This of it this way.
All creatures get the -4/-4 buff, the token becomes a 1/1 and all other creatures are reduced too or below 0 toughness. State is then checked again and the token turns into a 1/1 with a -4/-4 buff which kills it. It is easier to think of the buff lasting until the end of turn and reducing the natural size of the card as dictated by */* or the actual number indicating power and toughness.
The Biggest question you need to ask yourself is what is it about the game you really like?
Do you like casting big flashy spells? Or flooding the board with tokens?
Do you have an affinity for goblins, zombies or angels? Do you simply have a favourite color and cards that you really like to play?
I find that when I am building fun commander, these are really useful touchstones. This then lets me narrow down a few keywords into gatherer to determine what I want in the deck.
When I first read it, for the purposes of 4 player (Players Me, B, C, D) multiplayer, I assumed that it meant that if there are 4 players that I could use the ability at instant speed in each of their turns (I.e. I can walker abilities at instant speed once in My turn 1, player B's turn 1, Player C's turn 1 amd Player D's turn 1, a total of 4 activations per walker).
Then someone pointed out some rules in a thread stating that you can only use Planewalker abilities at instant speed once in a turn cycle (i.e. I can use it in Player B's turn 1, but then cannot activate it in Players C's or D's turn 1 as I have used it up for the turn cycle; therefore a total of 1 activation per walker in the turn cycle).
Which case is the correct, or have they simply not released the errate dictating what the actual interaction is?
I personally have a fondenss for the acronymes and the names the community came up with,
so I probably will not use the new names.
I also don't think the new names are very memorable. Of course I have been exposed to them for
any real period of time, so I may be willing to change my mind over time!
If i am playing for fun, I either enjoy making bad puns or when my opponent is wondering about my untapped mana, I enjoy simply listing off all the tricks that I could have in hand for them. I am certain I have dissuade at least one lethal attack by doing that.
Does a Legendary Enchantment Artifact like Spear of Heliod also count as an Enchantment and an Artifact as well? I just want to be certain, in case I run into any. I run a deck with Torch Fiend, so it would be useful if I could get rid of it.
EDIT: Also, what is a Manifestation counter? Sorry about this, I am fairly new to the game.
A card has all the types listed in its type line. So for Spear of Heliod, it will be both an enchantment and an artifact, and can be affected by cards that affect either.
A Manifestation counter is just a counter with that name that is added to a permanent by Arbiter of the Ideal. It has no special rules relevance.
Actually, no quite true, it is use to mark that the card was played of the Arbiter of the Ideal and too remind players that the card played in this way is an enchantment. It should be noted that if the manifestation counter is removed, the card is still an enchantment.
Oh, one of my pet peeves is when someone is playing a casual match where both players want advice regarding correct plays to help to improve
and some random wannabe with no knowledge of what is going on comes over, assume you are disrupting their game and give you the 'do not interfere with their match or they will never learn' lecture.
If the person persist after the situation is explained, my responce normally becomes something along the lines of 'Your opinion has been noted and discarded'. I once had a guy go to a store owner, saying that I was interfering and that something should be done, after a brief talk with people I was helping and myself, the guy was asked to leave.
He justified it by saying that at a competitive level it would be an instant judge call, but how would you even handle this? Do I close my eyes while I'm turning my deck the right way? Ask my opponent to do it for me?
You just do it. Opponents like the one you described aren't anywhere near the hotshots they pretend to be, and a frivolous judge call like that at a competitive event would just result in him being told not to do that again. Those kinds of people are less interested in fair play and more interested in proving something by throwing their weight around, and the best thing to remember is that they can't really do anything of consequence other than annoy you. If I were in your situation, I'd let him know that his obnoxious behaviour is off-putting enough to make me not want to come back, and then go to a different store.
Oh and also point out that if he kept that behaviour up at any official event, he would be warned for unsportsman-like conduct and if he persists, he would be disqualified.
The Power of blue is necessary. Without enough FoW decks, the format is overrun with Belcher, SI, Oops, or other turn one glass cannon combo decks. It takes 15-20 blue cards for a deck to support FoW. Without a high density of decks running blue, we'd need to ban all sorts of combo enablers.
Personally, for me, this is the problem with the format. When a format 'needs' a color or a certain card to police a format, there is something wrong with the format.
But each to their own. I dont have to play a format I have a problem with. Just like everyone else.
Yeah, my problem is more about your must play blue to deal with turn 1 shenanigans, the fact that those decks play brainstorm is to illustrate that there is a standardized package of cards that you normally play (obviously you can cut a copy or place them in the sideboard), but the fact that these cards need to be played, prove that there are no equivalently powerful answers to this issue in other colors.
Take note, this is simply my humble opinion on the format and it is still fun, but I just believe that this effect also limits it diversity significantly. But as boephus said, to each their own.
Wow... That is quite the list. Thanks for taking the time to do that (aside, how long did that take?). I definitely see some stuff in there that I will be using.
About 45 minute, all together and alot of that is straight out of my deck. Others I cross references out of Gatherer, by using the rules text section to shrink the selection down to just enters and leaves the battlefield triggers.
