Keep Mobilization. Tokens are good in Ertai. The cost to produce each token is a little much, sure, but it's a mana sink -- for when you didn't have anything to counter in a round about the table. It's there to ensure your mana is always getting you value.
Crawlspace is a little less necessary. You've got plenty of attack-deterrents already; I don't think another will help. If someone is intent on hitting you with creautres, **** his **** up. Ruin his board. Combo him out. Whatever strikes your fancy. Keep in mind, you have a lot of control over the creatures on the board thanks to Grave Pact and Martyr's Bond. If no one has creatures to attack with, why bother trying to protect yourself from attacks, y'know?
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- madhatter00o
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Mar 14, 2015
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Ertai the CorruptedKeep Mobilization. Tokens are good in Ertai. The cost to produce each token is a little much, sure, but it's a mana sink -- for when you didn't have anything to counter in a round about the table. It's there to ensure your mana is always getting you value.Posted in: Bur
Crawlspace is a little less necessary. You've got plenty of attack-deterrents already; I don't think another will help. If someone is intent on hitting you with creautres, **** his **** up. Ruin his board. Combo him out. Whatever strikes your fancy. Keep in mind, you have a lot of control over the creatures on the board thanks to Grave Pact and Martyr's Bond. If no one has creatures to attack with, why bother trying to protect yourself from attacks, y'know? -
Mar 14, 2015
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Ertai the CorruptedYou've got plenty of counters/removal. Actually, I'd take out Mindbreak Trap. Yes, it exiles spells, which is nice for removing things you don't ever want hitting the field, but don't discount the effecacy of tempo-counters (counters that aren't necessarily permanent, but hinder an opponent's major plays... like Remand or Memory Lapse). Your opponent has lost the element of surprise, and other opponents might be more willing to gang up on him before he tries to cast the same thing again. Besides, 4 for Mindbreak Trap is a little steep for my tastes.Posted in: Bur
15 Stick-able instants are more than enough.
You don't need O-Ring; you've got instant removal, which is always better. If you felt the need for exile-removal in enchantment form, go with Detention Sphere, since it at least has the possibility of also taking out swarms. Like O-ring, D-sphere costs 3 and can be recurred with Sun Titan. -
Mar 14, 2015
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Ertai the CorruptedY u no Martial Coup?!Posted in: Bur
Also, the new Secure the Wastes is perfect here.
I don't know what you should take out, though. Maybe Sphere of Safety? You already have Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, AND Moat... of the 4, Sphere is the weakest. -
Feb 7, 2015
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Ertai the CorruptedCut:Posted in: Bur
Fog Bank: You've got plenty of better pillowfort in there already. You don't really need Fog Bank.
Utter End: You've already got Vindicate, and Utter End is on the expensive side for spot removal. Rather than use 4 to exile it, I'd rather use a bounce spell to throw off their tempo for using the problem-permanent.
Containment Priest: Too specific of a hoser, unless there's a serious problem of cheating creatures into play in your meta. I never saw the appeal of it.
Night of Souls Betrayal: It costs 4... and it could kill your token army... I'm not too sure about this one, but if you're using it in a clever way that I'm just not seeing, then you should keep it. If it's just there to hose, you should take it out for better things.
Counters:
Besides Memory Lapse and Remand, there aren't a lot of good 2-shop counters. Sure, these aren't hars counters, exactly, but they do set your opponents really far behind if they'e trying to drop fatties or make major plays. Trust me, a well-timed soft counter can screw up a combo or ruin someone's battlecruiser plans. Plus they can totally be imprinted on Isochron, so they effectively become hard counters at that point.
One you get into 3-drop territory, it can become difficult on the colour requirements. Still, Render Silent and Undermine have always had a little place in my heart. -
Feb 6, 2015
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Ertai the CorruptedTo Add:Posted in: Bur
Swords to Plowshares: I saw PtE, but not its older brother.
Claws of Gix: Free sac outlet. Lets you hit any permanent, which combos well with Martyr's Bond.
Skullclamp: Don't know why you have swords in over this. Doing tokens? Use the Clamp.
Academy Rector: Even without Omniscience, there are enough necessary enchantments to warrant it.
Replenish: Because someone's gonna kill your shiny enchantments eventually.
Gate to Phyrexia: Artifact kill on a stick that doubles as a sac outlet. Such a handy card.
High Market: Sac outlets with Grave Pact/Martyr's Bond let you make people sac things on your time.
Vampiric Tutor: If you can afford one, it's worth having. Search for *anything*...
Mystical Tutor: Lets you search for your main answers, like board wipes and counterspells/spot removal. Also, you can set up the pseudo-miracle with Terminus, to handle their creatures on the cheap.
Low-CMC mana rocks. Not the crazy 0-drops or anything, but Sol Ring and maybe some of the Talismans.
