That Nissa is super awkward. Everything about her clashes with other aspects of the card. Low CMC but requires a super high land count to transform, creating legedary tokens......Maybe she will be fine as wonky borderland ranger, and maybe the fact that she can be relevant early or late will be what makes her good.
The legendary token thing probably has something to do with her origin story, rather than a power-level consideration.
Someone came into my LGS attempting to sell some SDCC Planeswalkers. The pictures on the Chandra card I saw are different from the ones in this forum, but the abilities are the same. The black on black has also been expanded to include highlights in the picture that are the color of the card. Also, the color identity bubble on the planeswalker side is of the appropriate color. I have pictures of the cards, but I don't have the cards in my possession.
The person had all except Gideon, but Jace and Nissa are as follows:
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1U
Legendary Creature -- Human Wizard
T: Draw a card, then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.
0/2
060/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
-----
Jace, Telepath Unbound
Planeswalker -- Jace
+1: Up to one target creature gets -2/-0 until your next turn.
-3: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
-9: You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, target opponent puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
5
060/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
----------
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2G
Legendary Creature -- Elf Scout
When Nissa, Vastwood Seer enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic Forest card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if you control seven or more lands, exile Nissa, then return her to the battlefield transformed under her owner's control.
2/2
189/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
-----
Nissa, Sage Animist
Planeswalker -- Nissa
+1: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
-2: Put a legendary 4/4 green Elemental creature token named Ashaya, the Awoken World onto the battlefield.
-7: Untap up to six target lands. They become 6/6 Elemental creatures. They're still lands.
3
189/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
The card was pretty badly beaten up and there are some distinguishing marks on the back that don't show in the pictures that I can identify.
Additionally, I have screenshots of a conversation between him and me that indicate that I gave him a Mox Emerald that he altered (and shows the same pictures from the auction) and that he was going to send it back to me, which he never did.
Unfortunately, value is hard to argue, because the buyer only paid $355 for it in an auction (being that it is a unique altered card), so it will be argued that the value is under $1000 and therefore not a felony.
I do intend to contact the buyer if and when he provides feedback for the auction, as it will allow me to see his username and contact him. I will see at that point what I want to do about getting my card back from him.
I'm in the process of doing that, but I am also trying to get my cards back, if possible. I figure it can't hurt to ask for my cards back and, at the very least, I have legal ground to stand on by informing them that the card belongs to me and they are not allowed to complete the sale.
Then, if they do complete the sale, I can use the fact that I informed them of the situation before they mailed the card to show that they knowingly disregarded ownership during the process of the sale, making them accountable.
If I were you, I'd win his (or yours, really) item and file a PayPal dispute. EDIT: Didn't realize the auction was already over, how annoying.
I'd also immediately request his address from Bay after the item was won and, assuming I lived close enough, visit him personally (if he stole a card worth high enough of a value).
You don't think an ALPHA Mox Emerald is worth enough?
eBay won't give me his address because I was not involved in the auction (I found out about it mere minutes after it closed). Same thing goes with PayPal.
My friend posted earlier in this thread about his wife being a lawyer, and so if anyone else was scammed by him, they should contact him and we can start putting this together.
I've contacted the seller, who claims not to be either Brian or Sarah, in an attempt to stop the transaction before the card gets mailed by informing them that it is not their property to sell and that if they do not return the card to me, I will be pursuing legal action.
To anyone else who has been scammed by this guy, I just found my Mox Emerald that Brian altered for sale on eBay. The seller name is RaineyAlterations, which was, on August 11th, changed from xAlienYouthx. AlienYouth is what Sarah uses as a username for a lot of things, including Facebook.
Let me first stress that this is entirely thematic and is only based on playing a bunch of vampires. As such, it does not include "good" cards like Kira or counterspells that don't fit the theme--just vampires and vampiric-type cards. I'll also list cards I'm not using that I think would be acceptable for this kind of deck.
There are some expensive cards in the list, but none are necessary. This deck is mostly a guideline on what I think would be the most thematic vampire deck.
