Eric Froehlich - ??? Antony Del Moral Leon - ??? Jelgar Wiegersma - Splinter Twin Seth Manfield - Burn Justin Cohen - Bloom Titan Jacob Wilson - Abzan Lee Shi Tian - Burn Jesse Hampton - ???
Efro and Jesse Hampton are both on the conventional Rock Abzan list (as opposed to Wilson who is playing "Podless Pod").
No idea what Leon is playing. Can anyone chime in?
Is there a consensus on which lifegain lands are the best to play?
Radiant Fountain seems much more efficient than 2 Glimmerpost, so I find it surprising to see that some people still use post (2nd place at an SCG IQ last weekend http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=8873&d=250610&f=MO). The trade-offs seems so marginal, but 2 post is an extra card so it seems to me that its not worth it. Grabbing 2 posts off a Primetime to gain 4 life can be accomplished with Vesuva + Radiant Fountain for the same effect. The rare cases where posts gain 3 life are pretty much negligible and do not compensate for the extra card slot needed.
Kabira Crossroads also seems pretty close to Fountain. I suppose the fact that it taps for white can help in a pinch to pay for Sunhome/Slayers, but it comes in tapped which is almost always worse. There has to be at least a few scenarios where you find yourself one colorless mana short of the optimal play due to it being tapped, so is the white mana enough compensation for that?
If it weren't for proxies I wouldn't be playing Legacy at all. That said, I dislike it when people play with very poorly made proxies (sharpied cards, low res printouts, etc). Bad proxies greatly cheapen the experience.
Although Wizards doesn't condone it, I go out of my way to make high quality proxies (Wizards would call them "counterfeits", but there is no way anyone could mistake them for real cards even in a quick inspection). The proxies are high enough quality that you can somewhat "forget" they aren't genuine cards and it actually feels like you are playing with the real deal (especially if in sleeves).
Playing with proxies allows you explore an entire format in a way that just wouldn't be feasible by buying cards. At the moment I have a card pool of enough proxies to put together all the most popular decks in the Legacy meta. With a friend I could "re-enact" any matchup from a recent top 8 in an SCG Open. Its tons of fun and is great for getting a broad sense of what Legacy is all about.
Does anyone else think Storm is on its way out with the recent resurgence of Burn, thanks to Eidolon of the Great Revel? That single card has turned Burn into a pretty much unwinnable matchup.
GBx is a pain and has been troublesome for a while, but Eidolon is pretty much the nail in the coffin.
Hey guys, I'm new to competitive Magic and I've decided to try out storm. I've been goldfishing to learn the deck and I'm wondering how early I should be going off.
In other words, what should my goldfish stats be before I can be considered competent? What's a feasible benchmark to aim for?
Does anyone happen to know which colors of Ultra Pro Matte have completely opaque backs?
I have found that Red, Orange, and Yellow all have slightly transparent backs making it possible to notice double faced cards through them. Light Blue is surprisingly very opaque and I have had no problems with them so far.
I've heard that both White and Green are bad, but I can't confirm from personal experience. Black is apparently opaque, but its such a dreadfully boring color.
The other colors include: Pink, Purple, Aqua, Peach (not to be confused with Orange), Lime Green, and Blue. Has anyone here tried these?
I'm looking to try out a couple top tier decks out with a friend, and I'm wondering if someone could recommend me some decks that have very even and interesting matchups against each other.
Would B Devotion vs U Devotion be decent? How would UW Control rate against either of those?
I might try making it without the Goblin Guides first. Maybe a 1/1 Haste sub will be close enough for casual play. Or perhaps a Foundry Street Denizen.
My playgroup is fairly casual, with nobody playing expensive top tier decks. The biggest threats tend to be aggro (infect, white weenie), with combo decks being non-existent.
I've got a budget Standard red deck, but its just too slow to compete (Lightning Strikes are laughable). I was hoping to throw something fun and inexpensive together. I'm trying to decide between Burn, RDW, or Goblins. For now I don't want to consider anything expensive, so no Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Guide, or Chain Lightning as all of those are $10+. I'm not interested in dropping a ton of money for the sole purpose of winning, but I'd be able to make an exception if the deck is quite fun and interesting to play. To me, Burn looks too boring to drop a bunch of money on, but perhaps Goblins are more interesting? It would be great to hear opinions on which red deck is the most interesting to play.