More counterspells. I would at least include Memory Lapse and Remand because they're annoying. They're also stupid-cheap (CMC), so there's even more reason for you to add Isochron Scepter. (If you do, can you imagine Vampiric Tutor on the Stick? ^_^)
Consider Taking Out:
Frozen Aether/Kismet: 4 is a lot for what they do. If you *must* include this effect, though, just use one of them. If you start the second one while you already have one (in play or in hand) it's a total dead draw, since their abilities don't stack.
Planar Cleansing: I reckon it's not going to be too hard to have a good board position with this build, so having too many board wipes isn't good. I'd give for quality/versatility over quantity. Austere Command is better in the 6-drop wipe slot for the main reason that you can choose what stays on the board.
Wrath of God or Damnation: Again, you probably don't need both. Plus, you're trying to make creature tokens, so killing off your army/sac fodder won't do you any good.
Okay, that's all I can think of for now. If I recall anything else that I remember about the deck, I'll let you know. -
Mar 6, 2014
madhatter00o posted a message on EDH: Toshiro UmezawaBUUUUUUUUUUR! Nice deck. I haven't looked at ISB's list or anything, but it looks like you have a good handle on how to build Toshiro. Just a few things I'd like to get your opinion on.Posted in: Bur
Why no...?:
- Animate Dead
- Damnation
- Grave Pact
- Dark Ritual
- Caged Sun
- Gauntlet of Power
- Jet Medallion
- Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Animate Dead is the main piece to use with Entomb. Plus, it's cheap recursion
Damnation is kind of a staple... I'm just surprised it's not in here. Is there a reason for this?
Grave Pact is some serious Black stax, and it contributes a LOT to devotion, which seems to be somewhat important based on your spells and Nykthos. In any case, it pretty much guarantees the board stays clear when used properly (i.e., with High Market, or any other sac engine).
Dark Ritual is an instant (and can thus be regained with Toshiro) as well as early ramp. Not always stunning in mid- to late-game, but it can boost you to right mana level really cheaply, so you can hang onto some instant-speed removal or drop a bomb.
Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power, and Jet Medallion are mana doublers and reducers, which is sooo necessary for mono-coloured decks. They can all be recurred with Beacon of Unrest, too. As long as you don't over-extend, which would be unlikely given the nature of the control deck, these are EDH mono-coloured gold. Plus, the Sun and Gauntlet power up your creatures.
Boseiju, I think, is a must for any deck that can't protect itself from counters... I guess it depends on the meta, though. I'm just used to playing against at least 2 other Blue decks at any time O_O;
Cards I'm not so sure about:
Argentum Armor, though excellent removal, costs too much (12, including equip) and you don't have a lot of ways to cheat it out (mostly just Beacon of Unrest.
Burnished Hart is fine ramp if you didn't have access to mana reducers (Jet Medallion, which NEEDS to be in any mono-Black deck) and mana doublers.
Stinkweed Imp is a little weak in comparison to your other creatures. It only really functions as a blocker (which is fine, since it's got flying), and I'm not sure how much you plan to abuse Dredge... I would expect a few more dredge cards at least if you were.
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Overall, though, I really like the deck. It looks fun, interesting, and challenging to play and to play against. Keep us updated with testing results. - Animate Dead
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Apr 1, 2012
madhatter00o posted a message on Trades: My Haves and (Perpetual) WantsYeah... that's actually the point. I don't really want it to be seen. It's just something to which I can refer people should they inquire.Posted in: madhatter00o Blog
Thanks, though.
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I just looked up the rules about loyalty abilities for 'walkers, and they state that loyalty abilities are activated abilities that are subject to special rules (which mostly revolve around paying for the ability -- that is adding or subtracting loyalty from the permanent).
Anyways, my question is can you respond to the activation of a planewalker's loyalty (activated) ability, and if so, can you do it in such a way that the ability doesn't go off?
(My instinct regarding the second part of the question tells me "No, the ability is already on the stack, so unless you can delete it from the stack [i.e. with a counter or something], it's going to go off." Still, I'd like to know, so please drop some knowledge on me.)
I will probably replace Hinder with Dissipate because the tuck rule has weakened. Having one tuck counter is still good for stopping big and/or annoying creatures and spells, and Dissipate exiles those, so it becomes its own unique form of removal.
The new cards don't offer much in the way of what GAA4 wants, which are cheap and versatile removal (both counters and kill/exile spells) or s/tax effects. That's just the direction the "new world order" is heading: more creatures, less spells. So there tend to be slim-pickins from the new sets.
Oh dear... I'll have to change my GAA4 primer. Finding 3CMC or less replacement counters won't be that hard, but how do you replace Condemn? It's just so good...
