MTG Salvation

This is awesome! Finally the Father of Machines reveals himself. And what a card!

Now i'm affraid we won't see Gix or Volrath anytime soon. Msybe an updated Gerrard?

Hopefully we'll see a new Gerrard and Volrath and finally a card for the OG Praetor Gix. They're not crunched out at this point.

They did it. Those crazy sons of female dogs finally did it. And i love them for it.

Quote from CX316 »

Quote from MonoBlackOut »

I'm sure glad these planeswalkers who made wrong decisions for their entire life could simply change their mind at the absolute last second and stop the evil mastermind who made the right decisions for his entire plan. Thank God that family was standing under that rock that fell so Liliana could see how bad she was.

Um, you know she was working for Bolas against her will, right? Liliana is one of the good guys, albeit a self-centred and power hungry one. Bolas has control of the pacts she made with the four demons to keep her youth and grant her power, and she was working for him because if he wanted he could snuff her out (in theory) by cancelling the deals. The family who got killed in the trailer looked like her and her brother when they were younger and made her decide that living wasn't worth the damage she was causing.

So it's not that a bad character suddenly changed her mind, it's more she finally decided something was more important than living.

Now, if Tezzeret suddenly turns hero on us, then you can complain.

She turned Garruk into a cursed monstrosity and killed a lot og innocent people and angels to get to Griselbrand. She wove a spell upon the Helvault and gave the choice to the cathar Thalia. The spell would either destroy the vault, or kill the soldiers under her command.

Besides being exremely stupid and short-sighted, how is she a hero?

So. When can we a expect commander B&R list update? Can't wait to see paradox engine go.

Urza's Saga did convey the message of planeswalking very well imho.

All the black cards took place on Phyrexia or delt with the Phyrexians and their influence.

All the white cards took place on Serra's realm.

All the green cards took place on ancient Argoth

Red took place on Shiv

Blue took place on Tolaria.

All the color's told a story involving Urza.

Quote from The Fluff »

Quote from schindar »

And just as Bolas was about to deliver the fatal blow to the Gatewatch Garruk showed up and wrecked everyone and everything in his path. The End.

Haha, that would be the surprise end. Seriously speaking though, it seems there is no update on Garruk anymore. We don't know if he turned into a demon already or was cured?

They won't be using him anymore since that card was printed wich showed him overpowering Lilliana. This caused such a backlash from the snowflake community that they abruptly stopped Garruk storyline.

They also want Lilly to be redeemable. What she did to Garruk would make her unredeemable. So that was another nail in Garruk's coffin.

They even printed a female version of him to fill his planeswalker niche, namely Vivien Reid.

I don't get why they don't do reprints of allready modern legal cards. This is the perfect place for fetches and bobs etc.

Now i've gone from ecstatic to amused...

I've scanned a few pages and i'm sure i feel a bit stupider for doing so.

Quote from Bhogal83 »

The current crop of planeswalkers are among the blandest characters in all of fantasy. I am hopeful that many of them will die forever.

Agreed. We also don't need a 10th version of Jace, Chandra and Gideon etc.

It's time to get rid of some of these bozos and continue with Karn, Koth, Elspeth and some other lesser represented characters.

Man, I didn't expect anything good to be left unspoiled after all of the cool cards we've seen, but there were a lot of gems here! Big fan of the Fateful Showdown, Select for Inspection, Glimmer of Genius, Dramatic Reversal and a few others I can't remember the name of. The artwork on the enemy fastlands is really good, especially the UG and GB ones. Those are downright beautiful. Basic lands are amazing too (except the forests, not a fan of those. All of the other basic lands have a no-civilization, just nature artwork that I love, but I just don't like the Forest. Looks more like a Plains to me).

Another thing I really like is the creature variety. Elephants, tigers, crocodiles and a hyena?! So cool. I hope we see more.

Move on.
This person does not know what she wants and will continue to use you as an emotional anchor. She maybe a nice person, great in bed, or whatever, but you can find dozens of women who are just as cool, smart, fun, and who are also emotionally stable, know what they want and also know the value of a great guy and how to treat them to develop a healthy relationship.
Move on.

I would hear from her sober before moving forward with anything. Good decisions are rarely made at 3am when fueled by alcohol. I would call her during the day and have a conversation. Her text says she doesn't remember everything so perhaps start by finding out what she does recall from your interaction at the club. Depending on what she says think about meeting in person if you feel that is the right thing to do. Don't make any commitments till you are sure what her motives are. If you feel she really wants to get back together and (I don't know the details of your breakup) she has moved on from whatever caused the breakup then go for it. Just be sure she isn't after your house or some worst case scenario ulterior motive like that.

Weihenstephan Brewery from Germany has released a limited edition unfiltered lager called Weihenstephaner 1516 to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the German purity law.

So I bought a case of it.

I am very happy with this purchase.

