is also taxable on federal/state income taxes (in the same way that if you find $5 on the street, you would theoretically declare that as income and pay taxes on it. No one does). Gambling winnings are certainly taxable. If this is revenue for you, then it is also probably a claimable expense for them when they prepare their income taxes.
Transaction 3 - buy stuff with store credit. As covered above, I believe the LGS needs to pay sales taxes on this. They can either charge you ($4 store credit for a pack, plus $0.40 sales tax), or net down their revenue (i.e., keep $3.64 and pass on $0.36 as sales tax).
I suspect many LGSes net this down - i.e., they collected $15/player and record expenses (including prize support) of 4 packs/player.
I could stand to hear more often about how awesome Gemstone Caverns is - that was completely off my radar before this thread.
I agree with you that these exercises are difficult in part because so much is undefined. With knowledge of a format and a meta and 59 other cards in a deck, we could probably make an informed opinion on what the best last card might be. But we'd probably still have a few different viewpoints (i.e., see every Established Legacy thread). On the other hand, arguing about Bazaar vs. Tolarian Academy (as a hypothetical example) is somewhat more of a nebulous exercise. And even if we nail it, so what? A list of "certified awesome" cards (like your primers) is probably more useful than a ranking of exactly 10 cards whose worth varies based on the deck and meta and all of the other undefined variables.
For cards that do a similar thing (i.e., tap for two colors of mana), then rankings could actually be useful. I still haven't incorporated Temples into my decks (running Shocks instead), and that might be a mistake - and a comparative ranking of dual lands might help point out that mistake.
Inclusion of expensive cards in primers might help two groups of players: 1) those (probably mentally unstable) folks that might spend $300 or even $700 on a card (like me), and 2) those whose groups allow proxies (I don't use them but I know people who do). Oh, third group - those 5 people who played MTG 20 years ago and didn't throw away their cards after quitting for 18 years, and are just now playing again (I met one of these mythical creatures the other night).
Both cards are great, but the former does (nearly) nothing (in my group) before eating removal because of reputation alone, while the latter actually provides some benefit for the investment of a card and 6 mana. The former also leads to some (of the less experienced) players miscalculating who the Threat is at the table, (occasionally) leading to an untimely demise for the C Sphinx player.
I used a lot of qualifiers.
One more qualifier: I also don't play Turn 2 dredge decks that are full of vintage cards, either.
Then one way to look at these rankings is as a test of your students. They provide feedback on 1) how well your students have studied and taken your teachings to heart, but also provide feedback on 2) how well you are doing at teaching those students. If folks don't rank Library of Alexandria or Gemstone Caverns in the top 10, then perhaps they haven't heard you talk enough about how awesome those cards are? In relation to other awesome cards.
You might ask the store if they were audited recently. They may have found that they owed sales taxes on the value of merchandise redeemed with store credit.
Yeah, the lower power level is part of the appeal (in some groups). In my group, the former (far better card) elicits a groan, while the latter elicits, "oh, that's a good card - I like that card."
I would still want to get some early creature drops in there. In groups that are new to MP, many folks will still run duel decks - i.e., complete with 1, 2 and 3 drops. You may not want to give 3 opponents 3 free swings at you while waiting for the 4 drops or a board wipe. Vampire Nighthawk helps a litte, but depending on how aggressive your group is, you might consider some 1 or 2 drops as well.
Underworld Connections is a strong recommendation as well. Someone (probably Prid3) had proposed a rule of thumb of including 6 draw spells in a deck - I want to see one every game, so I'm a strong believer.
I'm not saying that you CAN'T make a Korlash deck, but the difference between spending $22 on a set of Korlash and $5.50 on a Nykthos or $8 on a Phyrexian Arena or $13 on a Cabal Coffers is that you can use the latter three in a broader variety of decks (and you don't need a full playset). Just something to consider.
I like Korlash, but I'm not sure that he provides enough value to spend 25-30% of my deck budget on him.
The last Korlash deck I assembled looked something like this (I'm not saying this is perfect):
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Cabal Coffers
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Phyrexian Tower
3 Leechridden Swamp
11 Swamp
3 Syphon Mind
3 Phyrexian Arena
2 Mutilate
1 No Mercy
1 Lashwrithe
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Exsanguinate
1 Army of the Damned
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
4 Thrull Parasite
2 Wight of Precinct Six
3 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
4 Demigod of Revenge
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Griselbrand
Some differences: generic card draw (Syphon Mind) over Liliana to ensure I made land drops, some variety in mana sinks (Army of the Damned, Drana to go with Exsanguinate), some early creature drops that remain useful throughout a game, reusable recursion, different options for ramp (Cabal Coffers) and Urborg to make everything a swamp. Korlash was probably the weakest card in the deck - i.e., I wanted two of them before playing one, then I wanted to recur the one you discarded over and over. It's kinda durdly and still only nets one swamp/turn - there are more efficient ways to ramp in Black.
With $80, I might try instead something that ramps (Crypt Ghast), but doesn't rely on Korlash. This deck comes out under ~$40 (shipped!) using TCG's massentry and cards are all under $2, except for Demigod of Revenge (@$3). Any additional funds might go into Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Phyrexian Arenas.
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Leechridden Swamp
19 Swamp
Spells (14)
4 Syphon Mind
2 Mutilate
2 Lashwrithe
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Exsanguinate
1 Army of the Damned
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Tortured Existence
4 Thrull Parasite
2 Wight of Precinct Six
4 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Pack Rat
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Demigod of Revenge
2 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
If you want to stick with Korlash, then I would add 4 Syphon Mind, 4 Crypt Ghast, 2 Lashwrithe, 2 Phyrexian Reclamation and consider dropping 2 Liliana, 4 Magus of the Coffers, 2 Ghoulcaller's Chant, 4 Jet Medallion.
I would run 4 Lashwrithe before the first Squelching Leeches and I would also consider warm bodies over the rituals. You might also consider shaving Nightmares. And in this deck, Mutilate is a very inexpensive Damnation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.303_British#Civil_use
A couple draw creatures printed recently that could be useful - Grim Haruspex, Smothering Abomination. And Hermit Druid can also fill a graveyard quickly.
Deck building inspiration might wane - and even love for MTG might wane - but it usually comes back. I'll go months without seeing anything interesting. Which doesn't mean that there ISN'T anything interesting, it just means I'm not in that mental space to build something new.
Have: ~30 60-card decks plus a few 100-card decks.
Want to build: just about everything Prid3 posts, exalted, knights, soldiers, counters, Dragonstorm...
I typically only have to do 40 damage to close out a game, which is certainly within reach with a couple dragons. I like the idea of (occasionally) playing a deck that can do funny things, but that doesn't win ALL the time.
I forget so many things. The whole reason I put WCE in the deck was for the life gain - i.e., when I spend the first few turns tutoring for an playing 'posts, all attacks come in my direction. So I'm keeping WCE.