I was thinking of starting with something really inexpensive like this, and then upgrading it with more powerful Goblins if necessary.
Alternatively I could do something with Grim Lavamancer a couple other creatures (maybe Young Pyromancer) and some burn spells (Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Fireblast etc). I'm willing to make some "crippling" subs like 2-for-1 burn spells instead of expensive 3-for-1's like Chain Lightning because I always have the option to upgrade if the deck isn't cutting it. I want to avoid overspending at first because I'd rather have a deck well matched to the competition than one that just crushes.
If anyone has ideas in other colors (I like blue) I would be interested, but I want to stay away from mono White or anything Green.
Thanks for reading! Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have only ever used Ultra-Pro sleeves, both the standard ones and the matte ones.
The standard ones get the job done and don't impress me in any way, but I'm finding the matte ones to be very nice. The lack of glare is awesome, and the feel of the sleeves (in particular the fronts) is amazing compared to the standard (the backs feel about the same). It's hard to describe, but it seems like the fronts of standard ones are just too slippery, while the fronts (clear plastic part) of the matte ones have more texture and a subtle roughness. Also, the edges feel softer on the matte ones, which I prefer. One major con is that ones I have (orange ones) are just barely see-through, which is enough to distinguish a two sided card from a regular magic card.
I'm interested in how the other brands of sleeves compare in terms of comfort to the ultra-pro ones. Most of my cards and decks are rather budget, so I don't care as much about preserving the cards as I care about general comfort (and style) when it comes to sleeves. I mainly use them because it makes it easier to shuffle your deck (the thought of riffle shuffling naked magic cards scares me) and the colored backs look nice. Do any other brands have a comparable matte sleeve, in terms of feel?
That's too bad about the Izzet deck. It looks fun. I ended up buying it along with the cheapest RDW (they share cards so I figured why not). Hopefully it holds up well in casual play.
I also grabbed some Hidden Strings (for the combo with Guttersnipe) and some Mizzium Skin to protect what few creatures the deck has. Do you think those are good choices for the sideboard? What else would you grab to augment the deck?
Hi guys. Casual player here looking to get into competitive MTG. Trying to decide on which of the budget decks to try out. I'm planning to buy two decks, each of a differing playstyle (like one Aggro and one more Control-like) but I'm finding that most of the control decks are close to $100. I will mainly be playing against casual players but I'm hoping to go to some local events once I've learned the decks more thoroughly.
Which of those decks do you think offer the best bang for your buck? My current plan is to pick one of the RDW and either the Izzet deck or URW Control. How does the URW deck fare in competitive play? I've heard that Control is expensive so I'm curious if its possible for such an inexpensive deck to be playable.
Also, I did a price check on the BG Aggro deck you had listed in <$100 and noticed that its price is more around $30. Did it recently drop considerably in value or was it always like that?
What are its matchups like? Does it have a fighting chance against Junk and Twin?
Efro and Jesse Hampton are both on the conventional Rock Abzan list (as opposed to Wilson who is playing "Podless Pod").
No idea what Leon is playing. Can anyone chime in?
-Laszlo Polgar
If you want the best for your kid, I think the decision should be obvious:
Storm.
I still my remember my first Storm kill... It was very awkward and I struggled to get it going, but when I finally got it off it was truly glorious.
Radiant Fountain seems much more efficient than 2 Glimmerpost, so I find it surprising to see that some people still use post (2nd place at an SCG IQ last weekend http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=8873&d=250610&f=MO). The trade-offs seems so marginal, but 2 post is an extra card so it seems to me that its not worth it. Grabbing 2 posts off a Primetime to gain 4 life can be accomplished with Vesuva + Radiant Fountain for the same effect. The rare cases where posts gain 3 life are pretty much negligible and do not compensate for the extra card slot needed.
Kabira Crossroads also seems pretty close to Fountain. I suppose the fact that it taps for white can help in a pinch to pay for Sunhome/Slayers, but it comes in tapped which is almost always worse. There has to be at least a few scenarios where you find yourself one colorless mana short of the optimal play due to it being tapped, so is the white mana enough compensation for that?
Although Wizards doesn't condone it, I go out of my way to make high quality proxies (Wizards would call them "counterfeits", but there is no way anyone could mistake them for real cards even in a quick inspection). The proxies are high enough quality that you can somewhat "forget" they aren't genuine cards and it actually feels like you are playing with the real deal (especially if in sleeves).
