Here's what is going on as we have a similar problem up here. The scheduling program has been moved over from one server to two and from what I understand is if the scheduling for standard and such wasn't in before the switch its not counting the days that haven't been schedule for allotment of FNM promos. Up here we have one week of promos for next week due to this scheduling snafu and according to WotC they aren't allowing this to be fixed at this time. So sadly next month we miss out on the Despise promos and all. So this may have happened to you also. As to why the second server was so desperately needed and patched in so hap haphazardly is anyone's guess. It is similar to when they switched the Planeswalker points system over that day my friend checked his rating and that day he had over a million points lol.
1. In interviews the development team at WotC have stated more than once about power creep that its similar to the Escher "Ascending" (I believe its called its the castle with the staircase that in a never ending circle of rising and falling). They state they raise the power in one area while lowering it in another so that they never truly get power creeped out. They used this example when talking about Lightning Bolt and a few creatures in general.
2. They stated in an interview wish I could remember where I heard it / read it but they stated that Lightning Bolt was originally never meant to be printed in M11. For some reason they decided to give it a little more time in standard.
3. Power Creep is shifting and they are sliding away from the power of the bolt and heading in a new direction with the game and its power creep. There are good solid cards that replace bolt in some ways yes they aren't as powerful but they fill its spot if it left.
To me Lightning Bolt has had its time in standard again to some good effect and impact on the game. But its like any other card its best to leave before you overstay your welcome. Look at a card like Pithing Needle its a great card but it overstayed its welcome almost to the point where it no longer was having the impact it used to in the standard environment. I think Bolt had its time in the sun and it was a good run in standard but it needs some time off to maybe one day again have the effect/impact that it did on its return. I love bolt as I'm not much of a control player and love using it in my aggro decks but even I know it needs some time off now and then to feel like the iconic spell it has become over the years. And it will help change the environment some as there isn't the threat of a solid bolt effect in standard anymore. For the game to grow sometimes even bolt must go.
these are just my opinions and should be read as such just opinions.
Still not sure I like this deck anymore unless they reprint Ranger of Eos. Without Ranger it seems hard to recover from a wrath effect. Plus like you said the new addition only helps Ajani's Pridemate half the time. I liked the old list cause it was more of a damned if you do damned if you don't when an opponent plays their creatures. Plus Black sun Zenith is a killer against the deck as it shrinks pridemate and gets rid of the threat in the soul sister part. Also Kuldotha Red has a beast in slagstorm and pyro that will wipe out early advantages.
But then again I'm no where near the level I used to be when playing magic events so I'm stightly out of loop in whats good and whats not anymore. That being said I can see that this is a potential tier 2 deck but it doesn't feel like it generates enough advantage without ranger to be a tier 1 deck.
First to help stabilize the mana base I would look too blue Sac Lands (onslaught preferably if you have access to them) although just about any sac able to look for islands with original duals will work. This will help stabilize your mana base and make it more efficient. Also it also opens up he possibility of running Brainstorm's in the deck to help thin out draws better and keep your hand full.
I know he is a bit more expensive cc atm but another nice wizard to run might be Sea Gate Oracles since you are running a bit of a wizard package using information dealers.
I like Hana but a better package might be Tolaria West and Academy ruins as they tend to be harder to deal with than a creature. This also opens up the possibility of running the Gifts Ungiven package as most of your win cons are artifact based.
There are many packages you could use in the deck too to help your win cons. One of my favorites is running Sword of the Meek, Thopter Foundry and your main search for these Muddle the Mixture or Gifts Ungiven.
Another package is Counterbalance, Sensei's Divining Top, Trinket Mage and possibly but not always needed in the build Muddle the Mixture or even Gifts Ungiven. These usually lock opponents out of 1-3 or sometimes 4cc spells for much of the game till you provide your win condition.
As for Ivory mask the Leyline of Sanctity from M11 is better to be running as troll shroud is better in many decks plus having it in play on turn 1 can be back breaking for some decks.