I included Mutavault as a "vampire" although it's more of just a good card. It just happens to be a vampire in addition to all other creature types. You could use this justification to include any of the changelings as well. When the deck started, there were not quite enough vampires, so I included bats in the build. You could go this route to lower the mana cost.
I like playing this deck, but it's not a deck that is going to win any games. You should have board presence and be able to have fun with it, and that was my goal with the deck.
General: Garza Zol, Plague Queen
Vampires:
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Arrogant Bloodlord
Ascendant Evincar
Baron Sengir
Blood Seeker
Blood Tyrant
Bloodghast
Bloodhusk Ritualist
Bloodrite Invoker
Butcher of Malakir
Captivating Vampire
Child of Night
Crovax the Cursed
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Guul Draz Assassin
Guul Draz Vampire
Irini Sengir
Kalastria Highborn
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Krovikan Vampire
Malakir Bloodwitch
Mephidross Vampire
Mirri, the Cursed
Moroii
Mutavault
Nirkana Cutthroat
Nirkana Revenant
Pulse Tracker
Quag Vampires
Repentant Vampire
Sengir Nosferatu
Sengir Vampire
Shauku, Endbringer
Skeletal Vampire
Soul Collector
Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Vampire Aristocrat
Vampire Hexmage
Vampire Nighthawk
Vampire Nocturnus
Vampiric Dragon
Vein Drinker
These are all vampires, so I don't think they need any explaining. Some are missing because I don't have room to put every vampire in the deck, and I do want some spells to go along with the vampires.
Sengirs:
Castle Sengir
Grandmother Sengir
Castle Sengir is REALLY bad, but it's CASTLE SENGIR!!! Granny isn't technically a vampire, but I don't think the deck would be complete without her.
Cards that work with vampires: Blade of the Bloodchief
Blood Tribute
Dark Depths
Feast of Blood
Urge to Feed
The only card that I think needs an explanation is Dark Depths. It works well with Vampire Hexmage and in EDH, you will often have the time to make the 20/20 so it's not that bad. Also, remember that even though it looks like a land it doesn't take the spot of a land in this deck, so if you're replacing it with something else, you can include another vampire or vampiric card.
Cards with vampiric sounding names/themes: Barter in Blood
Blood Tithe
Coat of Arms (Vampires come from noble houses, right?)
Damnation (Vampires are damned...)
Exsanguinate
Innoncent Blood
Last Kiss
Sign in Blood
Sorin Markov (Tell me he's not a Vampire Lord!!!)
Vampiric Tutor
Cards that aren't necessarily vampiric, but are still good:
Maze of Ith
Mishra's Factory
Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
Wasteland
These are mostly just lands that I think belong in most EDH decks because of their versatility.
Lands: Crumbling Necropolis
Bloodstained Mire
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Blood Crypt
Watery Grave
Badlands
Underground Sea
Tainted Isle
Tainted Peak
Graven Cairns
Sunken Ruins
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Cabal Coffers
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Swamp x18
There are any number of good lands that can go in the deck. It doesn't have a large non-black requirement, but I think you want around 14-18 lands that produce blue or red in addition to black. These are the best lands you could include, but by no means are they a deal-breaker if you don't have them. Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds work well to get an Island or Mountain if you had to include them in the deck. You could use Crosis' Lair for another tri-colored land, and there are a lot of uncommon lands that produce black/red or black/blue. Use what you have, but keep them balanced.
Since these things have to be set up and sent to the printers in advance, it seems a bit unlikely that they would use the current "top" decks to build from. Wizards is announcing it now for the release of the product in... 6 MONTHS!!! Even if they wanted to reprint versions of the top decks with mythics, they would be months behind the metagame and that would not sell well. It is much more likely that these will be theme decks that have more rares and more 4-ofs for consistency in gameplay.
A deck that Wizards considers competitive in this light will most likely be a deck that has a good theme and answers to most kinds of permanents, with a sideboard to address specific colors or strategies rather than specific cards. These decks will not take the metagame by storm, but they will most likely be decks that can put up a fight against a competitive deck.
I'd expect to see (based on Zendikar and M11) R/G Landfall aggro, U/W Levelers, Vampires, U/W or U/B control, B/G Rock, R Burn, or other such decks. Each deck would contain between 8-10 rares and the sideboard would be relatively easy to understand when the cards would be boarded in.