Okay, second thought, those cards can stay in, but they'll be way less effective. Not being able to use them on generals is rough. Taking out a big beastie (like Eldrazi titans) isn't a bad way to use them, but still... can't use them against generals. That... that hurts.
Apart from that, we've been drafting Khans and Fate just by ourselves. It's been pretty fun. I pulled Monastery Mentor and some other random stuff, and he's gotten two fetches. The drafting prectice has been really good, since we're going to the MM2 GP in Chiba in May. Having more experience drafting should help, and it's fun!
Since the point of the two dice is to stop players from wasting mana on rolling the die, I'm trying to think of a new way to introduce multiple dice rolls per turn without involving mana. I think a good solution might be "Skip a phase: roll the planar dice." Most players won't mind skipping a main phase or attack phase to get off a bad plane, and if the situation gets desperate, they can skip multiple phases (probably a main phase and attack phase, or both main phases, depending on the build of the decks).
What do you guys think?
*As mentioned, the two planar dice are for limiting wasted mana. Personally, I find the official re-roll system very mana-intensive, and I'd rather players use that mana to play their decks instead of chancing an escape from a hateful plane. It's a method that has worked pretty well, except for the issue that I described above.
We made our own flip Legenadry creature to Planeswalker cards in anticipation of the ones coming out in Origins. That's about it.
I mentioned it about 6 posts up... #173.
Do you have any specific questions about Narset?
She's mostly there for the indestructible Scry. If I have a beater out, I might use her ability to get them through. I tend to play this as a spell-based control deck, so I don't cast creatures unless I'm incredibly confident that they'll get their damage through, anyways (i.e., in times when I have such a good lock on the board, that no one can stop them). I will say that the Scry is very handy for keeping things in the deck. Monastery Siege makes you discard, which I'm a little uneasy about. Granted, if you toss enough enchantments in the 'yard, Replenish is a beast. Or you can toss <= 3 CMC stuff in the bin and Sun Titan them back. Snapcaster Mage is the other card that can interact with things you may have discarded. Other than those, there isn't a whole lot of GY shenanigans or recursion in this deck. But I suppose that's what the other mode (opponents' spells that target you or your stuff) is for.
Okay, so I've played a little with the Siege. Unfortunately, during the games in which I drew it, it came too late to make much of a difference. I'd already had the board under control and was working towards my win-con. Granted, the extra draw/discard helped a little, I found I rather preferred to just tutor for the card(s) I needed.
I'm keeping this in on trial in place of Thassa, God of the Sea because I want to see how it will work in the early and mid-game. I'll keep you updated as I play more games!
Cool thing is, when I pulled 1 in a pack and a foil in another pack, I was stupid excited. Ah, life's little pleasures.
So I basically finished my mono-Black EDH deck. I'm proxying the few cards that I'm waiting on in the mail, which my friend is alright with (he's proxying expensive cards that he needs for Nekusar, so we're even). Anyways, he won't play against that deck anymore for the sheer horror that it unleashes. Last time we played, he couldn't cast a spell without discarding 2 cards (and I had Waste Not out), and he couldn't keep any creatures on the board because of my Grave Pact shenanigans.
I'm pretty much done building EDH decks for now (unless I can get my half-built Bant PW deck from the States). I'm getting a little more into Standard because my friend here in Tokyo was kind enough to get into EDH for me. So I'm building Esper control in Standard. It's very budget, but I think it'll be pretty fun.
I was actually really disappointed with Narset. I would have loved to include her in GAA4 (possibly casting her for 2? OMG!), BUT(!) her abilities just don't jive that well with the deck. Yeah, it's *likely* you'll be able to get a card from her with her +1, but I don't consider that decent card advantage. Her -2 doesn't work well with the "draw-go" (or "draw-cast permanent-go") strategy that GAA4 utilizes. And her ulti is underwhelming in a format that is fairly (sometimes heavily) dependent on creatures. Plus, there's no way to protect her, since Sphere of Safety costs too much to play, even with GAA4 discounts, and Norn's Annex isn't punish-y enough (opponents can always pay the 2 life...). Overall, I'm opting not to include her.
As for Luminarch Ascension, I actually had the card in the deck at first, but took it out since it pains arrows to the target that's already on your head. It's easy enough to stop attacks and prevent certain cards from damaging you, but if an entire table is out to get you and/or remove Luminarch Ascension, they'll do it. Don't get me wrong, with a large enough play group, you can get it up and running with one go around the table. However, if you do it too early game (when no one has answers or creatures for attacking), you probably won't have the mana to abuse it, like it should be. If you drop it mid-late game, opponents will have a board state that can damage you - thus, preventing the accumulation of counters on it - or will have removal. You'll have wasted a turn casting it while drawing yet more hate from the table. Trust me... I know @_@
1) It's called Mint...something or other.
2) I have no idea. They had it priced really cheap, so I grabbed a copy.