I'm really tired of people who feel the need to misrepresent facts in order to support their opinion. (Welcome to the internet, I know)
Jace was not emergency banned in standard. He was banned during a normal update to the B&R list. He wasn't some stupid massive mistake either. Half the time he was in standard he was barely even good enough. Jund with Bloodbraid Elf was still significantly better than Jace decks for most of the time in standard. It wasn't until after rotation that Jace became a problem and only in the last 2/3rds of the format when they printed Sword of Feast and Famine to go with Stoneforge Mystic. Jace was never the real problem, Stoneforge Mystic was. It's why Jace sees play as a 2-3 of in a few Legacy decks but Stoneforge has decks warped around it (Stoneblade, Jeskai Delver, Maverick in yonder days, Death and Taxes). All that in combination with the specific environment that the decks were in during that bad standard were the contributing factors to dominance of Caw Blade. It was absolutely never just Jace.
I've never understood how people can forget he was in Standard for an entire year before he was even a tier 1 card.
I was watching the recent video on the MTG YouTube channel and I noticed the attached frame flash for a second right near the end of the video. I managed to stop on it and snap a picture. I tried scanning it with a QR reader but it didn't respond to it at all. It looks like a QR code but it's all colored. If it is a QR code, does anyone know how to "decolor" this image or if it's not a QR code, what is it?
Like I said, though, they could easily just have it be like Innistrad where you find Gorgons in black, green, and blue with only one or two actual BGU cards in the set.
So you're saying it would be a wedge themed block with no wedge theme?
Cool story, except that price doesn't dictate everything. They both have one effect the same: Generate a colorless mana on tap. The second effect is the kicker. Sacrifice the land to get 2 black? No thanks. Tap it and a green to regenerate a creature? Sure. Yavimaya clearly has the better effect. I've seen Sacrificing tower screw over so many players, while my Yavi stays useful for extended periods of time.
(FYI, the prices aren't all that far apart. It isn't like Hollow is a 10 cent card.)
The problem with all of this is that taking 16 damage is a huge deal, especially when you will be in a rush to use your pod to solve other probable issues. Now you are left with only 1 pod activation for 1. Aggroing out also isn't a fantastic idea, instead, playing it safe so that you don't take a 1 hit swing for 16. Also, if he O-Rings your pod, then you are left with a pretty dismal blade splicer, and no where left to chain. We can assume that he has the O ring, so we want to force him to use it on something else besides the pod, which can answer the O ring.
The best play is Geist pass, I think if we had any resident pros in here, they would agree. Read Mana Leak flavor text.
Seriously? Quoting Mana Leak's flavor text? My suggestion is the least assuming of the suggestions here. I'm not assuming he has the Destiny or the Oblivion Ring or anything else. So if my suggestion is flawed (which is totally possible) it's not because I'm assuming I know more than my opponent...
Quote from Jazzy »
I don't see how filling the board with creatures loses tempo... You gain an insane amount of tempo by podding into Frosty next turn.
That's a possibility, and probably better. I wouldn't really call it "flooding the board" given that you'll be throwing away a token on a chump block and then sacrificing your monk, but still the Frost Titan-as-Crusader-answer play is safer and probably better. I hadn't considered sacrificing Monk to get a Titan, but then again I haven't played Birthing Pod decks at all.
I think after reconsideration I agree that Monk, pass is the best play. But I still think that trading the Emissary for Rampant Growth isn't worth it.
Um... I'm not sure you understand that the idea is that you want Emissary dead and Pod is only a good way to get Emissary dead if you don't have any other option of killing Emissary. Your 3 and 4's that you're podding into are not really relevant anyway and if you attack then play Monk, you don't leave yourself open to Destiny. Pod is actually not good in this situation unless you're podding to Frost Titan.
Yeah, exactly. That is the plan. If you just throw away your Emmisary what is your plan? You won't lose but how will you win? If you take the damage (this is again assuming he has Destiny which he might not even have which is also a relevant factor) then you O-ring his crusader, sacrifice the splicer we pod for this turn into a Solemn Sim., and if we draw land at any point we can play Elesh Norn and then Pod up Acidic Slime to take out the HotP making it basically game from there.
If you Geist - chump with token then you have a higher life total but if he doesn't have Destiny you've lost some significant tempo and an entire turn of building your chain (which is the game plan). Even if he does have destiny, you're committed next turn to playing Oring and then at best playing pod if you draw land, paying 2 life and not using it that turn which is the play we specifically avoided last turn.
This is again assuming he has Destiny, which if he doesn't the best play is to pod up splicer as it completely stops him and progresses the game plan. So the way I see it is this:
If he has Destiny:
Pod play - Risky but you have a game plan to win and he will have to have a series of plays more powerful than your hand and pod combined to push through.
