I wish I had actually noticed this sooner. My entry is a little rushed due to the fact the next couple days I will be busy as hell and can't work until the deadline.
Though, woot for saving settings and menu sets from other previous works in the Photoshop menu system. I crafted this thing quick.
The original things in my entry are the dark low opacity bars across the top, bottom, and below the text, the two metal looking bars along the top and bottom, and the text itself.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
In case anyone wants to know...typefaces used:
creativity - scriptina
rumormill - lubalin graph
news - museo
community - poster bodoni
market street - interstate
decktech - mrseaves
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Really nice idea Mr.Stuff. I like how you chose to represent sections.
Thanks. Yours is awesome too; I love the fonts and the creative use of layers/masks to get the face out of the text. Should be a good contest all around.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Ok, time's up for judges to vote. The flamingo didn't. *?*
ExpiredRascals III
Gaea's Regent II
Megiddo II
Bobthefunny
MagicProfessor28
Rascal's deck being 1st is set to be tested. For the second deck, I'll give Regent's deck priority, so Megiddo 'can' test both.
I'll send PMs so the judging can begin.
The thread will soon be moved, but will come back briefly for the scores.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
I can't find what's this thread about.
Yes, it wanders the forums, but why?
Because the forums are there to be wandered
I am having heaps of fun watching what werewolves are doing in T2, but I have also been mucking around with a casual land destruction werewolves midrange deck – it's bloody rude! Anyone else trying this? Plow Under is sooo mean when you've got a few weres on the table, slavering to flip
Creativity/Originality: 5
This deck is one of the most original I have seen in a while... Very cool concept!
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 5
This deck uses Glimmerpost to win in a way I had never realized was quite possible. The Mirrorweave/Lifespark combo is sweet, possibly the only way to win off of Glimmerpost directly.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
The deck is pretty well put together, but after playtesting I was thinking that there might be a way to make it flow just a little better...
Power/Capacity to win: 3
When pitted against it's opponent deck (ER's), this deck had a 45% win ratio, which is a bit sub-par. However, due to the incremental lifegain and some other aspects, the deck functioned phenomenally well against other decks I tested it against.
Interaction/Protection: 3
The deck had some issues interacting with creature-based threats. Propaganda slows people down and all, but getting around it is sometimes a non-issue for control.
Format/Thematic: 1
Incredible adherence the the theme, good job!
Creativity/Originality: 3
I've seen this deck a few times before, so it loses three points there...but then the awesome wishboard brought it back a bit. It's been a long time since I've seen a good wishboard!
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
Though the deck doesn't win directly off of the Glimmerpost, it does incorporate it as a central piece to the win-lock.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
Man, this deck just FLOWS. Whenever I need a card, I seem to topdeck it or fish it out. Fantastic synergy. I did have a few dead draws with extra explorations though...
Power/Capacity to win: 4
The decks I pitted this baby against just seemed to fold away, crumpling before my game-ending lockdown! There were a few times where a well timed negate or spell pierce shut me out, but I was usually just worried about keeping myself going.
Interaction/Protection: 5
This deck functions incredibly well in this regard, which is probably why it's capacity to win is so high. I can literally tutor up an answer to just about anything, and letting your opponent toss accumulated knowledges or rune snags into the graveyard, only to boost your playstrength is awesome.
Format/Thematic: 0
No bonus here, though I think the deck is good!
Expired Rascals - 18.5; This deck did moderately well, unfortunately my play group figured out how it ticked after the first match and quickly disseminated how to beat it. I played it against a variety of decks, and I'd say it went about 60/40 based on the opponent's decks. It also can't play the aggro, which made me sad. *related note* - my play group did not enjoy playing against this deck.