So I decided to start playing this deck on paper this weekend(up 'till this weekend, it was all on cockatrice). And I decided the best place to start was at a GPT. It was a 30 or so player tournament at Face2Face games in Montreal.

I managed to go 6-1, and conceding the 1st place spot to a guy who was actually going to GP Toronto. He was playing U/W Merfolk with a 1-of Sygg, River Guide. Plus, the 2nd place prize paid-out more cash than 1st place

I really enjoyed playing the deck, and I have plenty to learn, so take this tourney report with that in mind.


For the record, I was playing the following list, which is pretty close to what Ashton plays, with some MBSB changes.



Match 1: Mardu Midrange 2-0
I actually thought I was going to have a lot of trouble with this deck. I knew it ran plenty of discard, and plenty of burn. And its planeswalkers arent very nice. Luckily, I run 4 stubborn denial, which really shined in this matchup. He rarely resolved any creatures, and his discard proved to be ineffective. I was able to bait removal by casting delvers first, holding up goyf, or hooting. Generally speaking I was able to ride a single goyf or mandrills to victory each game. Since this deck runs lingering souls, I sided-in pyroclasm, which proved quite useful. Denial and mana leak did the job cleanup any helix or command shenanigans, as well as a failed resolution of Ajani.
Coming out of it, I find its actually a pretty good matchup.
I sided out vapor snag, and thought scour, in place of pyroclasm and huntmaster of the fells.

Match 2: U/W Tron/Gifts 0-2
My first matchup where I have to worry about conterspells. I attribute both my losses to lack of experience with my deck. I kept anemic hands, and resolved blood moons when they hurt me more than my opponent. Very good lessons for a starter in this archetype. Luckily I had a rematch with this player in the semi-finals, which went far differently. This first match, though, was an easy bye for my opponent.

Match 3: Jund 2-0
A matchup I know is not the easiest, but also not impossible. I was well aware that a resolved liliana would not bode well since we dont have any way to remove resolved walkers without beating them down, fairly. Which is why I always kept mana up for denail in game 1. We eventually went into a goyf war, and I had to deal with a couple of resolved abrupt decays. Never the less, I was able to vapor snag his goyf, and resolve mandrills, later mana leaking goyf, and riding both mandrills and my own goyf to a win. It was not very easy, but well placed denials, and some hard cast disrupting shoals, proved useful.

Game 2, I side in hunt master, blood moon, pyroclasm (lingering souls), and side-out shoal, thought scour, 1 mandril, 1 snap caster.

My opening hand was keepable with a threat and cantrips/permission. No blood moon yet. I was able to resolve a quick mandrill on turn 3 after surviving an inquisition. I fetched my lands keeping in mind that I wanted to blood moon my opponent asap. I managed to top deck blood moon while my opponent was mostly tapped-out, which pretty much ended the game. I ran my goyf to victory, with huntmaster as backup, and all the permission I needed.

Match 4: U/W/R Control
This was a fun matchup. Its where I learned that Electrolyzes to the fact usually dont warrant a response, keeping my denials up for more serious threats or removal (he never resolved his ajani). I love seeing turn 1 colonnades. Most of the game was resolving my creatures, and allowing certain PTEs to resolve, allowing me to ramp into huntmaster or blood moon (another useful lesson). I rode 1 or 2 threats to victory each time, making sure no serious spells resolved. A ferocious denial is an amazing thing to have.

Match 5: Affinity 2-1
Game 1 was hard to win against, which was expected. And although I was able to come close to taking him down, he still had enough damage for the win.

I sided in huntmaster, pyroclasm, and all 4 artifact removers. Removed some number of mandrills, thoughtscours, and gitaxian probes. I considered blood moon for this matchup, but I remember that when I played Affinity, I often sided-in blood moon when necessary. So blood moon can shut-down their threats, but it doesnt hurt them enough to water-down my threats any more.

Game 2 and 3 I was able to disrupt him enough with pyroclasms to get my threats in, and make sure galvanic blast never resolved. I felt it was easy post-board.

-7th place into top 8-

Match 6 (quarter finals): 2-0 W/B Eldrazi
I thought Id manage to dodge this deck the whole day, but that came to an end in the quarter finals. My opponent was playing lingering souls, and PTE for the white splash, as well as your usual eldrazi line-up, and plenty of discard.

I really thought Id be losing game 1, but I managed to beat him down enough with mandrills and goyf on the board. I made a mistake game 1 where I smashed into a spirit token with my goyf, right before my opponent activated vault of the archangel. There goes my goyf! But I still managed to beat him down, past his threats, and protecting my own where possible (shoal).

Game 2, I side in huntmaster, blood moon, clique, and remove some number of mandrills, snapcaster, scour, probe. Blood moon is in my opening hand, and so is shoal and some 1 drop blues, and a mandrills. He turn 1 thoughtseizes me, which I aggressively counter with shoal. I knew that blood moon was an assured win if I got it to resolve. I then opened with a probe, seeing PTE. And resolved my delver.