Geist play - Much less risky and a fine play though you'll lose some tempo and you'll have plays to make to whatever he does in the future.
If he doesn't have it:
Pod play - You stop him in his tracks, progress your game plan, while accelerating into your game ending bomb. Easily the best play I think we all agree.
Geist play - He still gets to attack, forcing you to chump with a token anyway or lose 6 and could deploy any number of other serious threats (2nd crusader, hero of bladehold, etc.)
Since pod is a far superior play if he doesn't have it and is still a decent if risky play even if he does, I think it's the better play in the dark.
*Sigh*
I'm really tired of people who feel the need to misrepresent facts in order to support their opinion. (Welcome to the internet, I know)
Jace was not emergency banned in standard. He was banned during a normal update to the B&R list. He wasn't some stupid massive mistake either. Half the time he was in standard he was barely even good enough. Jund with Bloodbraid Elf was still significantly better than Jace decks for most of the time in standard. It wasn't until after rotation that Jace became a problem and only in the last 2/3rds of the format when they printed Sword of Feast and Famine to go with Stoneforge Mystic. Jace was never the real problem, Stoneforge Mystic was. It's why Jace sees play as a 2-3 of in a few Legacy decks but Stoneforge has decks warped around it (Stoneblade, Jeskai Delver, Maverick in yonder days, Death and Taxes). All that in combination with the specific environment that the decks were in during that bad standard were the contributing factors to dominance of Caw Blade. It was absolutely never just Jace.
I've never understood how people can forget he was in Standard for an entire year before he was even a tier 1 card.
Ah darn it, I tried to find a thread but couldn't find one. Sorry for the double post!
It wasn't a ally colored tribal themed block. It was a horror themed block with a mild ally colored tribal subtheme.
Could Theros have some sort of subtheme that synergizes with RTR block? Sure. But that's a far stretch from making it the central theme to the block.
So you're saying it would be a wedge themed block with no wedge theme?
This strikes me as unlikely.
Except that no other color's removal is easily reversible.
I think someone needs to re-read Phyrexian Tower.
The target is your opponent. It's stopped by the Leyline. Otherwise it woudl say something like "Target library owned by your opponent."
Artifact
All cards that aren't on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are artifacts in addition to their other types.
Sorcery
Target opponent names a card. You may reveal your hand. If you do, and the named card is not in your hand, draw two cards.
Seriously? Quoting Mana Leak's flavor text? My suggestion is the least assuming of the suggestions here. I'm not assuming he has the Destiny or the Oblivion Ring or anything else. So if my suggestion is flawed (which is totally possible) it's not because I'm assuming I know more than my opponent...
That's a possibility, and probably better. I wouldn't really call it "flooding the board" given that you'll be throwing away a token on a chump block and then sacrificing your monk, but still the Frost Titan-as-Crusader-answer play is safer and probably better. I hadn't considered sacrificing Monk to get a Titan, but then again I haven't played Birthing Pod decks at all.
I think after reconsideration I agree that Monk, pass is the best play. But I still think that trading the Emissary for Rampant Growth isn't worth it.
Yeah, exactly. That is the plan. If you just throw away your Emmisary what is your plan? You won't lose but how will you win? If you take the damage (this is again assuming he has Destiny which he might not even have which is also a relevant factor) then you O-ring his crusader, sacrifice the splicer we pod for this turn into a Solemn Sim., and if we draw land at any point we can play Elesh Norn and then Pod up Acidic Slime to take out the HotP making it basically game from there.
If you Geist - chump with token then you have a higher life total but if he doesn't have Destiny you've lost some significant tempo and an entire turn of building your chain (which is the game plan). Even if he does have destiny, you're committed next turn to playing Oring and then at best playing pod if you draw land, paying 2 life and not using it that turn which is the play we specifically avoided last turn.
This is again assuming he has Destiny, which if he doesn't the best play is to pod up splicer as it completely stops him and progresses the game plan. So the way I see it is this:
If he has Destiny:
Pod play - Risky but you have a game plan to win and he will have to have a series of plays more powerful than your hand and pod combined to push through.
Geist play - Much less risky and a fine play though you'll lose some tempo and you'll have plays to make to whatever he does in the future.
If he doesn't have it:
Pod play - You stop him in his tracks, progress your game plan, while accelerating into your game ending bomb. Easily the best play I think we all agree.
Geist play - He still gets to attack, forcing you to chump with a token anyway or lose 6 and could deploy any number of other serious threats (2nd crusader, hero of bladehold, etc.)
Since pod is a far superior play if he doesn't have it and is still a decent if risky play even if he does, I think it's the better play in the dark.