1
2
1
Just want to say this is correct, and it falls under the same logic as Ethersworn Canonist vs. Cards with Suspend. Say you have Canonist out and your opponent casts Eidolon of the Great Revel, then attempts to suspend Rift Bolt. This is not a legal move, as the Suspend that would replace the nonartifact spell being cast has already been "used" per Canonist's ability, and it is the 2nd attempt to cast such a spell that turn. However, if they chose to suspend Rift Bolt first, the suspend would replace the casting of the nonartifact spell, and then casting Eidolon would be a legal move.Quote from redtwister »@emurian
Actually, I'm going to take issue with that. If the player dredges on their draw step, you are correct. If the player draws on their draw step, and then attempts to dredge later, the dredge fails because there is no legal draw effect available for the dredge effect to replace.
See this.
1
4
1
Quote from amoebasinger »Shoot. I am trying to find the link to that list and I can't find it... Can you help me?
1
1
Quote from SwordsToTimeshares »Re: Relic main, having too little bodies, etc... Relic in the main is fantastic. 24 bodies is just fine, and I'll tell ya why: ANY sideboarding you do at all is likely removing creatures out of the deck, whether it's for siding in Rest in Peace, siding in removal, Artifacts/Enhchantmens-hate, whatever. Games 2 and 3, most any DnT build has less than 26 creatures. If you're not seeing bodies enough, run Sylvan Library or start playing red-splash for Imperial Recruiter. The deck is considered old now, so trying to work out its well-documented shortcomings within less than 20% of all available Magic cards is almost disingenuous.
1
1
1
It's a big topic.
Jitte is also great in the mirror, because it ends Mother of Runes (as well as the rest of our creatures); Jitte is good against us.
If I know my opponent has no countermagic at the time, I might get Jitte if I have two mana open and hardcast it to get it online fastest of the three.
Frequently I find Jitte is vulnerable in the sense that it is usually the Equipment my opponent gets first (for the above reason) and so I frequently have to "Revoker" it, causing me to wish for a different Equipment of my own.
Though some people differ, I also go for Sword of Red and Blue against Delver. I love to shoot Delvers first. It gets past an otherwise blocking TNN, and provides card advantage in a matchup where the opponent is drawing zillions.
Sword of Red and Blue is often my first choice against Deathrite because it kills DS just as successfully as Jitte does, but for the above reason, I might be Revokering Jitte in that matchup, or I value the card advantage (ergo I might like SoFaI if I have previously been getting Thoughtseized or Hymned). Jitte kills at Instant speed, which is sometimes good if the opponent is going to grab a Stoneforge Mystic and fetch business before you have time to intervene with Sword of X. Jitte is a must for Infect for instance. You can respond to their business, a la Inkmoth Nexus for instance.
Batterskull is pretty skill-intensive in my experience. If you can reliably protect SM, it is usually solid, but it doesn't straight up kill problem creatures on the other side. On grindy matchups it shines, because the opponent has inevitability, and BS forestalls that.
I have, on not necessarily rare occasions, tried to bait removal by fetching a Batterskull. Opp is going to kill Mystic, leaving the creatures in my hand more safe. BS becomes a wasted card, but it sometimes pays off.
There are other advocates here for Sword of Red and White. I like it of course to protect from those colors, but it shines where the opp needs time to set up, such as with Miracles 2.0. They try to survive the short game to get into a setup with Jace, or Angel tokens, or finding Terminus, and this opp has a mitt-full of cards. SoWaP makes a quick clock in that case.
PS I like Sword of Light and Shadow but I recognize it has serious deficiencies.
J
1
Hopefully I will not need to adjust for the mirror. This deck operates best when it is under-the-radar. It is not too hard to hate it out, so if it becomes more popular, then more -x/-x effects appear.
One approach which is often overlooked for the mirror is to add in +x/+x effects. I have tried it many times, and it is very significant to have bigger monsters than your opponent. As most DnT players know, a Tarmogoyf or a Gurmag Angler that you can't answer will often end the game. Big Goblins, big Merfolk are the same story. Having your creatures be bigger than theirs is pretty clutch.
I am running two Honor of the Pure in the side at this time.
J
1
J
1
PHASE 1
I arrange in color wheel order from left to right, white to green, setting artifacts and lands (and special items, such as Colorless spells) in their own piles, below and to the left of white.
I set multicolor cards toward the bottom of the mat (or sometimes at the top instead), near one of their colors, and pile similar multicolors together.
If a strictly two-color card can be placed between two colors, it goes there (such as white-blue (Adarkar Wastes) or red-green (Ulrich's Kindred)).
I set mana-fixing lands and artifacts at the top of the mat above everything, tapped (so they fit), unless they go specifically with a color (usually Green), then I slide them a little toward that color.
I put the must-play creatures and bomb rare creatures at the top of each color column.
I make a small separation, and put the non-creatures below the creatures.
If a card is situational, I lay it in its column tapped.
I put identical cards on top of one another.
If a card is merely a filler for a color, I place it at the bottom of the column, tapped.
If it's unplayable, I pile it with the tokens and lands.
I decide on the deck more or less, and put the definite dismissed cards or colors in the bad pile.
I take a moment and look at the second-runner-up alternate color deck, or see if I can build a second deck out of the pool, and place those cards on top of the bad pile. Not too unusually, I change my mind and refocus on the alternate deck.
I whittle the pool down to the requisite number of cards.
PHASE 2
I place the deck from left to right with smallest mana cost on the left. X spells on the far right.
I will have a row for each color (and a column for each mana cost).
I put creatures in their own row, spells on a lower row. Spells don't always go in the column of their mana cost. If a 2-costing spell will never be played until turn 3, I put it in the 3 column, the earliest that it can be played.)
Artifacts or multicolors, I put in a middle row, sorted by mana cost, or I set them aside, if they can be played using any mana.
(With a very multicolor deck, such as with some Khans builds, or Shards of Alara, I will put mana-fixing at the far left. I have also arranged the cards in a wheel pattern under extreme cases).
(For several years, I wrote out a grid in a similar layout, with color abbreviations to the left and converted mana cost at the top. I went through the whole deck and made a tick mark for each pip of a color in each column, for example, Silklash Spider would put two tick marks in the Green row under the 5 column. I would split a grid in half and put 2 tick marks, representing activation cost, in the lower half of the 6 column, because you would never use the activation cost prior to turn 6.)
I determine how many lands of each color are required.
PHASE 2B
I will pick up the cards one by one (sometimes sleeving as I go), in the optimal sequence I would wish to play the deck, and if I find I am more weighted in a color early game, I will adjust the mana base.
PHASE 3
I will sleeve up, and if I have time, I'll goldfish, and I will readjust the deck.
PHASE 4
I will assess the sideboard cards and sleeve all the playable ones.
If I have time, I will roughly build a second deck, and pull out lands for it, and note what cards from the main deck can transfer between each deck.
NOTE
With Shadows over Innistrad, during Phase 1, I find I am adjusting by taking a couple minutes piling Discard-enablers, Madness, and Delirium into their own piles.
I can also try alternate piles, such as with one Shadows deck with Equipments, Equipment-loving spells and creatures, and cards that synergize with Equipments in other ways (such as Graveyard, Delirium, etc. that work with self-milling or looting Equipment).
J
1
The equipments act as "inevitability" since they give your creatures a semi-permanent buff or indestructible when they need to chump block, and give them unblockable when you're closing the game. The Sword of Blue and Red is probably the most important, because Death and Taxes has zero card advantage otherwise. Umezawa's Jitte is simply a game-ender against some decks and as stated above, works blocking or attacking. Batterskull pulls your butt out of the fire against fair decks. All the other swords are not unreasonable in some circumstances.
If you think Mother of Runes, Mirran Crusader, and flyers can get you there, you are right most of the time probably, but it is a much harder slog without the tutorable silver bullets.
J
2
Sword of War and Peace and Mother of Runes is a non-bo.
J
1
I think you're mistaking Soul Summons for Lightform.
I offered Eladamri's Call as my second-choice Green spell after Gaddock Teeg. I would much rather have Eladamri's Call than Living Wish, because it gets any animal in your deck. With Vial at 2, it would be almost Magical Christmasland backbreaking if it resolved. In your proposed deck you have four Living Wish targets and I don't think they're significant enough in enough matchups. "Call" could get you some sick beats in almost every matchup.
J
1
In my official capacity as Thread Historian, I would like to mention that Armageddon was the first suggestion for this deck on the original 2006 thread. http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/legacy-archives/184486-deck-death-and-taxes
J
1
I appreciate the rulings responses. I sort of figured I would open myself up to some moral judgement also because of the (foolishly) candid way I phrased my post, but all I am really looking for is the ruling judgement. But I do apologize if I shocked or disillusioned anyone, or if I revealed a dishonest side of myself that should have remained secret.
Thanks!
J
2
If you are playing flat-out Burn, Warmth will probably get you there. To me, it's interesting that Burn's two best cards (Goblin Guide and Sulfuric Vortex) aren't answered by Warmth, and Burn's newest golden boy, Eidolon of the Great Revel isn't answered either. Sure, you're gonna gain the life, and Warmth will probably get you there nine out of ten times, but CoP:Red just closes them down, and the only time I've ever lost with it was when I got greedy to throw out a Serra Avenger on turn million and my opponent had triple Price of Progress. I stopped the first two.
With CoP:Red, you play a completely different game: you just drop lands and count the maximum potential burn in your opponent's hand. It also combos with Goblin Guide (because it helps your land drops) and Sulfuric Vortex (because it kills your opp, not you).
Furthermore, it can be brought in for other matchups, though those are currently out of fashion.
J