Creativity/Originality: 3.5
I can't honestly say I expected much this round, so I'm going to be a little lenient. The card is hard to work around, with the single obvious choice being some method of lifegain. As such, a Zur's wielding combo lock gets a personal nod for being a creative use of the card. The wishboard works, though I rarely pulled anything more than a few lands and/or Magus of the future. I like the inclusion of various land bouncing moonfolk, as they add resiliency. Primeval titan seems like a winmore card, and I never grabbed it.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The deck obviously uses Glimmerpost well. It is a bouncing target to Meloku and the various moonfolk. Altogether the deck ran 50/50 against aggro, hinging on the ability to get out a propaganda or early chump blockers before it gets swarmed - the lock is moderately powerful, but got steamrolled by a burn and a soldier (jitte) deck. It ran into significant trouble against the chosen combo decks, failing hard against with a clock quicker than 5 turns. Against control it did slightly better, going roughly 65/35 as the match up depended on the ability to get all three pieces of the combo through counterspells - which was surprisingly difficult.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck is strong and well tuned. One look tells you that it's put together well. It's difficult to play properly though
Power/Capacity to win: 3.5
This deck can win, provided it can get protection against the decks it runs into problems against. Early Zoo is a strong problem if propaganda isn't in play, and in some cases it still died through propaganda thanks to stuff like Pridemage. Control decks pinpointed Zur's Weirding as the chief card to hit and never let it stick when possible. Combo decks killed it too fast.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5
See above comment
Gaea's Regent = 16; I wanted to make this deck work, I really did. I even passed this deck around (although, that was after I was done testing). No one could get it to work.
Creativity/Originality: 5
This deck is nothing if not creative. It was quite a unique package to open up - to say the least.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The choices all work around the main card fairly well - though 9 mana was extremely hard to get.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck is strong and well tuned, for what it's worth. The deck is put together about as well as it can get - unfortunately I still could only get it to work once against an aggro deck
Power/Capacity to win: 1
I won once in about 15 different games. I tried SO FREAKING HARD to get this deck to work, but the fact that it requires nine mana makes it absolutely brutal to get off. I only managed to get to the required nine mana three times out of fifteen, and two of which were against control. I actually had them draw a card with me at 67 health, bounce my test of endurance, and then counter it on it's way down. Sad Panda
Interaction/Protection: 2
Propaganda only went so far against the aggro. When comboing off, you really have no way to protect against a counterspell or three... or four... because they won't really counter anything until you combo off. Combo decks slaughtered this deck so badly
Notable decks I remember testing against:
G/W - Stoneforge mystic
W - Soldiers
U - MUC
B - MBC
W/U/B - Transmuter combo
G - Combo elves
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Even if the author is silenced, the performance is stopped, the story will not end.
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
Primeval titan seems like a winmore card, and I never grabbed it.
Primetime was the only way I could find to fetch glimmerpost off living wish without moving one from the mainboard. It was definitely one of the more fringe targets in my testing.
Looks like you had a strong gauntlet for the decks.
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Creativity/Originality: 5
I have to give you credit for this at least. 5 card combo? Very good, very good.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
Well, the deck kind of doesn't do anything without Glimmerpost, so I guess you get some points. However, the deck kind of doesn't do anything.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
I give you reasonable points here because, given what you were trying to do, your deck's choices made sense. Leyline of Sanctity stuck out as somewhat odd, but in general everything was ok.
Power/Capacity to win: 1 "Can the deck deliver the goods?"
No it cannot. Against any amount of pressure I had a hard time doing anything at all, much less try and win the game.
Interaction/Protection: 3
Propaganda was good but not good enough. Propaganda is not a catch-all answer like Ensnaring Bridge can be. Negate was good. Leyline is a sideboard card
Creativity/Originality: 3
When I saw the 4x Exploration I knew you wouldn't be getting a lot in this dimension. At least this time you did a more interesting card than Hermit Druid.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The deck is pretty powerful. There's a lot of moving pieces and a bit of a learning curve, but basically if you stick T1 Exploration you are in good shape. However, I saw Glimmerpost as a very secondary piece of the deck, as the Meloku/Exploration combo was much more crucial to winning or even just stabilizing. When Glimmerpost got involved you were just adding some win-more into the situation. Zur's Weirding also fits into this category. This is not to say that Glimmerpost wasn't very important, but it wasn't the focus of the deck in my opinion. Your real deck was a Meloku/Explore deck.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
I liked how the deck worked. The pieces seemed well-picked for what you were trying to do. Future Sight and Zur's Weirding are a nice combo. The intuition games you can play are quite fun, and your choices (accumulated knowledge for CA and rune snag for countering) were good.
I wished that you had a one-of life from the loam in here though. Life allows you to get CA with your lands, bypass Zur's Weirding in the late game, and have some more options for Intuition. Just one is required.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I may not have spent the adequate amount of time with the deck to fully learn it in and out, but I have to say that the deck seems capable of some good games. It has some trouble with very fast aggression, as it takes a few turns to get set up unless it has the perfect mix of exploration, propaganda on turn 2, and then some card draw to power out an early meloku. Still pretty good. Have I mentioned how powerful Meloku is yet?
