PG: Magic Johnson (this is the toughest call I think. Stockton and Isiah Thomas have arguements.)
SG: Michael Jordan. Kobe in distant second but far in front of whoever is 3rd.
SF: Lebron James. As much as I dislike him, I have to recognize his talent.
PF: Tim Duncan. Dirk Nowitski and Karl Malone get honorable mentions.
C: Wilt Chamberlain. Head and shoulders above the rest. Shaq COULD have surpassed him. Its a shame he spent most of his career out of shape and never bothered to learn how to shoot free throws.
^ Pretty much this but for different reasons.
In general, I'm a huge fan of versatility / redundancy / resistance to injury, and the lineup above provides it in spades while still maintaining an abundance of raw talent.
PG: Earvin Johnson
The ultimate unselfish player who gets everyone involved. A leader and winner. His ability to suit up at any position makes up for his questionable defense.
SG: Michael Jordan
The most obvious choice (for winning). 6x Finals MVP. 5x Reg Season MVP. Best offensive player and mutiple DPOY.
SF: LeBron James
Another obvious choice. Won his first title at age 28 27 playing with future hall of famers Scottie Pippen Dwyane Wade & Dennis Rodman Chris Bosh as well as hall of fame coach Phil Jackson under 4th year coach Erik Spoelstra.
The only real blemish on his resume is that he never made it to the finals he made it to the finals twice without winning until his 28th birthday. Offensive, defense, inside, outside - LeBron have it all.
PF: Tim Duncan
A big man with a solid mid range game and ability to anchor a defense. Provides a great size and skill mismatch at the 4.
C: Wilt Chamberlain
100 pts in a game and 20K women in real life. Can't argue with that. Sorry Kareem.
I like the additional 4 modes on this charm that allow you to kill creatures with power less than five, multicolored creatures, monoblack creatures, and artifact creatures.
Yes I remember ... it was good, that's why I left playing standard for Legacy when it was created
Hell apart from balance all the cards you listed were just fine
You shoulda listed Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Yawgmoth's Will and Tolarian Academy if you were trying to make a point
I might have listed them if I wasn't so senile.;)
"Back in the day we used to tie an onion to our belt. Because that was the style...."
Although, to be fair, I don't think anything close to Dark Ritual or Strip Mine would ever be printed again.
They needed to power creep creatures - the most fragile of all permanents. We will only get into trouble if they started power creeping draw spells, fast mana, or discard.
Yeah, Reforge the Nuts is powerful and will more than likely see play in Legacy and Modern along side Past in Flames. Everyone freaked out at Temporal Mastery when Reforge the Soul is the obvious and more playable power card as far as miracles are concerned.
Moreover, Reforge will likely be better than Temporal Mastery in Vintage.
It will be extremely entertaining to look back on both TM's & RTS's threads and find out which has more of an impact on each format.
I dont like paying 14 life to Grisel, since it puts you in double Lightning Bolt / Snappy + Lightning Bolt range, which see more and more play. Also Delver + Lightning Bolt + 2x Grisel is also 20 damage. There was a Delver deck in Darmstadt on the first place. (*)
I think Rune-Scarred is a more solid win compared with Grisel.
To be fair, that tournament only had 11 players total.
I'm certainly not discounting the presence of Bolt - especially in a metagame that's being increasingly invaded by powerful tempo-bears like Thalia . However, against a deck like that, Griselbrand's lifelink really makes him into a Swiss Army Knife of sorts.
I doubt this will happen. The problem with this scenario is that you have a high chance of drawing dead cards with Griselbrand when you double activate him following the Oath - namely your excess Oath of Druids, excess Forbidden Orchards, and extra Griselbrand.
I'm not sure that you can construct a Storm deck that uses an Oath engine that would work efficiently enough.
If you're drawing 14 cards, hopefully you'll have enough business spells even with one or two dead cards. I also wouldn't consider Forbidden Orchard to be that much more dead than say a Gemstone Mine.
both have there merits. but i'm under the impression that griselbrand is a lot more aggressive.
biggest draw back is that griselbrand is legendary where as rune scarred isn't. yet grisel draws up a lot more cards, compared to rune scar's 1 card tutor.
so i'm not sure if i should persue griselbrand oath over runescarred oath?
Of course you should.
Griselbrand is one of the most degenerate Oath targets. His drawback in relation to RSD is moot since he will win you the game once he hits the table. No need to Oath up a second creature.
Back in April 2012, Legacy & Vintage forums alike (such as themanadrain.com & mtgthesource) literally had an orgasm when this guy was first spoiled - or at least the Dredge & Oath players did.
You can even listen Stephen "Vintage Chapin" Menendian's screams of elation regarding Bargain Demon on his most recent podcast for AVR.
Having said all that, don't be surpised if a two mana bargain like Griselbrand becomes the engine for some really sick Tendrils or ETW deck in the near future.
I'm not sure I understand -- I just don't see the advantage for a normal burn deck to be casting this on turn five. You say that a degenerate combo deck is the only one that can take advantage of the turn you give them, but that seems opposite to me, as this gives non-combo decks the opportunity to have a really good turn five or six when they themselves may have been running low on cards. Also, you just cast a five mana spell and spent your whole turn doing that instead of burning your opponent; even if you untap with a full hand, was that really worth skipping your turn to do that, especially with the added cost of them getting said turn before you?
Yes, it's powerful miracle, but how does a Monored Burn Deck build around that?
This isn't Memory Jar; Memory Jar let you untap with it in play and then draw seven, which is a huge distinction.
I'm only being so critical because I *want* the card to be good, too, I just don't see how it fits in anything in standard.