I'm going with Modern, because it's the only format not to have a mandatory card that has to go in virtually every competitive deck. Standard has Mutavault, Legacy has Brainstorm, and Vintage has a whole list of cards.
You have clearly never played legacy or vintage before.
To be fair, you do not need to actually play the game to do a meta breakdown of decks and cards that are currently being played in a competative legacy.
With regards to Brainstorm and by extension, the power of blue, does dominate the legacy meta as 7/8 most played competative decks that currently comprise over 50% of the meta are all running 3-4 copies of Brainstorm.
If we look at the entire meta, the percentage of blue played in the legacy meta and number of Brainstorms will increase further as well.
Yes there are decks like Death and Taxes and Jund, but an overwhelming number of legacy deck DO play Brainstorm (and rightfully so, it is a powerhouse).
I do believe that banning Brainstorm would probably make Legacy a healthier meta, but the chances of that happening is slim too none as the backlash from the people who play that card would be huge.
All creatures get the -4/-4 buff, the token becomes a 1/1 and all other creatures are reduced too or below 0 toughness. State is then checked again and the token turns into a 1/1 with a -4/-4 buff which kills it. It is easier to think of the buff lasting until the end of turn and reducing the natural size of the card as dictated by */* or the actual number indicating power and toughness.
...
Do you like casting big flashy spells? Or flooding the board with tokens?
Do you have an affinity for goblins, zombies or angels? Do you simply have a favourite color and cards that you really like to play?
I find that when I am building fun commander, these are really useful touchstones. This then lets me narrow down a few keywords into gatherer to determine what I want in the deck.
For example, I built a Brago, King Eternal EDH deck, but was uncertain what to put in it since blue and white have literally thousands of options.
But by deciding I want to use 'enter the battlefield' triggers with Brago, I was able to narrow the selection down to a +![B]+![G]&text=+[enter]+[battlefield] ]fraction of that amount.
And remember, as long as you find it fun and exciting, then there is nothing wrong with the deck.
Or you could just...
Teferi, Temporal Archmage -10 ability.
When I first read it, for the purposes of 4 player (Players Me, B, C, D) multiplayer, I assumed that it meant that if there are 4 players that I could use the ability at instant speed in each of their turns (I.e. I can walker abilities at instant speed once in My turn 1, player B's turn 1, Player C's turn 1 amd Player D's turn 1, a total of 4 activations per walker).
Then someone pointed out some rules in a thread stating that you can only use Planewalker abilities at instant speed once in a turn cycle (i.e. I can use it in Player B's turn 1, but then cannot activate it in Players C's or D's turn 1 as I have used it up for the turn cycle; therefore a total of 1 activation per walker in the turn cycle).
Which case is the correct, or have they simply not released the errate dictating what the actual interaction is?
I personally have a fondenss for the acronymes and the names the community came up with,
so I probably will not use the new names.
I also don't think the new names are very memorable. Of course I have been exposed to them for
any real period of time, so I may be willing to change my mind over time!
Actually, no quite true, it is use to mark that the card was played of the Arbiter of the Ideal and too remind players that the card played in this way is an enchantment. It should be noted that if the manifestation counter is removed, the card is still an enchantment.
Edit: lol, your edit beat me to the punch!
and some random wannabe with no knowledge of what is going on comes over, assume you are disrupting their game and give you the 'do not interfere with their match or they will never learn' lecture.
If the person persist after the situation is explained, my responce normally becomes something along the lines of 'Your opinion has been noted and discarded'. I once had a guy go to a store owner, saying that I was interfering and that something should be done, after a brief talk with people I was helping and myself, the guy was asked to leave.
Oh and also point out that if he kept that behaviour up at any official event, he would be warned for unsportsman-like conduct and if he persists, he would be disqualified.
My suggestion would be to go and watch games on youtube or check out twitch so you can ask streamers why they made certain play.
This dude is pretty good for a starter!
http://www.twitch.tv/numotthenummy
Yeah, my problem is more about your must play blue to deal with turn 1 shenanigans, the fact that those decks play brainstorm is to illustrate that there is a standardized package of cards that you normally play (obviously you can cut a copy or place them in the sideboard), but the fact that these cards need to be played, prove that there are no equivalently powerful answers to this issue in other colors.
Take note, this is simply my humble opinion on the format and it is still fun, but I just believe that this effect also limits it diversity significantly. But as boephus said, to each their own.
About 45 minute, all together and alot of that is straight out of my deck. Others I cross references out of Gatherer, by using the rules text section to shrink the selection down to just enters and leaves the battlefield triggers.
To be fair, you do not need to actually play the game to do a meta breakdown of decks and cards that are currently being played in a competative legacy.
With regards to Brainstorm and by extension, the power of blue, does dominate the legacy meta as 7/8 most played competative decks that currently comprise over 50% of the meta are all running 3-4 copies of Brainstorm.
If we look at the entire meta, the percentage of blue played in the legacy meta and number of Brainstorms will increase further as well.
Yes there are decks like Death and Taxes and Jund, but an overwhelming number of legacy deck DO play Brainstorm (and rightfully so, it is a powerhouse).
I do believe that banning Brainstorm would probably make Legacy a healthier meta, but the chances of that happening is slim too none as the backlash from the people who play that card would be huge.