Interaction/Protection: 3
Rune Snag and Propaganda help a lot. Intuition is a good way to interact, also. Unfortunately you really had no way to interact with things on the board. I got blown out by Bellowing Tanglewurm after I had stabilized with the full combo (meloku/exploration/glimmerpost/zur's weirding) in one game because I couldn't block with anything other than eternal witness, and that one didn't last long. You could have used some additional stuff here.
As echoed by other judges, this round was very hard to be original/creative. 3.75 is a bit of a lenient score, although relatively speaking this is much more creative than the other submissions. The cardpool is not super creative, but I think the creativity lies in the gameplan and execution of the entire deck. I suppose that's to be expected with a Wishboard, but each playthrough offered something different. There were little surprises through each turn - I quite liked it.
Effectiveness/Card Adherence: 4.5
Glimmerpost really really shined in this deck. With only 3 Meloku and 1 Vesuva I thought Glimmerpost would be a bit underwhelming, but that was definitely not the case thanks to all the draw/tutoring. This deck made it feel like I was winning thanks to Glimmerpost (although Meloku pulled a lot of that weight too). Anyways congrats on very effectively incorporating Glimmerpost.
Synergy/Tuning: 4.5
Really well done here. You can tell this is a well thought out deck that takes into consideration mana curve and manages it's own tempo very well. Exploration is a perfect choice - it does not hurt to have multiples of this card. It's also the only 1-CMC card that allows you to play smoothly without sacrificing protection/gameplay. The drawing spells do not really clash with Zur's Weirding as you will only need them before Weirding lands, and afterwards you have Future Sight.
Wishboard highlights - Maze of Ith, Hinterland Harbor - combined w/ Propaganda, the Maze was often a lifesaver. The harbor I highlight because it seems like an out of place card yet it's just perfect in the sideboard. Wish at 2 lands then play Harbor without losing any tempo or life - it's just very well thought out. Some of the sideboard creatures I did not care too much for - Some choices I wish do I had were Trygon Predator to cover multiple Artifacts/Enchantments and Phyrexian Revoker for Activated Abilities/Planeswalkers.
Power/Capacity to Win - 4.25
Most of the time this deck was able to stabilize with a few exceptions. Burn was a very tough matchup as expected since Propaganda/Maze of Ith were dead draws and Zur's Weirding was just asking to be killed faster. At one point I managed to set up Glimmerpost + Meloku (after having it burned away twice), only for the opponent to drop Sulfuric Vortex then Volcanic Fallout - I cried a bit :crying:.
Against Aggro it was surprisingly better than I thought - it was cutting it close at times and I felt like I was going to lose (and sometimes I did), but then Meloku + Glimmerpost came to save the day. Propganda was absolutely crucial and I wish there were 4 copies in here instead of 3.
Against Control I made sure to get out Zur's Weirding ASAP with the help of Exploration and it did work for a while as opponents really undervalued Glimmerpost. Some were very confused by the card and just let it go :). Games 2/3 against the same opponents did not fare as well because they caught on to the strategy and made sure Weirding didn't stick around. Blue Control was hard to beat, although control decks that had few/no-answers to Enchantments were a cakewalk.
The matchup against combo fell a bit short because a lot of the decks I played actually used similar cards in our deck (Tutors to get around Weirding, "pseudo-draw" like Fact or Fiction to bypass Weirding, Propaganda for Meloku tokens, etc). But still, overall a very solid deck, and I felt good playing it.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5
As mentioned above, 1 extra copy of Propaganda would have been nice for the aggressive decks. Removal/Disruption is lacking - Rune Snag was good, but I wish there was more. The sideboard is where most of the protection comes from (Mystic Snake/Venser/Temporal Spring, etc), but with Living Wish I had to reveal what I fetched so opponents were able to play around the cards. Mystic Snake loses a lot of power when your opponent knows it's coming...Snapcaster Mage in the wishboard may have been a better option to play more mind games with the opponent. Gilded Drake as well for more protection against creatures perhaps?
Thematic - 0, but kudos for trying the Moonfolk theme.
Gaea's Reagent:
Overall: 15
Creativity/Originality: 4.5
You know at first I was going to give you +1 just for not using Tolarian Academy (Previous CDCC participants should get this joke :p) but then I realized how frustrating this deck was with the lack of mana. The irony.