As a heavy burn deck though, I’ve found you’re always dumping your hand first, often leaving your opponent stranded with extra cards. Sometimes it’s an extra creature. Other times, it’s an extra cantrip (or two) that either hasn’t been cast yet or has been drawn via a previously casted cantrip. So, on average, you’re gaining more cards than the opponent.
Sure, it’s possible to just completely draw the nuts and simply win regardless of Reforge, but occasionally you’re forced to burn a creature in response to it equipping a life-gaining sword. I mean, in terms of tempo that’s a nice play. But if that causes you to not end up with enough business to burn out the opponent as well as take care of future sword wielders, then that’s where Reforge can bring you back into the game.
The difference between this and other five mana draw 7's is that it's actually in a proactive color. It's not in a color that wants to hold onto Mana Leaks or Mental Missteps, it's in a color that can Galvanic / Shock / Pillar / Gut Shot an opponent. So it has much more potential to go into say an R/b burn shell, R/g aggro, or R/w aggro.
Weidman however, did show that he could not only hang, but also control an all time great in the Spider. Congrats to both of them.
Edit: Thanks for the pic, ThaDeceptikon. I am still in shock over his broken leg. Hope he recovers quickly.
Edit #2: Just had to post this gif of the next MW #1 contender:
^ Pretty much this but for different reasons.
In general, I'm a huge fan of versatility / redundancy / resistance to injury, and the lineup above provides it in spades while still maintaining an abundance of raw talent.
PG: Earvin Johnson
The ultimate unselfish player who gets everyone involved. A leader and winner. His ability to suit up at any position makes up for his questionable defense.
SG: Michael Jordan
The most obvious choice (for winning). 6x Finals MVP. 5x Reg Season MVP. Best offensive player and mutiple DPOY.
SF: LeBron James
Another obvious choice. Won his first title at age
2827 playing with future hall of famersScottie PippenDwyane Wade &Dennis RodmanChris Boshas well as hall of fame coach Phil Jacksonunder 4th year coach Erik Spoelstra.The only real blemish on his resume is that
he never made it to the finalshe made it to the finals twice without winning until his 28th birthday. Offensive, defense, inside, outside - LeBron have it all.PF: Tim Duncan
A big man with a solid mid range game and ability to anchor a defense. Provides a great size and skill mismatch at the 4.
C: Wilt Chamberlain
100 pts in a game and 20K women in real life. Can't argue with that. Sorry Kareem.
I might have listed them if I wasn't so senile.;)
"Back in the day we used to tie an onion to our belt. Because that was the style...."
Although, to be fair, I don't think anything close to Dark Ritual or Strip Mine would ever be printed again.
Remember: there was time when Standard/Type II had cards like Balance, Strip Mine, Black Vise, Hymn to Tourach, Dark Ritual, and Wheel of Fortune,.
We also had another Standard filled with Windfall, Lotus Petal, Accumulated Knowledge/Intuition, Goblin Fricken Welder, etc...
The R&D department at WOTC isn't perfect, but they are more knowledgeable than before.
You will NEVER again see draw spells / fast mana that power in Standard.
The pendulum will eventually swing the other way.
You realize that Wizards have to balance cards for limited/Standard don't you?
In a pack like this, I'm swinging for the fences: Mana Bloom.
Fixing and ramp.
Depends on what you mean by strong. IMO, Auger Spree would be right near the top of the removal hierarchy.
Being unsure of how slow the format will be, Korozda Guildmage - while strong - just seems a little too mana intensive.
Moreover, Reforge will likely be better than Temporal Mastery in Vintage.
It will be extremely entertaining to look back on both TM's & RTS's threads and find out which has more of an impact on each format.
To be fair, that tournament only had 11 players total.
I'm certainly not discounting the presence of Bolt - especially in a metagame that's being increasingly invaded by powerful tempo-bears like Thalia . However, against a deck like that, Griselbrand's lifelink really makes him into a Swiss Army Knife of sorts.
If you're drawing 14 cards, hopefully you'll have enough business spells even with one or two dead cards. I also wouldn't consider Forbidden Orchard to be that much more dead than say a Gemstone Mine.
Of course you should.
Griselbrand is one of the most degenerate Oath targets. His drawback in relation to RSD is moot since he will win you the game once he hits the table. No need to Oath up a second creature.
Back in April 2012, Legacy & Vintage forums alike (such as themanadrain.com & mtgthesource) literally had an orgasm when this guy was first spoiled - or at least the Dredge & Oath players did.
You can even listen Stephen "Vintage Chapin" Menendian's screams of elation regarding Bargain Demon on his most recent podcast for AVR.
- So Many Insane Plays #14 (AVR Review: Griselbrand Temporal Mastery, et al.) link: http://www.mtgcast.com/?p=24666
Having said all that, don't be surpised if a two mana bargain like Griselbrand becomes the engine for some really sick Tendrils or ETW deck in the near future.As a heavy burn deck though, I’ve found you’re always dumping your hand first, often leaving your opponent stranded with extra cards. Sometimes it’s an extra creature. Other times, it’s an extra cantrip (or two) that either hasn’t been cast yet or has been drawn via a previously casted cantrip. So, on average, you’re gaining more cards than the opponent.
Sure, it’s possible to just completely draw the nuts and simply win regardless of Reforge, but occasionally you’re forced to burn a creature in response to it equipping a life-gaining sword. I mean, in terms of tempo that’s a nice play. But if that causes you to not end up with enough business to burn out the opponent as well as take care of future sword wielders, then that’s where Reforge can bring you back into the game.
The difference between this and other five mana draw 7's is that it's actually in a proactive color. It's not in a color that wants to hold onto Mana Leaks or Mental Missteps, it's in a color that can Galvanic / Shock / Pillar / Gut Shot an opponent. So it has much more potential to go into say an R/b burn shell, R/g aggro, or R/w aggro.