For starters, you can put infinite counters on all creatures you control. (Use Kraj to add 2 or more counters to himself, Kraj untaps himself with Druid's ability for a net of 1 or more counter)
After you've added a bazillion counters to him, you can generate a bazillion green mana from the Druid or his ability.
Add a card with a tap ability (Prodigal Sorcerer and Archivist come to mind) to get infinite of that tap ability.
With the infinite green mana, you can combine it with Spearbreaker Behemoth to make all of your guys indestructible. Plaxcaster Frogling gives them all shroud. The possibilities are endless.
Add Bloom Tender for infinite blue mana as well, and things just get stupid with Morphling.
I broke down and bought another one for a friend and luckily enough the final two sets of semi-random cards were in there. My post (#447 on page 30) has now been updated with the complete card list for the Deck Builder's Toolkit, with details on what each will and might contain.
If requested, I could start a new topic so the list can be more easily found.
You can kind of tell from the first card in the pack which one is which.
The one with a Plains on the front (gold band) is all basic lands. The one with a Forest on the front (white band) is mostly land with the 9 non-random uncommons and all but 2 common green cards. The one with the Naturalize on the front (red band) has the rest of the green commons along with all of the other non-random commons. The one with the Terramorphic Expanse on the front (dotted band) has the four sets of semi-random cards.
My guess is that the bands are there to assure that each toolkit gets one of each set of cards, but that's just a guess.
I don't think I've given my opinion of the toolbox yet, but I'd like to say that I agree with most that it's a good deal, especially when you consider the cost of the packs inside and give something for what I think is a pretty cool box. I have playsets of all of the commons and uncommons, so I could care less about them other than that it makes for a cool limited environment or as a way to build a couple of decks to play against one another that will have similar power levels for teaching new players or giving yourself a handicap against less experienced players.
I also like that most of the cards are playable to good in constructed formats and that the strategies outlined in the guide are (with the exception of Eldrazi) similar to those that Wizards puts in their precons (or whatever they're called now). This leads a player from the Toolkit to a precon that works with a strategy that they have done well with.
I could see myself, if I were a new player, building a pretty good black/red vampire deck (with the strategy-specific cards from Vampires, Black/Red, and Red/Green) and then buying a Vampire precon or a burn precon and moving in that direction. Or, maybe I would take the Red/Green route and go from there. Either way, there are several standard legal precons that I could buy to help customize my deck.
The same would work in reverse. If I buy a vampire deck and like it, I could buy the toolkit to make it better, while learning about other strategies. Maybe I'd like the big green creatures better. Maybe I'd like to go the control route. The toolkit gives you the... well... tools to move your current deck in almost any direction you want to see what agrees with you.
On another note, I got the MUC list up on my other post (#447 on Page 30) and am now looking for Elves and U/W Flyers. If anyone can update me with these lists, I would appreciate it.
The legendary token thing probably has something to do with her origin story, rather than a power-level consideration.
I should have taken pictures of Lilly, too, but I didn't realize the pictures might be different.
The person had all except Gideon, but Jace and Nissa are as follows:
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1U
Legendary Creature -- Human Wizard
T: Draw a card, then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.
0/2
060/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
-----
Jace, Telepath Unbound
Planeswalker -- Jace
+1: Up to one target creature gets -2/-0 until your next turn.
-3: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
-9: You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, target opponent puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
5
060/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
----------
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2G
Legendary Creature -- Elf Scout
When Nissa, Vastwood Seer enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic Forest card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if you control seven or more lands, exile Nissa, then return her to the battlefield transformed under her owner's control.
2/2
189/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
-----
Nissa, Sage Animist
Planeswalker -- Nissa
+1: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
-2: Put a legendary 4/4 green Elemental creature token named Ashaya, the Awoken World onto the battlefield.
-7: Untap up to six target lands. They become 6/6 Elemental creatures. They're still lands.
3
189/272
Illus: Wayne Reynolds
Additionally, I have screenshots of a conversation between him and me that indicate that I gave him a Mox Emerald that he altered (and shows the same pictures from the auction) and that he was going to send it back to me, which he never did.
