I have a Thermo-Alchemist enchanted with Curiosity in a multiplayer environment, lets say 3 other opponents just for this.
The ask:
If I tap the alchemist to deal one damage to each opponent, do I get 3 cards (three separate instances of 1 damage) or do I only get 1 card, since all of the damage resolves together.
I disagree that the fetches will not see Standard print. As long as they do not print lands with basic land types - I'm looking at you shocklands and Zen lands - The fetchlands are not terrible for Standard. In addition, printing something like the fetches will dramatically increase the number of Modern players that buy Standard product, which is exactly what Wizards wants.
WotC doesn't make any money off of the secondary market. They also do not make much money off of Modern players, since almost all of Modern is out of print, and therefore not product that WotC has to offer. The primary source of profit is from Limited and Standard. By enticing players to move from a format they don't make money on to a format they do, they raise their profit margin.
Ultimately, there's two ways to do that - one, by invalidating an older format in favor of a new one. They did this when they killed Extended and created Modern. The second way, is to reprint EXTREMELY popular cards that have a high, but controllable power level. Fetchlands match that criteria exactly. By controlling the types of lands printed, they limit what you can search for to basics, making fetches less powerful dual lands.
Each of these provides a solid effect for the cardboard it's printed on, and encourages players to just "let" you be the monarch. Skyline Despot is an amazing monarch card, but it makes you a big fat target.
Then I'd go for cards that discourage attacking, like Ghostly Prison. In fact, monarchy makes a great engine for a prison deck....
Nahiri is most definitely acting on blind rage. She was freed from the Helvault and immediately returned to her home to find it being destroyed. Since she knows Sorin doesn't give a crap, and Ugin is MIA, she assumes Zendikar is lost, and goes for Sorin. She doesn't know that Ulamog and Kozilek were destroyed, and if she did then SoI probably wouldn't have happened.
That said, it's possible that the Eldrazi are something like antibodies in the Blind Eternities, erasing corrupt or dying planes and helping to heal the Multiverse. Which is why Bolas might have released them... If they heal the mending then he gets his power back.
If that's true, then Ugin was right all along, and they shouldn't be destroyed, lest something worse happen.
SO have been following the character twitter accounts and Lilly recently shared a tweet from a new character account for Mad Prophet. I went to the account and read another tweet from a few days ago...
alL will bend wArp aGony of Evolution. no More. breAk the bond. fRee. InTo the cold night out of it to nothingness.
Timecrafting is trash. It doesn't draw you a card, it doesn't affect the board, and it doesn't protect your permanents. It merely interacts with a card that, while good, does not necessarily belong in Delver. And in the process, makes that good card substantially worse. If you want to play 4x AV and 4x Timecrafting, you are better off playing 8 generic draw spells, since you've now made AV cost URx and two cards to draw 3. Timecrafting doesn't even reasonably interact with other decks...I can think of Dragonstorm combo (not played), Search for Tomorrow (meh..), and opponent's AVs as targets.
I've heard rough stories about Pithing Needle in competitive play. It was a legacy match and one of the players is up against a blue deck with Vedalken Shackles. It was game 2, so he already knew the deck had that card in it and casts Pithing Needle naming "Shackles". The blue opponent asks "You're naming Shackles?". He responds with "yes, Shackles". The blue player casts Vedalken Shackles and a judge is called. The judge ruled that "Shackles" is also a Magic card legal in legacy play and the needle kept on preventing that card from being used. Yes, it was assumed by both players that he was talking about the card Vedalken Shackles, but the blue player used the rules to his advantage and goes on to win the game.
TL;DR? BE SPECIFIC!
I would argue that the blue player was cheating. He knowingly misrepresented the board state to his advantage.
What did he misrepresent?
You know, I reread this, and since the blue player SPECIFICALLY asked if he was naming "Shackles", I don't have a problem with the ruling anymore. If the player didn't ask that question, I would have had a problem, since the situation became ambiguous.
I've heard rough stories about Pithing Needle in competitive play. It was a legacy match and one of the players is up against a blue deck with Vedalken Shackles. It was game 2, so he already knew the deck had that card in it and casts Pithing Needle naming "Shackles". The blue opponent asks "You're naming Shackles?". He responds with "yes, Shackles". The blue player casts Vedalken Shackles and a judge is called. The judge ruled that "Shackles" is also a Magic card legal in legacy play and the needle kept on preventing that card from being used. Yes, it was assumed by both players that he was talking about the card Vedalken Shackles, but the blue player used the rules to his advantage and goes on to win the game.
TL;DR? BE SPECIFIC!
I would argue that the blue player was cheating. He knowingly misrepresented the board state to his advantage.
Ghost Quarter is interesting, as it synergizes well with Gitrog and acts as a way to fight Tron.
The Putrefy might get replaced with a Darkblast, depending on common targets.