Not sure what you could drop really and where thats more up to you these are the cards I'm more familiar with that could make the deck more flexible. I know it really could use cards like brainstorm or ponder or Thirst for knowledge or even late game Jace's ingenuity to help keep the hand fuller to help get to win cons and make other cards in the deck more viable. The deck just needs slight alterations as there is a lot of singletons and the only way I see you have of consistently finding them is your information dealers.
Later and hope this helped. These are only my opinions and should be taken as such they are just opinions.
they are used as proxies and pretty much sold as such. Cause who really can afford real black bordered power or duals. I don't necessarily condone it or make them myself but it is legit and can be done. A little acetone and a foil and your in the proxy business. It is also easily identifiable and very hard to pass off them for real cards if you know what to look for. So its more of a meh to me as faked and proxied cards are everywhere when it comes to cards that are worth anything.
I got a horrible card pool with some bombs but no support for them.
Both the new dragons, green leyline, the bell, can't really remember the rest in my sealed pool.
The guy across from me opened a foil Time Reversal.
I think 2 baneslayers were pulled and about 3 different titans (no green or black ironically)
Still nothing lives up too the Worldwake release for me, 3 Jaces (one foil) were cracked out of a total of 16 players.
Kewl if true not fully sure on the playability yet of the card or where it will fit atm.
As for the fight happening in the forums don't fault someone for not posting photos of the cards if a friend opened them and he doesn't want to share the photos or whatever its not fair to fault them for not sharing. And by the way people can post credible info without photos. I did it after all got my scry early and posted almost an entire set thanks to it albeit I was tired and screwed up the wording on one card. So please settle down and lets get back on topic and away from tearing random people we don't know new ones.
Force of Will especially after this whole new rumored format discussion. 14 months and it would be out of standard again. Plus having a chance at getting ones that hold their condition better would be so nice.
First multi-colored cards would be nice so we could bring back Ajani Vengeant and let the Lorwyn cycle of planeswalkers have a rest for a bit.
It is distinctly possible that the format will be heavy with combo decks and such. They may rule the format for a bit but there is always the possibility that they will reprint FoW as it is not on the list. Yes it would warp standard for a little while until it rotates but it is distinctly possible that they could bring it back to help take the combo sillyness down in the format.
But as said before it is a rumored format and nothing is set in stone as its rumored to appear towards the end of the year so WotC has plenty of time to research how to make it successful and ban cards that could be considered too powerful too be included in the tourney scene. I think we can all safely assume that the first card to hit the ban list is Skullclamp. I for one can't wait too see this format come to fruition and see what comes out of it as the only 2 Legacy decks I was ever able to afford to play was Aether/Goblins and 2 land Belcher.
I think from tourney turnouts Extended was headed out the door in popularity and something new needed to be done. This way now there is a lot more diversity to the format than the cookie cutter same like 4 decks all over the place (Thopter Depths, Zoo and cascade combos(main 3 I can name off top of head)). Sure we may see some people playing these combo decks but it would not surprise me to see some old extended decks like people have said before such as Rebels and who knows some crazy madness hybrids lol. I for one hope this format becomes a reality as I'm sick of being stuck playing Extended and Standard as of late.
Thats just my opinion but take it as you will.
Decks I might play in this format:
Aether/Goblins
Elf ball off shoot
some weird storm deck
zoo
aggro loam
fish
suicide black
affinity
rebels
sliver control
counter/top off shoot
madness
cascade combo
......
To me I can't see Vengevine in Jund at least not main deck anyways. I just can't see a card you would cut to give it some room in the main deck. Its a good card and I'd love to play it in Jund but in my mind at least I'd still run Sarkhan the Mad over this guy as he gives you more board position with his draw and his other 2 abilities, hes overall more synergistic with other cards in the deck than Vengevines synergy with the deck. But I could be wrong.
Vengevine seems more built for a cheap quick creature deck that more than likely is trying to play 2 creatures or spells a turn. I can see it in a quick Eldrazi green deck or a fast running Eldrazi ramp deck. I don't know why even though they are not close to the same but Vengevine reminds me of Masked Admireers at least so far hype wise.