Anyways, the strategy of using Mirrorweave + Scapeshift + Lifespark Spellbomb seems original, although the way it's presented it looks like a mishmash of old combos I've seen before. We've seen Scapeshift + Mass Land Effects, and there are many combos abusing Mirrorweave. But using it all to gain life with Locuses and then winning via Test of Endurance is certainly a new addition to the normal combos we've seen before. HOWEVER, the entire deck did not support this level of originality so the creativity could not shine through - and that's a real shame.
So I had a lot of hopes for this deck, but I think it needs a lot more tuning. Is the potential for creativity and originality there? I think so, which is why I give you a 4.5
Effectiveness/Card Adherence:3
A good idea that fell short in execution. There is crazy potential in using Scapeshift in conjunction with multiple Glimmerposts already on the field. The problem was that it needed 9 freakin' mana to do this! That's 45% of your manabase...and by the time I was ready to go off, I already had 4~5 Glimmerpost/Vesuva on the field, so I couldn't maximize the lifegain triggers. In that sense Glimmerpost was not effectively incorporated.
Also a lot of the times I just had to go off with just Scapeshift before hitting 9 mana just to save me from losing - again I have to reiterate the rest of the deck did not support the potential of this combo. So I really can't say the deck used the selected card well.
Synergy/Tuning:2.5
As I said above, the deck felt really untuned. This deck did not benefit from a slow manabase w/ Seaside Citadel, and also faced random mana + color screw because of the 4 colorless lands + 8 lands CIPT and basic lands providing single colors only. Double-White was the most troublesome.
20 Lands was not enough for the deck - I overlooked that fact when I was picking for testing. I thought it was 24 - next time please provide numbers... Artifact Lands could have helped w/ Trinket Mage too. I normally don't like your Academy in everything manabase, but this is one deck where Tolarian Academy could have been really helpful in reaching 9 mana. With the aforementioned artifact support, this could have been so much better.
Overall I think the deck tried to do too much, and adding a 3rd major color really did not help. As I will elaborate below, this deck would have been better as 2-colors + splash.
Power/Capacity to Win:2
I lost most of the games to be honest. Eventually I had to drastically lower the power level of the decks I was testing against (aka, I used MY own convoluted combo decks to test yours).
Honestly, I would have just gone U/W + Green Splash just for the Spellbomb and drop the rest of the Green plan involving Scapeshift. The Scapeshift plan could have been done using Rite of Replication - this requires 1 more mana than your original plan, but it also doesn't need Mirrorweave to succeed. Going U/W makes your deck much more stable than U/W/G. At the very least Rite isn't a dead card that you hold onto forever.
Another cool idea would have been using Mimic Vat as a Glimmerpost/Vesuva enabler. Nobody would expect you to Lifespark Spellbomb a land to put it on Mimic Vat. Using End-of-Turn tricks you could put 1 Glimmerpost out via the Vat and then another on your own Turn. This would have gone along nicely with the artifact theme, not to mention it's rarely a dead card.
Interaction/Protection: 2
This deck got rolled over before reaching 9 mana. It really needed more acceleration or Tolarian Academy.
Propaganda always helps, but was really not enough. People use this as a sole catch-all against creature decks but it's a card that requires support behind if too. As mentioned by other judges Leyline of Sanctity is not a mainboard card! I would have been happy to side it in since it was useless against many games and so often a dead draw.
Negate only protected your combo, and a lot of times I was wishing for protection from creatures instead. While I wish I could say Lifegain was a form of protection from creatures, this deck depended on a quick burst of lifegain to win, and that burst came waaaaayyyyy too late.
Thematic: +1 , well it's the only deck that can actually say "I beat you with Glimmerpost"
I really wish I could see this deck in a much more fine-tuned state. I had really high hopes for this deck! Good thing it's only Round 0 and it doesn't count toward the overall score Kudos for trying though. It was a good idea but ultimately needed a lot more work.
Creativity/Originality: 3.75
As echoed by other judges, this round was very hard to be original/creative. 3.75 is a bit of a lenient score, although relatively speaking this is much more creative than the other submissions. The cardpool is not super creative, but I think the creativity lies in the gameplan and execution of the entire deck. I suppose that's to be expected with a Wishboard, but each playthrough offered something different. There were little surprises through each turn - I quite liked it.