I was also debating upping the land count to 25, and swapping perhaps two of the lands for manlands. They play well with LftL, and provide more threats.
I think that this is being over-engineered. I haven't done any testing yet, but it seems to me that The Gitrog Monster is best at home in a Rock style deck.
I might start from something like this. Gitrog allows you to trade 1 for 1 with other decks, with the promise of an insane draw engine to make up for it later. The Raven's Crime lets you strip away hands, and with Gitrot each cast lets you draw a card.
It seems that combo decks with Gitrot are either A) too slow, B) require too much set up, or C) are easily disrupted. I'd rather put him into a B/G shell that is powerful on it's own, and becomes Synergy city when he's on the field.
Why no Scatter to the Winds instead of the negate/dispel(s)? Seems like it would be more flexible, and late game able to create 3/3s.
I agree this deck gets a major power boost with the incoming cards. With the cheapness of a lot of it (minus Hangarbacks) it's definitely a good, cheaper alternative to Standard right now.
ZOMG. Wouldn't Seismic Swans work better with this? Or rather, just Seismic Assault? I hear dropping Seismic and Treasure Hunting for the rest of your deck is broken.
What problems are you having? You want us to shore up weaknesses, but you don't describe the problems you have with the deck.
I have a Thermo-Alchemist enchanted with Curiosity in a multiplayer environment, lets say 3 other opponents just for this.
The ask:
If I tap the alchemist to deal one damage to each opponent, do I get 3 cards (three separate instances of 1 damage) or do I only get 1 card, since all of the damage resolves together.
21 Snow Covered Mountains
2 Scrying Sheets
<Creatures>
2 Eternal Scourge
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Mind Stone
1 Batterskull
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
<Spells>
4 Skred
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Koth of the Hammer
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
This seems to be pretty standard, any other suggestions?
WotC doesn't make any money off of the secondary market. They also do not make much money off of Modern players, since almost all of Modern is out of print, and therefore not product that WotC has to offer. The primary source of profit is from Limited and Standard. By enticing players to move from a format they don't make money on to a format they do, they raise their profit margin.
Ultimately, there's two ways to do that - one, by invalidating an older format in favor of a new one. They did this when they killed Extended and created Modern. The second way, is to reprint EXTREMELY popular cards that have a high, but controllable power level. Fetchlands match that criteria exactly. By controlling the types of lands printed, they limit what you can search for to basics, making fetches less powerful dual lands.
Definitely would start off with these "monarch matters" cards:
Custodi Lich
Marchesa's Decree
Protector of the Monarch
Knights of the Black Rose
Each of these provides a solid effect for the cardboard it's printed on, and encourages players to just "let" you be the monarch. Skyline Despot is an amazing monarch card, but it makes you a big fat target.
Then I'd go for cards that discourage attacking, like Ghostly Prison. In fact, monarchy makes a great engine for a prison deck....
That said, it's possible that the Eldrazi are something like antibodies in the Blind Eternities, erasing corrupt or dying planes and helping to heal the Multiverse. Which is why Bolas might have released them... If they heal the mending then he gets his power back.
If that's true, then Ugin was right all along, and they shouldn't be destroyed, lest something worse happen.
Pretty obvious if you take just the capitals
LAGEMARIT
You know, I reread this, and since the blue player SPECIFICALLY asked if he was naming "Shackles", I don't have a problem with the ruling anymore. If the player didn't ask that question, I would have had a problem, since the situation became ambiguous.
I would argue that the blue player was cheating. He knowingly misrepresented the board state to his advantage.
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Dakmor Salvage
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Eternal Witness
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 The Gitrog Monster
//Spells
3 Life from the Loam
3 Zombie Infestation
4 Abrupt Decay
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Putrefy
1 Golgari Charm
2 Bile Blight
Ghost Quarter is interesting, as it synergizes well with Gitrog and acts as a way to fight Tron.
The Putrefy might get replaced with a Darkblast, depending on common targets.
I was also debating upping the land count to 25, and swapping perhaps two of the lands for manlands. They play well with LftL, and provide more threats.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 The Gitrog Monster
4 Zombie Infestation
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Life from the Loam
1 Raven's Crime
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dakmor Salvage
I might start from something like this. Gitrog allows you to trade 1 for 1 with other decks, with the promise of an insane draw engine to make up for it later. The Raven's Crime lets you strip away hands, and with Gitrot each cast lets you draw a card.
It seems that combo decks with Gitrot are either A) too slow, B) require too much set up, or C) are easily disrupted. I'd rather put him into a B/G shell that is powerful on it's own, and becomes Synergy city when he's on the field.
Why no Scatter to the Winds instead of the negate/dispel(s)? Seems like it would be more flexible, and late game able to create 3/3s.
I agree this deck gets a major power boost with the incoming cards. With the cheapness of a lot of it (minus Hangarbacks) it's definitely a good, cheaper alternative to Standard right now.