I do intend to contact the buyer if and when he provides feedback for the auction, as it will allow me to see his username and contact him. I will see at that point what I want to do about getting my card back from him.
Then, if they do complete the sale, I can use the fact that I informed them of the situation before they mailed the card to show that they knowingly disregarded ownership during the process of the sale, making them accountable.
You don't think an ALPHA Mox Emerald is worth enough?
eBay won't give me his address because I was not involved in the auction (I found out about it mere minutes after it closed). Same thing goes with PayPal.
My friend posted earlier in this thread about his wife being a lawyer, and so if anyone else was scammed by him, they should contact him and we can start putting this together.
I've contacted the seller, who claims not to be either Brian or Sarah, in an attempt to stop the transaction before the card gets mailed by informing them that it is not their property to sell and that if they do not return the card to me, I will be pursuing legal action.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item337a8919a0&item=221099137440&nma=true&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&si=iu2m6gSErVIs1VC%252FKJ61mLqSS3w%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_500wt_943
eBay Item number: 221099137440
There are some expensive cards in the list, but none are necessary. This deck is mostly a guideline on what I think would be the most thematic vampire deck.
I included Mutavault as a "vampire" although it's more of just a good card. It just happens to be a vampire in addition to all other creature types. You could use this justification to include any of the changelings as well. When the deck started, there were not quite enough vampires, so I included bats in the build. You could go this route to lower the mana cost.
I like playing this deck, but it's not a deck that is going to win any games. You should have board presence and be able to have fun with it, and that was my goal with the deck.
General:
Garza Zol, Plague Queen
Vampires:
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Arrogant Bloodlord
Ascendant Evincar
Baron Sengir
Blood Seeker
Blood Tyrant
Bloodghast
Bloodhusk Ritualist
Bloodrite Invoker
Butcher of Malakir
Captivating Vampire
Child of Night
Crovax the Cursed
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Guul Draz Assassin
Guul Draz Vampire
Irini Sengir
Kalastria Highborn
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Krovikan Vampire
Malakir Bloodwitch
Mephidross Vampire
Mirri, the Cursed
Moroii
Mutavault
Nirkana Cutthroat
Nirkana Revenant
Pulse Tracker
Quag Vampires
Repentant Vampire
Sengir Nosferatu
Sengir Vampire
Shauku, Endbringer
Skeletal Vampire
Soul Collector
Szadek, Lord of Secrets
Vampire Aristocrat
Vampire Hexmage
Vampire Nighthawk
Vampire Nocturnus
Vampiric Dragon
Vein Drinker
These are all vampires, so I don't think they need any explaining. Some are missing because I don't have room to put every vampire in the deck, and I do want some spells to go along with the vampires.
Sengirs:
Castle Sengir
Grandmother Sengir
Castle Sengir is REALLY bad, but it's CASTLE SENGIR!!! Granny isn't technically a vampire, but I don't think the deck would be complete without her.
Cards that work with vampires:
Blade of the Bloodchief
Blood Tribute
Dark Depths
Feast of Blood
Urge to Feed
The only card that I think needs an explanation is Dark Depths. It works well with Vampire Hexmage and in EDH, you will often have the time to make the 20/20 so it's not that bad. Also, remember that even though it looks like a land it doesn't take the spot of a land in this deck, so if you're replacing it with something else, you can include another vampire or vampiric card.
Cards with vampiric sounding names/themes:
Barter in Blood
Blood Tithe
Coat of Arms (Vampires come from noble houses, right?)
Damnation (Vampires are damned...)
Exsanguinate
Innoncent Blood
Last Kiss
Sign in Blood
Sorin Markov (Tell me he's not a Vampire Lord!!!)
Vampiric Tutor
Cards that aren't necessarily vampiric, but are still good:
Maze of Ith
Mishra's Factory
Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
Wasteland
These are mostly just lands that I think belong in most EDH decks because of their versatility.