On my next turn, I flip delver, and smash in, running into that PTE. Which I gladly let resolve, to get my extra island (already had a forest and another island). The tun before, he ghost quartered my steam vents, temporarily putting me off blood moon mana. I managed to draw a scalding tarn on turn 4, and resolve my blood moon, shutting my opponent off from colorless mana. Lingering souls resolved twice, and did not resolves twice as well. I was a turn away from losing, with goyf and mandrills on the board, two untapped spirits. If I didnt kill him this turn, it was over. Luckily, I was able to bolt one of the spirits, and charm bounce the other, smashing in for the win.

Im pretty sure I got out lucky with this matchup, but who knows.

Match 7: U/W Tron/Gifts 2-0
My chance to get revenge for poor play in round 2. Game 1, my hand was full of permission and threats, as well as cantrips. With some timely counters, I was able to bring my opponent down enough to bolt-snap-bolt him to death.

Game 2, I bring in blood moon, hunt master, clique, curiosity. I remove bolt, scour, and some number of mandrills. Again, I open with a probe, seeing permission, lands, gifts, ramp. My hand had permission, threats, and the much needed blood moon.

My opponent was expecting blood moon at some point, so I knew I had to work it in asap. Turn 3 was not safe to resolve it, so I tried to bait out as much permission as possible. I later resolved blood moon on turn 4, with enough lands to cast anything I needed. He top-decked batterskull, and resolved it. I was a bit worried, but even after two swings of batterskull, I eventually got it to die with a goyf, and after a hunter master resolution, I charm bounced the germ token, and swung in for enough damage to eventually kill him. A stubborn denial also stopped a karn from resolving.

I played a lot better in this rematch. Again, denial was an all-star. I know 4 in the MB is a lot, but I love it so far. Spell snare does not have me convinced, especially if its just a 1-of.

After this first trial with the deck in the real world, I have learned that I have much to learn.
Some things I did take away was that I pretty much always wanted to see blood moon in the matchups I sided it in against. Modern has such greedy mana bases, its very satisfying to be able to resolve it, while having my own basic forest and 1-2 islands on the field.

Curiosity was also very impressive. If it got countered, it grew my goyf, and if it resolved, it gave me enough card advantage to keep up pressure. I brought it in only in creature-light or creatureless matchups. and I always enjoyed casting it (or pitching it to shoal).


Hope this helped somewhat.

I think I'm of the opinion that this was never going to be a satisfactory UR. Plot duly moved on; let's pretend this was all great and never mention it again eh?

Seriously - they should have just let Ob planeswalk away as soon as he'd summoned Kozilek and avoided his confrontations with the Gatewatch all together. It's not like they don't have enough other problems to bond over, and he doesn't need an excuse to be a jerkface to them when their paths cross in the future. This all felt very unnecessary.

farewell to my favorite deck and the only competitive combo that followed the turn 4 rule.

"in the interest of diversity"? please. Aggro decks are popping champagne now.

And btw, Tron isnt going to be the one on top. Its t2 thought-knot seers and company.

I know I've said this elsewhere, so I don't want it considered spam, but those of us who are intense fans will be taking this harder than, I assume, everyone else.

We have a more coherent story solidly told through card titles, card art, flavor text, free weekly stories, online gaming options, and even a board game. The consistency across these mediums is impressive--even though there is a learning curve. We are beginning to see growing relationships (not "friendships"--just interactions) between characters who, over a year ago, were pretty disparate. Looking through a few packs of cards, a player will get the gist of a plot or conflict. A few more cards and a couple Uncharted Realms delivers story.

It's not a literary masterpiece. It's nothing like Game of Thrones. A united front is reminiscent of the Justice League and Avengers. However, we're getting more story (in the two-block paradigm) and a whole host of characters.

I like deep stories (I teach English). But Magic is not that genre.

A decade and a half ago, I enjoyed knowing the intricacies of the Armada comics, Harper Prism novels, and the "revisionist" novels beginning with Grubb's Brothers' War. That was great. There's plenty of story left. However, it's altered with the time.

I think the impassioned reactions are wonderful--Magic has a story fanbase (however small) who cares. However, we're going to get what they give us and whether we keep reading is our own decision. As we're all so invested, I think it best to get behind the movement since we don't have a say in the direction of the story.

Strangely, I'm intrigued to see where we're going. I don't mind popping in once a week, read a few thousand words, and returning 7 days later between everything else I read and do.

Also, regarding the simplified summary, one reminder (although it does not change things, it does provide a better explanation): ghostfire.

Quote from cyberium_neo »

So what is the reason for removing card comments and ratings? It helps to see ratings and players suggestions when browsing cards.

Apparently the massively screwed up during some update and its priority zero. Their highest priority has been to make navigating the main site harder and harder.