In my experience, Affinity has to have a pretty slow hand for you to have a chance preboard. It's hard to stabilize against a lot of their hands, especially if they're on the play. Postboard E. Tutor + Null Rod/Serenity lets you race them pretty well.
As others have said, Merfolk should not be a problem for this deck. They have trouble against almost all your creatures. If they drop an early Jitte that might be a slight issue, but as a player of both decks, I think this matchup is really really good for Maverick.
I have not been around MTGS for a while, but I wanted to share something I've been working on. This is Durdling Around, a weekly MTG-themed comic hosted on ManaDeprived.com. For a taste, check out this week's comic, "Tezzeret, Agent of Cups":
New comics go live on ManaD every Friday. Hope you check it out!
My first, on Saturday, was a disaster. I went mono-U metalcraft and went 0-2-1 (with the soul-crushing 4th round bye) despite opening Ratchet Bomb and Steel Hellkite. In hindsight, I should have at least tried to run a second colour: white for Arrest and Myrsmith or black for 2x Necrogen Scudder, Flesh Allergy and Grasp of Darkness. I still made some bad plays on top of that, so I was pretty bummed out at the end of Saturday because I had never done that poorly in a Sealed event.
I wanted revenge, so I went back for Sunday's prerelease. A lot more people came out that day for some reason, but it was exciting. The only rares I ran were Sword of Body and Mind (which is a frigging house) and Chimeric Mass, which enabled some busted opening plays with the three(!) Glint Hawks I opened. I went into black for 2x Necrogen Scudders, 2x Bleak Coven Vampires and an Exsanguinate. Along with 2x Palladium Myrs, 2x Leaden Myrs and a Myr Galvanizer, my deck was the complete opposite of the stinker I put together on Saturday: it was lean, fast and furious.
After an afternoon of wars, I went 4-0-1 to split the top spot. I battled some hard, hard matches but I was really happy I had redeemed myself. I'm feeling confident again and hoping to get some more Sealed games in during the release
I knew Bleak Coven Vampires had potential, but I found them to be huge in an aggro strategy. It's amazing to curve into this guy turn 5 with metalcraft online, and dropping two in a game is just rude. In a deck filled with bears, the Vampires were exactly what I needed for that extra reach.
I don't particularly agree with building a deck specifically to hate out a player. It's pretty vindictive, it's overreacting, and it doesn't solve the issue. I also think outright telling someone, "No, you cannot play with us" is a fairly harsh response, and arguably not in the spirit of EDH.
I find EDH becoming a lot like Warhammer. There's the "casual" crowd, and there's the "competitive" crowd. If these players play against each other without setting expectations, someone isn't going to have a fun time.
What also seems to happen (or at least, has happened in my small EDH circle) is that an arms race, or "power spike" as Hammy said, quickly ensues over a period of time. Someone makes a strong deck; someone else makes a deck that's even stronger. This keeps going and going until everyone's building fast combo/aggro decks. This can make for some exciting games because we are on the same power level, but the player who just built his first EDH deck - the one who really wants to use Baron Sengir as a general - may feel a little overwhelmed.
There's nothing wrong with building a competitive deck and playing it, as long as the other players know this and bring their own competitive decks as well. If one person insists upon playing his/her cutthroat Vendilion Clique deck when everyone else wants to kick back with Phelddagrif and Bartel Runeaxe, then that person is crossing into DB territory. But there is something to be said for making your own decks as efficient as they can be. There's no point getting fired up if you haven't tried to build a stronger or more efficient deck to prepare for him.
My entry for the contest (I hope you guys get it, lol):
Were my scanner not on the fritz I would provide a better image, but this cam pic will have to suffice:
EDIT: Also should note that this came as a "brainstorming" effort (haha) between ATW and myself. He thought of the raining brains, I wanted the zombie.
lol, that's hilarious. It's a zombie's dream come true! Great choice of colours.
Here's my "entry" - I wanted to finish this one for a while but just got around to it...
As others have said, Merfolk should not be a problem for this deck. They have trouble against almost all your creatures. If they drop an early Jitte that might be a slight issue, but as a player of both decks, I think this matchup is really really good for Maverick.
What's up Jer
I'm definitely going on the Saturday, unsure about the other days. Let me know if you're able to make it - would be cool to chat!
I have not been around MTGS for a while, but I wanted to share something I've been working on. This is Durdling Around, a weekly MTG-themed comic hosted on ManaDeprived.com. For a taste, check out this week's comic, "Tezzeret, Agent of Cups":
New comics go live on ManaD every Friday. Hope you check it out!
My first, on Saturday, was a disaster. I went mono-U metalcraft and went 0-2-1 (with the soul-crushing 4th round bye) despite opening Ratchet Bomb and Steel Hellkite. In hindsight, I should have at least tried to run a second colour: white for Arrest and Myrsmith or black for 2x Necrogen Scudder, Flesh Allergy and Grasp of Darkness. I still made some bad plays on top of that, so I was pretty bummed out at the end of Saturday because I had never done that poorly in a Sealed event.
I wanted revenge, so I went back for Sunday's prerelease. A lot more people came out that day for some reason, but it was exciting. The only rares I ran were Sword of Body and Mind (which is a frigging house) and Chimeric Mass, which enabled some busted opening plays with the three(!) Glint Hawks I opened. I went into black for 2x Necrogen Scudders, 2x Bleak Coven Vampires and an Exsanguinate. Along with 2x Palladium Myrs, 2x Leaden Myrs and a Myr Galvanizer, my deck was the complete opposite of the stinker I put together on Saturday: it was lean, fast and furious.
After an afternoon of wars, I went 4-0-1 to split the top spot. I battled some hard, hard matches but I was really happy I had redeemed myself. I'm feeling confident again and hoping to get some more Sealed games in during the release
I don't particularly agree with building a deck specifically to hate out a player. It's pretty vindictive, it's overreacting, and it doesn't solve the issue. I also think outright telling someone, "No, you cannot play with us" is a fairly harsh response, and arguably not in the spirit of EDH.
I find EDH becoming a lot like Warhammer. There's the "casual" crowd, and there's the "competitive" crowd. If these players play against each other without setting expectations, someone isn't going to have a fun time.
What also seems to happen (or at least, has happened in my small EDH circle) is that an arms race, or "power spike" as Hammy said, quickly ensues over a period of time. Someone makes a strong deck; someone else makes a deck that's even stronger. This keeps going and going until everyone's building fast combo/aggro decks. This can make for some exciting games because we are on the same power level, but the player who just built his first EDH deck - the one who really wants to use Baron Sengir as a general - may feel a little overwhelmed.
There's nothing wrong with building a competitive deck and playing it, as long as the other players know this and bring their own competitive decks as well. If one person insists upon playing his/her cutthroat Vendilion Clique deck when everyone else wants to kick back with Phelddagrif and Bartel Runeaxe, then that person is crossing into DB territory. But there is something to be said for making your own decks as efficient as they can be. There's no point getting fired up if you haven't tried to build a stronger or more efficient deck to prepare for him.
It isn't. D-Baggery is a player quality and representative of his or her attitude. The deck is not the problem.
Building a 5 color mana base on a budget
Enjoy!
lol, that's hilarious. It's a zombie's dream come true! Great choice of colours.
Here's my "entry" - I wanted to finish this one for a while but just got around to it...
I've set up a little blog for all the MTG-related art I've been spurred to concoct lately. Check it out!
Derfington's Pad
I originally called it "Derfington Studios", but "Studios" implies some degree of organization or structure. None of that shim-shammery in my house!
For those of the tl;dr persuasion, some new pictures:
I'll post new stuff here, so as to not clog up the forum