Effectiveness/Card Adherence: 4.5 Glimmerpost really really shined in this deck. With only 3 Meloku and 1 Vesuva I thought Glimmerpost would be a bit underwhelming, but that was definitely not the case thanks to all the draw/tutoring. This deck made it feel like I was winning thanks to Glimmerpost (although Meloku pulled a lot of that weight too). Anyways congrats on very effectively incorporating Glimmerpost.
Synergy/Tuning: 4.5
Really well done here. You can tell this is a well thought out deck that takes into consideration mana curve and manages it's own tempo very well. Exploration is a perfect choice - it does not hurt to have multiples of this card. It's also the only 1-CMC card that allows you to play smoothly without sacrificing protection/gameplay. The drawing spells do not really clash with Zur's Weirding as you will only need them before Weirding lands, and afterwards you have Future Sight.
Wishboard highlights - Maze of Ith, Hinterland Harbor - combined w/ Propaganda, the Maze was often a lifesaver. The harbor I highlight because it seems like an out of place card yet it's just perfect in the sideboard. Wish at 2 lands then play Harbor without losing any tempo or life - it's just very well thought out. Some of the sideboard creatures I did not care too much for - Some choices I wish do I had were Trygon Predator to cover multiple Artifacts/Enchantments and Phyrexian Revoker for Activated Abilities/Planeswalkers.
Power/Capacity to Win - 4.25
Most of the time this deck was able to stabilize with a few exceptions. Burn was a very tough matchup as expected since Propaganda/Maze of Ith were dead draws and Zur's Weirding was just asking to be killed faster. At one point I managed to set up Glimmerpost + Meloku (after having it burned away twice), only for the opponent to drop Sulfuric Vortex then Volcanic Fallout - I cried a bit :crying:.
Against Aggro it was surprisingly better than I thought - it was cutting it close at times and I felt like I was going to lose (and sometimes I did), but then Meloku + Glimmerpost came to save the day. Propganda was absolutely crucial and I wish there were 4 copies in here instead of 3.
Against Control I made sure to get out Zur's Weirding ASAP with the help of Exploration and it did work for a while as opponents really undervalued Glimmerpost. Some were very confused by the card and just let it go :). Games 2/3 against the same opponents did not fare as well because they caught on to the strategy and made sure Weirding didn't stick around. Blue Control was hard to beat, although control decks that had few/no-answers to Enchantments were a cakewalk.
The matchup against combo fell a bit short because a lot of the decks I played actually used similar cards in our deck (Tutors to get around Weirding, "pseudo-draw" like Fact or Fiction to bypass Weirding, Propaganda for Meloku tokens, etc). But still, overall a very solid deck, and I felt good playing it.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5 As mentioned above, 1 extra copy of Propaganda would have been nice for the aggressive decks. Removal/Disruption is lacking - Rune Snag was good, but I wish there was more. The sideboard is where most of the protection comes from (Mystic Snake/Venser/Temporal Spring, etc), but with Living Wish I had to reveal what I fetched so opponents were able to play around the cards. Mystic Snake loses a lot of power when your opponent knows it's coming...Snapcaster Mage in the wishboard may have been a better option to play more mind games with the opponent. Gilded Drake as well for more protection against creatures perhaps?
Thematic - 0, but kudos for trying the Moonfolk theme.
Gaea's Reagent: Score Pending...Still typing it up
Excellent analysis DLink. I look forward to reading your review for GR.
I'm glad you enjoyed playing my deck
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
Quote from votan »
:ER:, you suck as a hero
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Though, woot for saving settings and menu sets from other previous works in the Photoshop menu system. I crafted this thing quick.
The original things in my entry are the dark low opacity bars across the top, bottom, and below the text, the two metal looking bars along the top and bottom, and the text itself.
As for the art work involved,
Emeria, the Sky Ruin by Jaime Jones
Crypt of Agadeem by Jason Felix
Magosi, the Waterveil by Eric Deschamps
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood by Mike Bierek
Valakut, the Mountain Pinnacle by Kieran Yanner
Expedition Map by Franz Vohwinkel
Explorer's Scope by Vincent Proce
Trailblazer's Boots by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
The Zendikar logo is owned by Wizards of the Coast and is from the 51st Magic Expansion, Zendikar, of the Zendikar block.
This means either card links, hyperlinks, or piece and artist names. Original art should be noted as such.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
Original, own the photo used to create it.
