MTG Salvation

Quote from Celestrael »

I've been side-brewing a BW Control deck in the event my Esper deck doesn't pan out, or I wanted to change it up a bit.

Accursed ControlMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Land (26) 3x Caves of Koilos 4x Forsaken Sanctuary 2x Mage-Ring Network 4x Plains 4x Shambling Vent 6x Swamp 3x Westvale Abbey	Sorcery (13) 4x Declaration in Stone 2x Languish 4x Read the Bones 3x Transgress the Mind Instant (9) 3x Anguished Unmaking 3x Secure the Wastes 3x To the Slaughter	Artifact (2) 2x Brain in a Jar Creature (4) 4x Accursed Witch Planeswalker (6) 2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 2x Ob Nixilis Reignited 2x Sorin, Grim Nemesis

My list is a bit different than those posted so far:
1) I think Accursed Witch fits in here great. If she lives, she's swinging for 4. If she dies? Her curse becomes attached to your opponent, stealing your their life points for your own. So even if she gets caught up in a Languish, it's no biggie.
2) Mage-Ring Network and Brain in a Jar are here for mana conservation and to pump up your Secure the Wastes/flip your Westvale Abbey. That could really ramp up your win condition, ending things a lot faster than many Control decks can.
3) I'm also thinking about maybe adding in Elusive Tormentor who is a fun tricky card which could also throw a few cards out for delirium if I wanna hit it.

It needs some polish and a sideboard but I think the bones are solid. Thoughts?

-2 sorin -> +2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-2 brain -> +2 Corrupted Graftstone
-2 ob -> +2 Tormented Thoughts

tormented thoughts is crippling if you have witch or gideon out.

darkdwellers would be nice in your deck as well.

Does such an engine exist?

I've been debating if I should write a basic engine to test 2 color decks for optimal creature/spell curve and colored land distribution (re: limited). I've thrown together some basic simulations w/ colorless spells to find the best curve based on what turn you want to curve out by... but I've realized to uncover quality results a 2 color build is necessary. (significant more programming)

one sim I'd like to run is 8 & 9 lands vs 8 & 8 lands + 1 CIT dual (or more), to find out how much the CIT effect hinders a curve over the long run of course (1000s of simulations).

anyone know of such a thing?

3-0 confirmed. went 6-1.

match 3 game 3 I lose Chandra due to blocking as if he was attacking me. the aftermath left him with birthing hulk, 3/3 rg shambler guy, seed elemental, and two eldrazi tokens. (he completely tapped out to cast hulk)

I'm left with goblin freerunner and makindi patrol. he's at 1, I'm at 14. I draw one of my salvos and stare at the board in disbelief of my Chandra oversight.... thinking should I kill something now, or later. I realize he can regen the hulk by saccing the two tokens.. so that's no good. but wait, it is good!!! if he falls for it.

I target his hulk and type in the chat: SAC TOKEN.... away goes one token, then the other... and there goes hulk tapped sideways. with only two creatures to block my freerunner and patrol he's forced to take lethal.

phew!!

predicting a 3-0. (already 1-0)

Quote from TheArchitect »

That would make more sense--I don't typically sleeve my SB, so that's what threw me off. I mostly agree with your assessment, though. The creatures here are not very good, but the deck has the best removal I've ever seen in 40 cards and you don't need the best creatures to win with that kind of support.

most of the games consisted of me beating down w/ a lone bear for 3-4 turns until they draw another creature. a big help was the fact the kids were on my right, and the adults on were on my left in a 9 man draft. that's one more fresh pack to choose from. pack 2 13th pick was tar snare. i passed ondu cleric and something else.. never seen that before.

i sleeve all my cards the second i draft them, and have my basics sleeved and ready to go (12 of each). i'm one of those ppl that doesn't like waiting on someone to finish sleeving their deck while the round already started. so i set an example lol.

regarding bone saw: commonly used on mtgo when playing surge. goblin freerunner out on t2.

thanks for the advice everyone.. really appreciated. i make plenty of mistakes and need to start consciously improving my game. tired of going out r2 in 8-4s

I NEED INPUT!

-----drafted this monster last night in a 9man draft. one newbie who's never drafted before was opposite of me. my lgs is an even mix of loud mouthed kids and casual adults. p1 p1 was fall of the titans. p1p3 was oblivion strike. mid pack 2 i passed late outnumber/salvo/stonefury for creatures as I realized i was a bit low considering all the removal i was taking.

i have my reasons for running 23/18 , but in retrospect i'd probably cut a swamp or stonefury.... or possibly outnumber. mtgo i'd maindeck sure strike and possibly a swarm surge, but given my lgs doesn't play many combat tricks i opted for outnumber. however, sure strike delivered lethal dmg in round 3 game 3 in a nail biter. any input appreciated on how to better tune my deck. sideboard is fanned out.

went 2-1 2-0 2-1. was having trouble hitting 4 lands in a few games (which i won)... my losses are taking a 6card mull 1 lander on the draw w/ 2drops, and a 5 lander on the draw (got him down to 2 though).


overachiever: outnumber
underachiever: barrage tyrant

Quote from TheArchitect »

I have always been curious about Gift of Tusks...it always goes around the 12th pick mark and I have never used it or had it used against me. What was your opinion of the card in actual play? It doesn't seem bad at all from my perspective...though it's probably better in a deck with R/G/B colors where there are more 3/X creatures to take advantage of the trick.

i've won a few games w/ gift of tusks. latest i can remember was using it to clear the way for my flyer as they had one blocker that flew.

it goes both ways though, sometimes it's advantageous to use it on your own creature, sometimes theirs. i like it for it's versatility.

4digits. started before ice age was released. although my history only goes back to dec 1995.

Quote from Deep_Woods »

If William Jensen can top 8 a GP with Battle of Wits, then every few years WotC will drop a card like this just for kicks.

I won a handful of smaller tourneys playing a Battle of Wits deck. Ftr, I never won with battle of wits where I couldn't have won by just swinging with fatboy moti.

a lot of fun to play. a lot.

Quote from bitMaster »

I managed to download the crops, but the AllSets.hq.zip always stops at around 400MB... did you manage to successfully download it all?

nope, same w/ me. stopped around 400mb.

use winrar to repair the zip (it works), then unzip it. you'll get everything from beta-antiq before it errors out. i believe you also get legends, although don't quote me.

you can also try different dates w/ archive.org.

Quote from Kedvesem »

My daughter plays Modern every week (RG Tron and Affinity), and she was literally dancing with joy over the Splinter Twin banning.

If you don't mind me asking, how old is your daughter? At age 13, I have fond memories of my mother trekking me around the Los Angeles area for tourneys (costa mesa's women's club, gencons - circa '94). Eventually she grew tired of waiting on me and learned to play. We'd enter the same tourneys, occasionally face each other, and talk ***** about the same arrogant opponents =D. I vividly recall Mark Rosewater hitting on her a handful of times after she'd sit thru his tedious combo decks. lol.

I love the thought of mom and daughter spending time together thru MTG. It's wonderful. It's why I had to share my similar experience of playing Magic with mom. Some of my best memories as a child.

(Sorry everyone for interrupting!)

Quote from Kedvesem »

I think what happens is Nissa is exiled, but that her ability is already on the stack, so I get to turn the lands into creatures. (And were it Hero's Downfall, it's the same?)

also if 1 of the 6 targeted lands is removed before resolution, i believe the 5 remaining still become creatures since targets are treated individually.

wouldn't hurt for someone to confirm this though.

pretty cheap for me @ $16.50 a week (fnm draft). from beginning the draft to passing out prizes, that equates to about $5.50 an hour for the entertainment. i'd draft more often if it was available locally (i'm in west L.A.).