Playing with proxies allows you explore an entire format in a way that just wouldn't be feasible by buying cards. At the moment I have a card pool of enough proxies to put together all the most popular decks in the Legacy meta. With a friend I could "re-enact" any matchup from a recent top 8 in an SCG Open. Its tons of fun and is great for getting a broad sense of what Legacy is all about.
GBx is a pain and has been troublesome for a while, but Eidolon is pretty much the nail in the coffin.
Any awesome hate cards to throw in for the matchup? Doesn't have to be a practical addition. I'll obviously run a normal sideboard at an FNM.
In other words, what should my goldfish stats be before I can be considered competent? What's a feasible benchmark to aim for?
I have found that Red, Orange, and Yellow all have slightly transparent backs making it possible to notice double faced cards through them. Light Blue is surprisingly very opaque and I have had no problems with them so far.
I've heard that both White and Green are bad, but I can't confirm from personal experience. Black is apparently opaque, but its such a dreadfully boring color.
The other colors include: Pink, Purple, Aqua, Peach (not to be confused with Orange), Lime Green, and Blue. Has anyone here tried these?
Would B Devotion vs U Devotion be decent? How would UW Control rate against either of those?
Thanks!
For some reason I overlooked that deck.
I might try making it without the Goblin Guides first. Maybe a 1/1 Haste sub will be close enough for casual play. Or perhaps a Foundry Street Denizen.
I've got a budget Standard red deck, but its just too slow to compete (Lightning Strikes are laughable). I was hoping to throw something fun and inexpensive together. I'm trying to decide between Burn, RDW, or Goblins. For now I don't want to consider anything expensive, so no Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Guide, or Chain Lightning as all of those are $10+. I'm not interested in dropping a ton of money for the sole purpose of winning, but I'd be able to make an exception if the deck is quite fun and interesting to play. To me, Burn looks too boring to drop a bunch of money on, but perhaps Goblins are more interesting? It would be great to hear opinions on which red deck is the most interesting to play.
I was thinking of starting with something really inexpensive like this, and then upgrading it with more powerful Goblins if necessary.
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Sledder
4 Foundry Street Denizen
2 Goblin Wardriver
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Dragon Fodder
Alternatively I could do something with Grim Lavamancer a couple other creatures (maybe Young Pyromancer) and some burn spells (Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Fireblast etc). I'm willing to make some "crippling" subs like 2-for-1 burn spells instead of expensive 3-for-1's like Chain Lightning because I always have the option to upgrade if the deck isn't cutting it. I want to avoid overspending at first because I'd rather have a deck well matched to the competition than one that just crushes.
If anyone has ideas in other colors (I like blue) I would be interested, but I want to stay away from mono White or anything Green.
Thanks for reading! Any suggestions would be appreciated.
The standard ones get the job done and don't impress me in any way, but I'm finding the matte ones to be very nice. The lack of glare is awesome, and the feel of the sleeves (in particular the fronts) is amazing compared to the standard (the backs feel about the same). It's hard to describe, but it seems like the fronts of standard ones are just too slippery, while the fronts (clear plastic part) of the matte ones have more texture and a subtle roughness. Also, the edges feel softer on the matte ones, which I prefer. One major con is that ones I have (orange ones) are just barely see-through, which is enough to distinguish a two sided card from a regular magic card.
I'm interested in how the other brands of sleeves compare in terms of comfort to the ultra-pro ones. Most of my cards and decks are rather budget, so I don't care as much about preserving the cards as I care about general comfort (and style) when it comes to sleeves. I mainly use them because it makes it easier to shuffle your deck (the thought of riffle shuffling naked magic cards scares me) and the colored backs look nice. Do any other brands have a comparable matte sleeve, in terms of feel?
I also grabbed some Hidden Strings (for the combo with Guttersnipe) and some Mizzium Skin to protect what few creatures the deck has. Do you think those are good choices for the sideboard? What else would you grab to augment the deck?
Which of those decks do you think offer the best bang for your buck? My current plan is to pick one of the RDW and either the Izzet deck or URW Control. How does the URW deck fare in competitive play? I've heard that Control is expensive so I'm curious if its possible for such an inexpensive deck to be playable.
Also, I did a price check on the BG Aggro deck you had listed in <$100 and noticed that its price is more around $30. Did it recently drop considerably in value or was it always like that?
Thanks!