In case anyone wants to know...typefaces used:
creativity - scriptina
rumormill - lubalin graph
news - museo
community - poster bodoni
market street - interstate
decktech - mrseaves
Keeping my entry as it is though.
Nice work so far everyone!
My YouTube Channel
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
Thanks. Yours is awesome too; I love the fonts and the creative use of layers/masks to get the face out of the text. Should be a good contest all around.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
Poll is located here
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
As I understand it, the 2 decks to be judged were chosen before it headed to my domain.
EDIT:
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
I am having heaps of fun watching what werewolves are doing in T2, but I have also been mucking around with a casual land destruction werewolves midrange deck – it's bloody rude! Anyone else trying this? Plow Under is sooo mean when you've got a few weres on the table, slavering to flip
Creativity/Originality: 5
This deck is one of the most original I have seen in a while... Very cool concept!
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 5
This deck uses Glimmerpost to win in a way I had never realized was quite possible. The Mirrorweave/Lifespark combo is sweet, possibly the only way to win off of Glimmerpost directly.
Synergy/Tuning: 3
The deck is pretty well put together, but after playtesting I was thinking that there might be a way to make it flow just a little better...
Power/Capacity to win: 3
When pitted against it's opponent deck (ER's), this deck had a 45% win ratio, which is a bit sub-par. However, due to the incremental lifegain and some other aspects, the deck functioned phenomenally well against other decks I tested it against.
Interaction/Protection: 3
The deck had some issues interacting with creature-based threats. Propaganda slows people down and all, but getting around it is sometimes a non-issue for control.
Format/Thematic: 1
Incredible adherence the the theme, good job!
Creativity/Originality: 3
I've seen this deck a few times before, so it loses three points there...but then the awesome wishboard brought it back a bit. It's been a long time since I've seen a good wishboard!
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
Though the deck doesn't win directly off of the Glimmerpost, it does incorporate it as a central piece to the win-lock.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
Man, this deck just FLOWS. Whenever I need a card, I seem to topdeck it or fish it out. Fantastic synergy. I did have a few dead draws with extra explorations though...
Power/Capacity to win: 4
The decks I pitted this baby against just seemed to fold away, crumpling before my game-ending lockdown! There were a few times where a well timed negate or spell pierce shut me out, but I was usually just worried about keeping myself going.
Interaction/Protection: 5
This deck functions incredibly well in this regard, which is probably why it's capacity to win is so high. I can literally tutor up an answer to just about anything, and letting your opponent toss accumulated knowledges or rune snags into the graveyard, only to boost your playstrength is awesome.
Format/Thematic: 0
No bonus here, though I think the deck is good!
I can't honestly say I expected much this round, so I'm going to be a little lenient. The card is hard to work around, with the single obvious choice being some method of lifegain. As such, a Zur's wielding combo lock gets a personal nod for being a creative use of the card. The wishboard works, though I rarely pulled anything more than a few lands and/or Magus of the future. I like the inclusion of various land bouncing moonfolk, as they add resiliency. Primeval titan seems like a winmore card, and I never grabbed it.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The deck obviously uses Glimmerpost well. It is a bouncing target to Meloku and the various moonfolk. Altogether the deck ran 50/50 against aggro, hinging on the ability to get out a propaganda or early chump blockers before it gets swarmed - the lock is moderately powerful, but got steamrolled by a burn and a soldier (jitte) deck. It ran into significant trouble against the chosen combo decks, failing hard against with a clock quicker than 5 turns. Against control it did slightly better, going roughly 65/35 as the match up depended on the ability to get all three pieces of the combo through counterspells - which was surprisingly difficult.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck is strong and well tuned. One look tells you that it's put together well. It's difficult to play properly though
Power/Capacity to win: 3.5
This deck can win, provided it can get protection against the decks it runs into problems against. Early Zoo is a strong problem if propaganda isn't in play, and in some cases it still died through propaganda thanks to stuff like Pridemage. Control decks pinpointed Zur's Weirding as the chief card to hit and never let it stick when possible. Combo decks killed it too fast.
Interaction/Protection: 3.5
See above comment
Gaea's Regent = 16; I wanted to make this deck work, I really did. I even passed this deck around (although, that was after I was done testing). No one could get it to work.
