I hope they go back to the old card faces. The current card faces were what drove me out of Magic for 5 years, and it remains the decision that still pisses me off the most. Call my reaction irrational if you want, but I feel very strongly about it.
I started playing with 8th Edition, the new card frame, but bought a box of "junk" from a local store and got to play with the old faces, too. The pre-8th Edition card frame is more flavorful, but 8th+ card frames are easier to read. I still like the Time Shifted cards from Planar Chaos, with the woodgrain in the text box of the green cards, decay of black cards, etc. If they redid the frame like that, but with black text for the name and type lines, I'd love it. The frames used for "future shifted" cards in Future Sight would be interesting, too, but the layout is so extreme most people would go crazy.
I got a tournament coming up towards the end of January (my local college is hosting one, with some killer prizes....1 of each dual land...-drools-) And I intend on winning it. I was trying to construct a viable build, seeing as by the time it rolls around Survival will be officially banned and Countertop/Zoo will probably make a strong comeback. I'm debating on sticking Standstill in the deck, seeing as there will probably be a "few" aggro decks (confirmed decks from my friends include Affinity, Goblins, Stax, and Mono-Black Control), but I like the card advantage it brings. Should I run Brainstorm without Fetchlands? Or should I run Ponder in it's place? Here's the build I was looking at, BTW:
Suggestions? Also need some ideas for SB material, I see that Pithing Needle, Relics, Crypts, Submerge, and Echoing Truth seem pretty solid. Here's what I thought on that
Hibernation, first brought up by Stephen Menendian (at least that's who I read it from first), is a good sideboard card against Natural Order decks that try to get a turn three Progenitus into play. You have enought maindeck answers with your counterspells, but extra help is always good.
I'd scope out what others plan to play and sideboard from there. Hydroblast/Blue Elemental Blast is always nice, Relic of Progenitus/Tormod's Crypt for graveyard hate, Back to Basics to hose greedy manabases, Chalice of the Void (set to one) will stop many burn spells and storm decks. I've seen funky stuff like Divert (to throw someone's Hymn to Tourach or Sinkhole back to their face).
In your list, I think Back to Basics is more powerful than any other card, because you are running only 6 non-basic lands.
Ravnica, for sure. Is it merely coincidence that the two standards consisting of Ravnica were perhaps the most fair and fun we've ever had?
I agree. Wizards of the Coast said they wanted smaller set sizes to reduce the amount of cards in Standard. But when Champions of Kamigawa/Ravnica or Ravnica/Time Spiral was standard, there were so many GOOD decks. GhaziGlare, Ghost Dad, Ghost Hust, Hand in Hand, Heartbeat, Izzetron, TriscuitTron, Magnivore, Reanimator, Solar Flare, Solar Pox, Snow White (Martyr/Proc), Zoo, Boros, Gruul, MGA, Snakes, MBA, Gifts, Sligh, Smallpox, Scryb & Force, BW Knights, Dragonstorm, KarstenBot BabyKiller, Dutch Simic Aggro, The Rack, Tarmorack, GR Land Destruction, Blink, Dralnu du Louvre, Angelfire, Pickles, Arena Control, Beach House...
The format was strong not because there were so many cards, but because there were so many GOOD cards that created interesting archetypes. You never knew what you were going to run into!
If Ravnica was revisited, it would obviously have a completely different theme, and that might not let it live up to the high standard of the original.
I agree. The guilds are (officially) gone. The guilds made multicolr easy to grok: each guild has a signet, a dual land (a REAL dual land, with two land types), a karoo, etc, etc. Ravnica set a high bar for quality cards and mechanics.
Funny how this poll turned from "what will happen" to "what I want to happen."
If we knew "what will happen", we wouldn't be having this conversation. Like the mod, I'd like to hear more reasoning than "loved Ravnica!", though. I did too, but it's not much of a conversation.
Otherwise, I believe the next set will be one we haven't seen before, but involve Garruk and Lilliana. Possibly with a Lilli V2(with the Veil) who will have some crazy creature killing ability, and maybe a version of Garruk which is actually weaker than v1, and maybe two colours(G/B of course).
There are so many things going on in the multiverse right now, I'm interested in seeing how it all ties together. I'd like to see a four year story arc where, after the last block of that four years is released, you're blown away by the story.
Alara: Too soon, imo. Dominaria: Possible. WotC says they alrady know who wins the war. If it is the Phyrexians, I'd think they would head to the center of the multiverse. Kamigawa: Possible. Hinted at in the Future Sight novel.
Lorwyn/Shadowmoor: too soon. I am interested in seeing how Oona comes back and how that affects the multiverse. Mirrodin: Rosewater said Scars was the culmination of the six year plan, so I doubt it. How does the storyline continue? Depends on who wins, I guess. That's a ton of artifacts in standard, unless artifacts on the plane of Mirrodin get nixed. Rabiah: know nothing about the plane other than it was split into 1,001 mirrored planes. Would the great mending have fixed this? I like the flavor though. Ravnica: Possible. Would love shocklands again. Ulgrotha: if not this, then the vampire infested plane that was shown in Future Sight. Zendikar: Too soon, but possible. There are some loose ends to tie up, but I don't see it happening for another two blocks at least.
Other: there are many planes hinted at on Planechase cards & Future Sight. Shandalar is spinning out of control in the Blind Eternities. After the Eldrazi are (presumably) kicked out of Zendikar, they could go snack on Shandalar.
I wouldn't mind seeing another six-year arc with a more connected story like the Weatherlight saga. I like block synergy, but I also like flavor synergy. Give me a big, fat story arc to sink myself into!
Websites are selling these packs for 3.79+ so for a retail chain to sell packs for more than that is not surprising.
Also Target and Hasboro dont put this item on shelves an independent company does. So the likely hood of someone who actually stocks these looking at this complaint thread is very low.
I've always been wary of "re-packs" like this because the probability of getting something good is low...for me. My nephew buys these things and yanks fetchlands and Ratchet Bomb, and I get Terra Stomper and Dissipation Field.
Personally, the Darksteel+Mirrodin blister is not a good deal for me. $11 would go a long way toward singles for Legacy.
Do the new pictures of the Mirrodin Besieged Intro Packs prove the set will not be a "mirrored set" where each Mirran card has a Phyrexian of similar abilities (like Pierce Strider and Peace Strider)?
But coming to a Magic forum and asking for advice on girls is like going to an auto parts store and asking what would be the best way to cook asparagus...
I'd think 5W30 would give the dish a nice flavor. Preheat motor for 10 minutes before cooking, particularly in cold weather.
My point is, I thought Karakas was a Rare, which I know FoW and Drain are not... This would have made it a reserved card.
Turns out, it was actually an Uncommon, my bad.
Jazzed the decks will include 2 new Wedge Commanders each. I hope they have good abilities. The Planar Chaos dragons have to deal damage and the player must pay a cost. This is not awful, but I like cards that have a more immediate affect.
$35 for a casual deck is not bad. It's a starting point for a new player who wants to get into the format without searching decklists and hunting down cards. Buy, play, replace what you don't like, put your own spin on it & make it your own.
k4lle (above) is correct in saying yakusoku's decks are cheap but effective.
I love homebrew decks. They're fun. I like building decks, too. I'm definitely not an expert on deck building, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I think 4 Llanowar Elves or Arbor Elf (or both) could find a home here, since they enable a turn two Cultivate. I see a heavy landfall theme, so maybe Grazing Gladehart in the sideboard would help vs other aggro decks. Pelakka Wurm is another possibility if you have lots of mana. Rampaging Baloths is Mythic, but only costs $1.50 or so.
To sideboard properly, a player needs to know the metagame. I do not know what your metagame is like, so I cannot say what a good sideboard would be or -- more importantly -- which maindeck cards to replace with sideboard cards. You can use competitive decks as a guide, though.
Decks in the Competitive forum include:
Pyromancer Ascension
Elves
Eldrazi Ramp
RDW
UB Control
UR(g) Destructive Force
UW Control
Valakut Titan
yakusoku's green deck has the following sideboard:
4 Plummet
4 Naturalize
4 Acidic Slime
3 Tectonic Edge
Just think about what cards in your maindeck would not be good vs the above deck types, what cards would help, and put those helper cards in the sideboard.
I like them both. I toyed with making a "real" legacy deck for MTGO, but still too expensive. The price point for both of these is excellent, the decks are solid.
Congrats, WOTC, you shall have at least 30 of my money dollars
I have never dealt with Cape Fear Games, but I use MTGOTraders almost exclusively for Magic: the Gathering Online.
Prices are equal to or less than competition. Service is fast. I've ordered cards and had them in my virtual binder in minutes. They seem to care that I've purchased cards for them.
They are out of stock on some cards that are "hot", but I expect it in this digital marketplace, and bide my time.
I cannot think of another vendor with whom I have had such a great relationship. I applaud them for repeatedly delivering both low-cost product and excellent customer service.
True. I guess I like it because it's something different/out of the norm. That's what keeps me interested in Magic TBH.
Agreed.
I like individual, playable cards more than block themes, but WotC has proven to me that they know how to change up structure and theme to make the game different each time.
Ravnica's multicolor theme; Time Spiral block was split between past, alternate present, and possible future; Lorwyn/Shadowmoor as Big-Small, Big-Small sets; Alara's multicolor; Zendikar's Big-Small-Big structure.
I wish I played physical Magic more. I loved Leagues online, and in-store leagues seem like a hint that MTGO may have them (again) soon.
Went to SoM prerelease, got a Venser and a Koth in the intro pack boosters.
Can provide pics if y'all don't believe me.
No lie, I was there. It was sick. I got Kemba, Kha Regent; Necrotic Ooze; Mindslaver; Tunnel Ignus, True Conviction; and Grindclock. Meh. Played a Wu deck, went 3-3-1, drop. Would've been better as Wgr or Wgb.
I started playing with 8th Edition, the new card frame, but bought a box of "junk" from a local store and got to play with the old faces, too. The pre-8th Edition card frame is more flavorful, but 8th+ card frames are easier to read. I still like the Time Shifted cards from Planar Chaos, with the woodgrain in the text box of the green cards, decay of black cards, etc. If they redid the frame like that, but with black text for the name and type lines, I'd love it. The frames used for "future shifted" cards in Future Sight would be interesting, too, but the layout is so extreme most people would go crazy.
Hibernation, first brought up by Stephen Menendian (at least that's who I read it from first), is a good sideboard card against Natural Order decks that try to get a turn three Progenitus into play. You have enought maindeck answers with your counterspells, but extra help is always good.
The team deck from Worlds 2010 in Chiba, Japan included Underground Sea for sideboard Engineered Plague, Perish, and Thoughtseize. The deck can be found here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/worlds10/decks/teamfinal
I'd scope out what others plan to play and sideboard from there. Hydroblast/Blue Elemental Blast is always nice, Relic of Progenitus/Tormod's Crypt for graveyard hate, Back to Basics to hose greedy manabases, Chalice of the Void (set to one) will stop many burn spells and storm decks. I've seen funky stuff like Divert (to throw someone's Hymn to Tourach or Sinkhole back to their face).
In your list, I think Back to Basics is more powerful than any other card, because you are running only 6 non-basic lands.
I agree. Wizards of the Coast said they wanted smaller set sizes to reduce the amount of cards in Standard. But when Champions of Kamigawa/Ravnica or Ravnica/Time Spiral was standard, there were so many GOOD decks. GhaziGlare, Ghost Dad, Ghost Hust, Hand in Hand, Heartbeat, Izzetron, TriscuitTron, Magnivore, Reanimator, Solar Flare, Solar Pox, Snow White (Martyr/Proc), Zoo, Boros, Gruul, MGA, Snakes, MBA, Gifts, Sligh, Smallpox, Scryb & Force, BW Knights, Dragonstorm, KarstenBot BabyKiller, Dutch Simic Aggro, The Rack, Tarmorack, GR Land Destruction, Blink, Dralnu du Louvre, Angelfire, Pickles, Arena Control, Beach House...
The format was strong not because there were so many cards, but because there were so many GOOD cards that created interesting archetypes. You never knew what you were going to run into!
I agree. The guilds are (officially) gone. The guilds made multicolr easy to grok: each guild has a signet, a dual land (a REAL dual land, with two land types), a karoo, etc, etc. Ravnica set a high bar for quality cards and mechanics.
If we knew "what will happen", we wouldn't be having this conversation. Like the mod, I'd like to hear more reasoning than "loved Ravnica!", though. I did too, but it's not much of a conversation.
There are so many things going on in the multiverse right now, I'm interested in seeing how it all ties together. I'd like to see a four year story arc where, after the last block of that four years is released, you're blown away by the story.
Dominaria: Possible. WotC says they alrady know who wins the war. If it is the Phyrexians, I'd think they would head to the center of the multiverse.
Kamigawa: Possible. Hinted at in the Future Sight novel.
Lorwyn/Shadowmoor: too soon. I am interested in seeing how Oona comes back and how that affects the multiverse.
Mirrodin: Rosewater said Scars was the culmination of the six year plan, so I doubt it. How does the storyline continue? Depends on who wins, I guess. That's a ton of artifacts in standard, unless artifacts on the plane of Mirrodin get nixed.
Rabiah: know nothing about the plane other than it was split into 1,001 mirrored planes. Would the great mending have fixed this? I like the flavor though.
Ravnica: Possible. Would love shocklands again.
Ulgrotha: if not this, then the vampire infested plane that was shown in Future Sight.
Zendikar: Too soon, but possible. There are some loose ends to tie up, but I don't see it happening for another two blocks at least.
Other: there are many planes hinted at on Planechase cards & Future Sight. Shandalar is spinning out of control in the Blind Eternities. After the Eldrazi are (presumably) kicked out of Zendikar, they could go snack on Shandalar.
I wouldn't mind seeing another six-year arc with a more connected story like the Weatherlight saga. I like block synergy, but I also like flavor synergy. Give me a big, fat story arc to sink myself into!
I've always been wary of "re-packs" like this because the probability of getting something good is low...for me. My nephew buys these things and yanks fetchlands and Ratchet Bomb, and I get Terra Stomper and Dissipation Field.
Personally, the Darksteel+Mirrodin blister is not a good deal for me. $11 would go a long way toward singles for Legacy.
To me, looks like:
GW = Path of ????
UR = Mirromancy (?)
UB = Doom ?????
WR = Battle?????
I'd think 5W30 would give the dish a nice flavor. Preheat motor for 10 minutes before cooking, particularly in cold weather.
No idea how they're selling, but modified versions are popping up in daily events: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/1806762
For $30 a deck, it's not a bad deal.
$35 for a casual deck is not bad. It's a starting point for a new player who wants to get into the format without searching decklists and hunting down cards. Buy, play, replace what you don't like, put your own spin on it & make it your own.
I love homebrew decks. They're fun. I like building decks, too. I'm definitely not an expert on deck building, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I think 4 Llanowar Elves or Arbor Elf (or both) could find a home here, since they enable a turn two Cultivate. I see a heavy landfall theme, so maybe Grazing Gladehart in the sideboard would help vs other aggro decks. Pelakka Wurm is another possibility if you have lots of mana. Rampaging Baloths is Mythic, but only costs $1.50 or so.
To sideboard properly, a player needs to know the metagame. I do not know what your metagame is like, so I cannot say what a good sideboard would be or -- more importantly -- which maindeck cards to replace with sideboard cards. You can use competitive decks as a guide, though.
Decks in the Competitive forum include:
Pyromancer Ascension
Elves
Eldrazi Ramp
RDW
UB Control
UR(g) Destructive Force
UW Control
Valakut Titan
yakusoku's green deck has the following sideboard:
4 Plummet
4 Naturalize
4 Acidic Slime
3 Tectonic Edge
This is a good starting point. Other options include Nature's Claim, Obstinate Baloth, Fog, Leyline of Vitality, Mold Shambler, Tajuru Preserver, Autumn's Veil, Vines of Vastwood, Brittle Effigy.
Just think about what cards in your maindeck would not be good vs the above deck types, what cards would help, and put those helper cards in the sideboard.
3 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Karakas
2 Misra's Factory
14 Plains
Creatures
4 Benevolent Bodyguard
3 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Flickerwisp
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Mangara of Corondor
3 Serra Avenger
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Weathered Wayfarer
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Swords to Plowshares
Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
1 Bonesplitter
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Aura of Silence
1 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Kor Firewalker
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Silence
20 Mountain
Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Keldon Marauders
Spells
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
1 Price of Progress
3 Rift Bolt
3 Price of Progress
4 Pyroblast
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Relic of Progenitus
I like them both. I toyed with making a "real" legacy deck for MTGO, but still too expensive. The price point for both of these is excellent, the decks are solid.
Congrats, WOTC, you shall have at least 30 of my money dollars
Prices are equal to or less than competition. Service is fast. I've ordered cards and had them in my virtual binder in minutes. They seem to care that I've purchased cards for them.
They are out of stock on some cards that are "hot", but I expect it in this digital marketplace, and bide my time.
I cannot think of another vendor with whom I have had such a great relationship. I applaud them for repeatedly delivering both low-cost product and excellent customer service.
Agreed.
I like individual, playable cards more than block themes, but WotC has proven to me that they know how to change up structure and theme to make the game different each time.
Ravnica's multicolor theme; Time Spiral block was split between past, alternate present, and possible future; Lorwyn/Shadowmoor as Big-Small, Big-Small sets; Alara's multicolor; Zendikar's Big-Small-Big structure.
I wish I played physical Magic more. I loved Leagues online, and in-store leagues seem like a hint that MTGO may have them (again) soon.
No lie, I was there. It was sick. I got Kemba, Kha Regent; Necrotic Ooze; Mindslaver; Tunnel Ignus, True Conviction; and Grindclock. Meh. Played a Wu deck, went 3-3-1, drop. Would've been better as Wgr or Wgb.