Lands:
Crumbling Necropolis
Bloodstained Mire
Polluted Delta
Scalding Tarn
Blood Crypt
Watery Grave
Badlands
Underground Sea
Tainted Isle
Tainted Peak
Graven Cairns
Sunken Ruins
Dragonskull Summit
Drowned Catacomb
Cabal Coffers
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Swamp x18
There are any number of good lands that can go in the deck. It doesn't have a large non-black requirement, but I think you want around 14-18 lands that produce blue or red in addition to black. These are the best lands you could include, but by no means are they a deal-breaker if you don't have them. Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds work well to get an Island or Mountain if you had to include them in the deck. You could use Crosis' Lair for another tri-colored land, and there are a lot of uncommon lands that produce black/red or black/blue. Use what you have, but keep them balanced.
Vampiric cards that have been excluded:
Arrogant Vampire
Barony Vampire
Bleak Cloven Vampire
Grasp of Darkness
Pawn of Ulamog
Ravenous Vampire
Ruthless Cullblade
Skyshroud Vampire
Stalking Bloodsucker
Treacherous Vampire
Vampire Hounds
Viscera Seer
A deck that Wizards considers competitive in this light will most likely be a deck that has a good theme and answers to most kinds of permanents, with a sideboard to address specific colors or strategies rather than specific cards. These decks will not take the metagame by storm, but they will most likely be decks that can put up a fight against a competitive deck.
I'd expect to see (based on Zendikar and M11) R/G Landfall aggro, U/W Levelers, Vampires, U/W or U/B control, B/G Rock, R Burn, or other such decks. Each deck would contain between 8-10 rares and the sideboard would be relatively easy to understand when the cards would be boarded in.
For starters, you can put infinite counters on all creatures you control. (Use Kraj to add 2 or more counters to himself, Kraj untaps himself with Druid's ability for a net of 1 or more counter)
After you've added a bazillion counters to him, you can generate a bazillion green mana from the Druid or his ability.
Add a card with a tap ability (Prodigal Sorcerer and Archivist come to mind) to get infinite of that tap ability.
With the infinite green mana, you can combine it with Spearbreaker Behemoth to make all of your guys indestructible. Plaxcaster Frogling gives them all shroud. The possibilities are endless.
Add Bloom Tender for infinite blue mana as well, and things just get stupid with Morphling.
If requested, I could start a new topic so the list can be more easily found.
The one with a Plains on the front (gold band) is all basic lands. The one with a Forest on the front (white band) is mostly land with the 9 non-random uncommons and all but 2 common green cards. The one with the Naturalize on the front (red band) has the rest of the green commons along with all of the other non-random commons. The one with the Terramorphic Expanse on the front (dotted band) has the four sets of semi-random cards.
My guess is that the bands are there to assure that each toolkit gets one of each set of cards, but that's just a guess.
I don't think I've given my opinion of the toolbox yet, but I'd like to say that I agree with most that it's a good deal, especially when you consider the cost of the packs inside and give something for what I think is a pretty cool box. I have playsets of all of the commons and uncommons, so I could care less about them other than that it makes for a cool limited environment or as a way to build a couple of decks to play against one another that will have similar power levels for teaching new players or giving yourself a handicap against less experienced players.
I also like that most of the cards are playable to good in constructed formats and that the strategies outlined in the guide are (with the exception of Eldrazi) similar to those that Wizards puts in their precons (or whatever they're called now). This leads a player from the Toolkit to a precon that works with a strategy that they have done well with.
I could see myself, if I were a new player, building a pretty good black/red vampire deck (with the strategy-specific cards from Vampires, Black/Red, and Red/Green) and then buying a Vampire precon or a burn precon and moving in that direction. Or, maybe I would take the Red/Green route and go from there. Either way, there are several standard legal precons that I could buy to help customize my deck.
The same would work in reverse. If I buy a vampire deck and like it, I could buy the toolkit to make it better, while learning about other strategies. Maybe I'd like the big green creatures better. Maybe I'd like to go the control route. The toolkit gives you the... well... tools to move your current deck in almost any direction you want to see what agrees with you.
On another note, I got the MUC list up on my other post (#447 on Page 30) and am now looking for Elves and U/W Flyers. If anyone can update me with these lists, I would appreciate it.