This deck is nothing if not creative. It was quite a unique package to open up - to say the least.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The choices all work around the main card fairly well - though 9 mana was extremely hard to get.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
The deck is strong and well tuned, for what it's worth. The deck is put together about as well as it can get - unfortunately I still could only get it to work once against an aggro deck
Power/Capacity to win: 1
I won once in about 15 different games. I tried SO FREAKING HARD to get this deck to work, but the fact that it requires nine mana makes it absolutely brutal to get off. I only managed to get to the required nine mana three times out of fifteen, and two of which were against control. I actually had them draw a card with me at 67 health, bounce my test of endurance, and then counter it on it's way down. Sad Panda
Interaction/Protection: 2
Propaganda only went so far against the aggro. When comboing off, you really have no way to protect against a counterspell or three... or four... because they won't really counter anything until you combo off. Combo decks slaughtered this deck so badly
Notable decks I remember testing against:
G/W - Stoneforge mystic
W - Soldiers
U - MUC
B - MBC
W/U/B - Transmuter combo
G - Combo elves
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
Primetime was the only way I could find to fetch glimmerpost off living wish without moving one from the mainboard. It was definitely one of the more fringe targets in my testing.
Looks like you had a strong gauntlet for the decks.
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
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I have to give you credit for this at least. 5 card combo? Very good, very good.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 3
Well, the deck kind of doesn't do anything without Glimmerpost, so I guess you get some points. However, the deck kind of doesn't do anything.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
I give you reasonable points here because, given what you were trying to do, your deck's choices made sense. Leyline of Sanctity stuck out as somewhat odd, but in general everything was ok.
Power/Capacity to win: 1
"Can the deck deliver the goods?"
No it cannot. Against any amount of pressure I had a hard time doing anything at all, much less try and win the game.
Interaction/Protection: 3
Propaganda was good but not good enough. Propaganda is not a catch-all answer like Ensnaring Bridge can be. Negate was good. Leyline is a sideboard card
When I saw the 4x Exploration I knew you wouldn't be getting a lot in this dimension. At least this time you did a more interesting card than Hermit Druid.
Effectiveness/Card adherence: 4
The deck is pretty powerful. There's a lot of moving pieces and a bit of a learning curve, but basically if you stick T1 Exploration you are in good shape. However, I saw Glimmerpost as a very secondary piece of the deck, as the Meloku/Exploration combo was much more crucial to winning or even just stabilizing. When Glimmerpost got involved you were just adding some win-more into the situation. Zur's Weirding also fits into this category. This is not to say that Glimmerpost wasn't very important, but it wasn't the focus of the deck in my opinion. Your real deck was a Meloku/Explore deck.
Synergy/Tuning: 4
I liked how the deck worked. The pieces seemed well-picked for what you were trying to do. Future Sight and Zur's Weirding are a nice combo. The intuition games you can play are quite fun, and your choices (accumulated knowledge for CA and rune snag for countering) were good.
I wished that you had a one-of life from the loam in here though. Life allows you to get CA with your lands, bypass Zur's Weirding in the late game, and have some more options for Intuition. Just one is required.
Power/Capacity to win: 4
I may not have spent the adequate amount of time with the deck to fully learn it in and out, but I have to say that the deck seems capable of some good games. It has some trouble with very fast aggression, as it takes a few turns to get set up unless it has the perfect mix of exploration, propaganda on turn 2, and then some card draw to power out an early meloku. Still pretty good. Have I mentioned how powerful Meloku is yet?
Interaction/Protection: 3
Rune Snag and Propaganda help a lot. Intuition is a good way to interact, also. Unfortunately you really had no way to interact with things on the board. I got blown out by Bellowing Tanglewurm after I had stabilized with the full combo (meloku/exploration/glimmerpost/zur's weirding) in one game because I couldn't block with anything other than eternal witness, and that one didn't last long. You could have used some additional stuff here.
Creativity/Originality: 3.75
Wishboard highlights - Maze of Ith, Hinterland Harbor - combined w/ Propaganda, the Maze was often a lifesaver. The harbor I highlight because it seems like an out of place card yet it's just perfect in the sideboard. Wish at 2 lands then play Harbor without losing any tempo or life - it's just very well thought out. Some of the sideboard creatures I did not care too much for - Some choices I wish do I had were Trygon Predator to cover multiple Artifacts/Enchantments and Phyrexian Revoker for Activated Abilities/Planeswalkers.
Against Aggro it was surprisingly better than I thought - it was cutting it close at times and I felt like I was going to lose (and sometimes I did), but then Meloku + Glimmerpost came to save the day. Propganda was absolutely crucial and I wish there were 4 copies in here instead of 3.
