MTG Salvation

Hey, here's this: http://mythicspoiler.com/war/cards/rolereversal.html

Is this even the correct deck to play in a turn-three-Hatred kind of environment?

I like your list! Have you read the thread here, which talks about utilizing Mardu colors for political purposes in multiplayer games? The thesis is that politics actually means setting up a situation where you benefit from the most logical action another player could take. In most instances, it means attacking another player.

Speaking of this style of deck, another player took that idea a step further and helped popularize the term Aikido as a deck type. Their Queen Marchesa deck is well documented and interesting. You could find some good inspiration in both places for your Mathas deck.

Glad you are trying out Arcbond. No joke, I put it in just about any deck sporting red. The amount of flexibility it provides is awesome. Board wipe, game-winning (or, in one instance, game-drawing) card, can do silly stuff if your creature has lifelink. Lots of potential.

This seems good for Zedruu: http://mythicspoiler.com/aer/cards/paradoxengine.html

If you have Seismic Assault and Swans of Bryn Argoll with any draw doubler, you can basically draw your deck.

Yesterday's 1v1 was a good lesson in playing to one's outs.

Sitting alright at 33 life, with Zedruu, Kami of the Crescent Moon and Vedalken Orrery in play, and Font of Mythos and Paradox Haze donated.

It was my opponent's turn, and he had Abyssal Persecutor, a freshly played Phyrexian Obliterator equipped with Swiftfoot Boots, and a then-creature Erebos, God of the Dead. All buffed by a Gauntlet of Power.

He started off his first main phase by casting Temporal Extortion, which further complicated things. I figured I had more of a chance if he only had the one turn to attack, so I decided to pay half my life and play to my outs.

He went to combat, I responded by casting Time Spiral and hoping to hit something. I drew Academy Rector and Shimmer Myr. Told him he could continue and he did, swinging with his whole team.

I flashed both human and myr in, then set up blocks against the only thing I thought I could (which was, amusingly, Obliterator: in that moment I thought Erebos's "indestructible" read "intimidate", a silly misplay), losing the Academy Rector and Kami (and Myr and mana rock to the sacrifice trigger) and only taking one point of damage from the trample. With the other attackers, that put me at 2 life. I searched my library off the Academy Rector trigger.

I figured he had a way to sacrifice the Abyssal Persecutor, so I knew I didn't have more than my upcoming turn. I considered getting Mind Over Matter, but the damn Swiftfoot Boots made that a poor choice. So I went with Thought Reflection and hoped to end it on my turn. You know, outs.

Sure enough, I found Dream Halls among the next 14 cards I drew, resolved Swans of Bryn Argoll and Seismic Assault and drew then rest of my deck.

Edit: In actual hindsight, the correct play was to only block with the Academy Rector, go to negative life (he was tapped out and had already played a land, so I don't think he could have gotten rid of his own Abyssal Persecutor) and then drawn more off the Kami. Lessons learned.

Did I miss something? It looks like the only things worth trying out from the Commander 2016 decks are what were previously discussed.

TL/DR from today's game: Possibility Storm copied twice (Clever Impersonator and Copy Enchantment) ultimately led to most of the deck in play, March of the Machines and Opalescence turning all artifacts and enchantments into creatures and a Mirrorweave targeting Warstorm Surge. Memnite then found Kami of the Crescent Moon and Sakashima the Impostor to end the game.

Also, I'm glad Possibility Storm contains a "may" clause, otherwise in the process of pulling that turn off, I would have dealt 13 damage to everything and killed all my enchantments.

Edit: And the final turn did take about 20 minutes, just like you said...

Quote from tstorm823 »

...If neither of those decks has something worth playing here, I'm gonna be sorely disappointed...

My thoughts exactly! Those descriptions made me think of Zedruu as well. Looking forward to seeing what they bring.

It's not optimal, but usually the games move along quickly enough that someone's able to end it.

I do prefer the four-person games I'm able to occasionally play on the weekends. Outlandish things happen then. More social, too.

I'm planning to sub Show and Tell for Aetherflux Reservoir mostly for the group hug effect, but also because potentially accelerating into the chaos phase of the game would be nice for my lunch-time matches. We usually only have an hour to play.

The only disappointing part is that with Dream Halls and Eye of the Storm they couldn't manage a defense. Not a knock against them, it happens sometimes, but man the stack achieves glorious status when that happens.

Agreed. I think next time I'm going to make sure they know how and when they can interact. Like, really make sure they get it.

It's always been one of my favourites, despite initially having no idea how to use it. I started playing around Weatherlight. The puzzle box is what made Teferi become one of my favourite characters. Incidentally, Dream Halls has always been a favourite card of mine too. I've had 2 copies since the first reviews of Stronghold labelled it 'the worst card in the set'. Zedruu sure showed them!

I remember reading that in Inquest Magazine back in the day.

Quote from toctheyounger77 »

Good times! I haven't seen it in years, but that image just reminded me how much I LOVE the original puzzle box art.

Agreed! I usually favor original art, especially when it's from a set that just released not long after I first started playing. Probably could not have predicted I'd be making use of it in such a way so many years later.