As for the blue card if it was 1 or 2 mana less it might see constructed play but as is I say no.
yeah drop the dragonlord he really overall doesn't seem good. Not sure what to go with in its place maybe another Sarkhan or maybe even a couple mainboard Earthquakes or maybe the colorless man land or two for added pressure. Just really not sure where to go from where you are at but I'm really not a fan of the dragonlord.
I too had dreams of one day getting to play Legacy but the only way I could afford the cards is if they were released again in a limited # sort of like in the From the Vault set. Now suddenly that avenue is shut off from me and with todays economy I cannot justify paying more than $20 for a card. It saddens me so much that so few shut off so many due to their greed with this situation. I have dreamed about playing in a Legacy tournament for a while now but now thats impossible as its stupid to even try with the shock lands you'd be done in like 3 rounds. I guess I may just call it quits on that dream and just get rid of any legacy viable things and maybe just eventually drop out of magic all together. This decision makes no sense as for example where is Mana Drain on the Reserved List? Nope yet have we seen an abundance of reprints of it? No WotC is very careful with their reprints and thusly why does the list still exist if they are that controlling about what they print? I don't know why but in all it makes very little sense to any or all of us. I just hate the fact that I've been locked out of yet another format, I knew I'd never have the cards for Vintage but Legacy felt possible after the DD spoiler and not not so much any more and it hurts my faith in the company and in whoever is running the show.
1. In interviews the development team at WotC have stated more than once about power creep that its similar to the Escher "Ascending" (I believe its called its the castle with the staircase that in a never ending circle of rising and falling). They state they raise the power in one area while lowering it in another so that they never truly get power creeped out. They used this example when talking about Lightning Bolt and a few creatures in general.
2. They stated in an interview wish I could remember where I heard it / read it but they stated that Lightning Bolt was originally never meant to be printed in M11. For some reason they decided to give it a little more time in standard.
3. Power Creep is shifting and they are sliding away from the power of the bolt and heading in a new direction with the game and its power creep. There are good solid cards that replace bolt in some ways yes they aren't as powerful but they fill its spot if it left.
To me Lightning Bolt has had its time in standard again to some good effect and impact on the game. But its like any other card its best to leave before you overstay your welcome. Look at a card like Pithing Needle its a great card but it overstayed its welcome almost to the point where it no longer was having the impact it used to in the standard environment. I think Bolt had its time in the sun and it was a good run in standard but it needs some time off to maybe one day again have the effect/impact that it did on its return. I love bolt as I'm not much of a control player and love using it in my aggro decks but even I know it needs some time off now and then to feel like the iconic spell it has become over the years. And it will help change the environment some as there isn't the threat of a solid bolt effect in standard anymore. For the game to grow sometimes even bolt must go.
these are just my opinions and should be read as such just opinions.
But then again I'm no where near the level I used to be when playing magic events so I'm stightly out of loop in whats good and whats not anymore. That being said I can see that this is a potential tier 2 deck but it doesn't feel like it generates enough advantage without ranger to be a tier 1 deck.
I know he is a bit more expensive cc atm but another nice wizard to run might be Sea Gate Oracles since you are running a bit of a wizard package using information dealers.
I like Hana but a better package might be Tolaria West and Academy ruins as they tend to be harder to deal with than a creature. This also opens up the possibility of running the Gifts Ungiven package as most of your win cons are artifact based.
There are many packages you could use in the deck too to help your win cons. One of my favorites is running Sword of the Meek, Thopter Foundry and your main search for these Muddle the Mixture or Gifts Ungiven.
Another package is Counterbalance, Sensei's Divining Top, Trinket Mage and possibly but not always needed in the build Muddle the Mixture or even Gifts Ungiven. These usually lock opponents out of 1-3 or sometimes 4cc spells for much of the game till you provide your win condition.
As for Ivory mask the Leyline of Sanctity from M11 is better to be running as troll shroud is better in many decks plus having it in play on turn 1 can be back breaking for some decks.
Not sure what you could drop really and where thats more up to you these are the cards I'm more familiar with that could make the deck more flexible. I know it really could use cards like brainstorm or ponder or Thirst for knowledge or even late game Jace's ingenuity to help keep the hand fuller to help get to win cons and make other cards in the deck more viable. The deck just needs slight alterations as there is a lot of singletons and the only way I see you have of consistently finding them is your information dealers.
Later and hope this helped.
These are only my opinions and should be taken as such they are just opinions.
You Tube video link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/cherlloyd
Singing "Stay":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xqIdFU0TRg
Singing "Girlfriend":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYGbcFJEI3s
This is just my opinion and should be viewed as such.
So what if I sunk to a new low lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAV1WI98lKE&playnext=1&videos=DpNSylXaN-w
they are used as proxies and pretty much sold as such. Cause who really can afford real black bordered power or duals. I don't necessarily condone it or make them myself but it is legit and can be done. A little acetone and a foil and your in the proxy business. It is also easily identifiable and very hard to pass off them for real cards if you know what to look for. So its more of a meh to me as faked and proxied cards are everywhere when it comes to cards that are worth anything.
Both the new dragons, green leyline, the bell, can't really remember the rest in my sealed pool.
The guy across from me opened a foil Time Reversal.
I think 2 baneslayers were pulled and about 3 different titans (no green or black ironically)
Still nothing lives up too the Worldwake release for me, 3 Jaces (one foil) were cracked out of a total of 16 players.
As for the fight happening in the forums don't fault someone for not posting photos of the cards if a friend opened them and he doesn't want to share the photos or whatever its not fair to fault them for not sharing. And by the way people can post credible info without photos. I did it after all got my scry early and posted almost an entire set thanks to it albeit I was tired and screwed up the wording on one card. So please settle down and lets get back on topic and away from tearing random people we don't know new ones.
Have a nice day.
Follow the link to see list:
http://community.wizards.com/magicthegathering/blog/2010/05/06/chandras_dotp_deck
4 goblin Piker
2 goblin sky raider
2 cinder pyromancer
3 incinerate
3 shock
4 hill giant
4 lightning elemental
2 Earth elemental
1 enrage
1 bloodmark mentor
2 dragons claw
1 blaze
2 act of treason
1 prodigal pyromancer
1 Kamahl, Pit Fighter (Foil)
1 banefire
1 shivan dragon
1 rage reflection
1 furnace of rath
First multi-colored cards would be nice so we could bring back Ajani Vengeant and let the Lorwyn cycle of planeswalkers have a rest for a bit.
But as said before it is a rumored format and nothing is set in stone as its rumored to appear towards the end of the year so WotC has plenty of time to research how to make it successful and ban cards that could be considered too powerful too be included in the tourney scene. I think we can all safely assume that the first card to hit the ban list is Skullclamp. I for one can't wait too see this format come to fruition and see what comes out of it as the only 2 Legacy decks I was ever able to afford to play was Aether/Goblins and 2 land Belcher.
I think from tourney turnouts Extended was headed out the door in popularity and something new needed to be done. This way now there is a lot more diversity to the format than the cookie cutter same like 4 decks all over the place (Thopter Depths, Zoo and cascade combos(main 3 I can name off top of head)). Sure we may see some people playing these combo decks but it would not surprise me to see some old extended decks like people have said before such as Rebels and who knows some crazy madness hybrids lol. I for one hope this format becomes a reality as I'm sick of being stuck playing Extended and Standard as of late.
Thats just my opinion but take it as you will.
Decks I might play in this format:
Aether/Goblins
Elf ball off shoot
some weird storm deck
zoo
aggro loam
fish
suicide black
affinity
rebels
sliver control
counter/top off shoot
madness
cascade combo
......
Devastating summons was a win more it seemed like to me every now and then only even used it once.
First pick was an All is Dust but never got much colorless stuff.
Vengevine seems more built for a cheap quick creature deck that more than likely is trying to play 2 creatures or spells a turn. I can see it in a quick Eldrazi green deck or a fast running Eldrazi ramp deck. I don't know why even though they are not close to the same but Vengevine reminds me of Masked Admireers at least so far hype wise.
As for the blue card if it was 1 or 2 mana less it might see constructed play but as is I say no.