Against Control I made sure to get out Zur's Weirding ASAP with the help of Exploration and it did work for a while as opponents really undervalued Glimmerpost. Some were very confused by the card and just let it go :). Games 2/3 against the same opponents did not fare as well because they caught on to the strategy and made sure Weirding didn't stick around. Blue Control was hard to beat, although control decks that had few/no-answers to Enchantments were a cakewalk.
The matchup against combo fell a bit short because a lot of the decks I played actually used similar cards in our deck (Tutors to get around Weirding, "pseudo-draw" like Fact or Fiction to bypass Weirding, Propaganda for Meloku tokens, etc). But still, overall a very solid deck, and I felt good playing it.
Creativity/Originality: 4.5
You know at first I was going to give you +1 just for not using Tolarian Academy (Previous CDCC participants should get this joke :p) but then I realized how frustrating this deck was with the lack of mana. The irony.
Anyways, the strategy of using Mirrorweave + Scapeshift + Lifespark Spellbomb seems original, although the way it's presented it looks like a mishmash of old combos I've seen before. We've seen Scapeshift + Mass Land Effects, and there are many combos abusing Mirrorweave. But using it all to gain life with Locuses and then winning via Test of Endurance is certainly a new addition to the normal combos we've seen before. HOWEVER, the entire deck did not support this level of originality so the creativity could not shine through - and that's a real shame.
I mean, I love Convoluted Mirrorweave combos - in fact I have a lifegain deck that abuses Mirroweave lifegain too! See right here: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=268579
So I had a lot of hopes for this deck, but I think it needs a lot more tuning. Is the potential for creativity and originality there? I think so, which is why I give you a 4.5
Also a lot of the times I just had to go off with just Scapeshift before hitting 9 mana just to save me from losing - again I have to reiterate the rest of the deck did not support the potential of this combo. So I really can't say the deck used the selected card well.
You used 4 copies of Trinket Mage but left out so many possible choices. I would have dropped all the Enchantment support except Test of Endurance and just have gone with Artifact support (Engineered Explosives, Meekstone, Lotus Bloom, and I would have allowed 1 Mana Vault in a deck like this)
20 Lands was not enough for the deck - I overlooked that fact when I was picking for testing. I thought it was 24 - next time please provide numbers... Artifact Lands could have helped w/ Trinket Mage too. I normally don't like your Academy in everything manabase, but this is one deck where Tolarian Academy could have been really helpful in reaching 9 mana. With the aforementioned artifact support, this could have been so much better.
Overall I think the deck tried to do too much, and adding a 3rd major color really did not help. As I will elaborate below, this deck would have been better as 2-colors + splash.
Power/Capacity to Win: 2
Honestly, I would have just gone U/W + Green Splash just for the Spellbomb and drop the rest of the Green plan involving Scapeshift. The Scapeshift plan could have been done using Rite of Replication - this requires 1 more mana than your original plan, but it also doesn't need Mirrorweave to succeed. Going U/W makes your deck much more stable than U/W/G. At the very least Rite isn't a dead card that you hold onto forever.
Another cool idea would have been using Mimic Vat as a Glimmerpost/Vesuva enabler. Nobody would expect you to Lifespark Spellbomb a land to put it on Mimic Vat. Using End-of-Turn tricks you could put 1 Glimmerpost out via the Vat and then another on your own Turn. This would have gone along nicely with the artifact theme, not to mention it's rarely a dead card.
Interaction/Protection: 2
Propaganda always helps, but was really not enough. People use this as a sole catch-all against creature decks but it's a card that requires support behind if too. As mentioned by other judges Leyline of Sanctity is not a mainboard card! I would have been happy to side it in since it was useless against many games and so often a dead draw.
Negate only protected your combo, and a lot of times I was wishing for protection from creatures instead. While I wish I could say Lifegain was a form of protection from creatures, this deck depended on a quick burst of lifegain to win, and that burst came waaaaayyyyy too late.
I really wish I could see this deck in a much more fine-tuned state. I had really high hopes for this deck! Good thing it's only Round 0 and it doesn't count toward the overall score Kudos for trying though. It was a good idea but ultimately needed a lot more work.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
Excellent analysis DLink. I look forward to reading your review for GR.
I'm glad you enjoyed playing my deck
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules