Which of the two cards Rhox War Monk and Kitchen Finks does Zoo fear more? I'm building a Bant deck and I'm still trying to work out a few slots. I'm partial to Finks, and plan on testing later today, but would like as much input as possible on this selection.
I'm pretty sure that some of those things you listed, with Etherium Sculptor letting you play Everflowing Chalice with one counter on it for free don't actually work, as the multikicker cost is an additional cost, not part of the casting cost, and therefore doesn't get reduced by Etherium Sculptor.
It works. 601.2e The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be 0. It can’t be reduced to less than 0. Once the total cost is determined, any effects that directly affect the total cost are applied. Then the resulting total cost becomes “locked in.” If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect.
Magic players' lack of creativity is depressing. Just because the card didn't show up in the latest PT, doesn't mean the card isn't good.
Also, other than Valakuut or Baneslayer, in what position do you find yourself in where you are in danger of dying with a 6/6 flying wall in play? I feel like many people who are knocking the card haven't tested it. That's not to say that all of you are in that category. If you have tested the card and don't like it, I totally respect that, but if you haven't, go test it. In a good deck. That it fits in. A lot. I don't mean to just take a net deck and throw a few copies in. Build something and play-test it.
I've already said this but I'll repeat myself - Abyssal Persecutor is quite a good card, quite often. But he is really, really "will-cause-you-to-lose-the-game-by-himself" BAD some small percentage of the time. Is he relatively better than any other option by enough of a margin to justify running him given the "oops I guess I lose" percentage he adds to your deck?
My testing says he isnt.
How are they beating you when you have a 6/6 flying wall? Other than baneslayer? How often does this happen?
My post was in response to those who doubted Persecuter in Extended. Generally, I feel that if a card is good enough for extended, it's probably going to be ok in Standard as well.
I built a homebrew deck and a friend took it to GP Oakland this past weekend. It was monoblack with Persecuters, Bloodghast and Bitterblossom as the win con. There were 14 main deck ways to deal with your own demon and it was never a problem in testing. Anytime the deck didn't draw 3 demons, you were pretty happy to see it. People would freak out and throw everything at them to kill asap. When they didn't have the answer in hand, they lost 3 turns later. I wasn't sure about it until I played with it, but a 6/6 flying, trample creature was beastly in testing. My friend went two and one, dropping after he beat the biggest jerk there (his words were a bit harsher). He felt he had done his job and dropped to go goof off.
I really can't disagree more with those who claim removal is too good. If you look at the cards from 10-15 years ago vs the cards today, the spells got worse and the creatures got better on average. If we didn't have good removal in the format, those creatures would just run everybody over who's not playing their own over-powered creatures. Good removal + good creatures = a balanced format than otherwise. If one side is too much better than the other, games get lopsided in one direction or the other.
Here's my current list. I know there are a few obvious choices not there, but it started off in one direction and has recently shifted focus so I haven't made all of the adjustments yet. It's still a work in progress.
My version started off as mono blue good stuff with ways to accelerate into Thada, and it did really well. After playing the deck for a few days it turned into mono blue prison, much like Arcum, but instead of playing with artifact guys, it plays with better cards overall. The deck has lost two or three games in the past 4 days. It's getting more and more tuned and is so good it makes me sad because it completely wrecks my other EDH deck, which I've spent a year and a half building.
The thing about this general is in order to focus the deck around her, all you have to do is try to accelerate her into play, which is a good effect anyway. That means if she doesn't stick, the rest of your deck is good anyway. If she sticks and gets to do her job, you are just winning that much more.
It works.
601.2e The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be 0. It can’t be reduced to less than 0. Once the total cost is determined, any effects that directly affect the total cost are applied. Then the resulting total cost becomes “locked in.” If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect.
Also, other than Valakuut or Baneslayer, in what position do you find yourself in where you are in danger of dying with a 6/6 flying wall in play? I feel like many people who are knocking the card haven't tested it. That's not to say that all of you are in that category. If you have tested the card and don't like it, I totally respect that, but if you haven't, go test it. In a good deck. That it fits in. A lot. I don't mean to just take a net deck and throw a few copies in. Build something and play-test it.
How are they beating you when you have a 6/6 flying wall? Other than baneslayer? How often does this happen?
Either was GP Oakland.
My post was in response to those who doubted Persecuter in Extended. Generally, I feel that if a card is good enough for extended, it's probably going to be ok in Standard as well.
Also, I conceded to my previous opponent.
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Capsize
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Hinder
1 Mana Drain
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Braingeyser
1 Fabricate
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Windfall
1 Back to Basics
1 Future Sight
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Power Artifact
1 Take Possession
1 Treachery
1 Jace Beleren
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Gilded Drake
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Trinket Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Duplicant
1 Etherium Sculpter
1 Lodestone Golem
1 Masticore
1 Memnarch
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sundering Titan
Artifacts:
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Clock of Omens
1 Coalition Relic
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Expedition Map
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
1 Mishra's Helix
1 Mox Diamond
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sky Diamond
1 Smokestack
1 Sol Ring
1 Static Orb
1 Tangle Wire
1 Veldalken Shackles
1 Voltaic Key
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Winter Orb
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Dust Bowl
1 Flooded Strand
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Halimar Depths
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tolaria West
22 Island
I would love to play EDH 2 headed giant with Arcum as my partner.
The thing about this general is in order to focus the deck around her, all you have to do is try to accelerate her into play, which is a good effect anyway. That means if she doesn't stick, the rest of your deck is good anyway. If she sticks and gets to do her job, you are just winning that much more.
Hi Tai!
Here's an update to the deck:
It's a few cards closer now. The Mindtwist will eventually become Beta.