I'm okay with this, The only thing I dislike about it was it's theme revolves with IXalan.. I want a dominaria based theme.
I'm curious if they'll come back to it in the future, but with a name like "Explorers of Ixalan" instead of something more generic like "Magic the Gathering: Explorers", it doesn't feel like they will.
Something's been up with KMC recently - someone posted about the edges being rough earlier in this thread, and though I haven't had that problem, I have seen them splitting easier recently (almost as easily as Ultra Pros - you can pull them apart with almost no pressure at all). Also, a friend and I have both had issues with their perfect fits being slightly taller than usual, almost to the point that they stick out of the top of the outer sleeve.
Just a word of warning for anyone looking to get KMCs - I'm still a fan of them for their shuffling feel, but their quality seems to be taking a dive.
I'm torn - I have ~30 planes from the 3 Planechase decks I bought in the past (2009 Zombies, 2012 Ninjas/Cascade), but I really want the full set, as my EDH group plays Planechase regularly (and we love it) - we're currently using an app for the full Planar deck, but it's clunky and doesn't really allow some of them to be used (some make you draw X planes and walk to each one individually). We also haven't been able to try the Eternities Map variant, which is something we've been wanting to try.
I know $149 is an insane price, but it's a convenience thing for me - getting them all in one neat package. Tracking down the other ~50 single planes I need at $2-3 each (average TCG price), plus the promos (one of which goes for $20+) and shipping would easily be $100-150+ alone, so buying the Anthology and trading away the reprints that I'm not using only puts me ahead of where I'd be otherwise.
This is very troubling, and I have to agree with a lot of Xenphire's points. It's interesting that this coincides with the rise of "MTG Finance" sites that talk about trading and selling cards as though they were stocks and bonds, and I can't help but wonder what sort of subconscious impact that talk might have.
Not to mention the inclusion of Magic in more mainstream culture like South Park and the Forbes investment article - they may bring in new players, which is always great, but I'm sure they're also attracting the attention of people looking to exploit the game (or its players) as well. I see articles posted every day about people having their items stolen, usually because of a mistake on the victim's part (leaving items in their car or unsupervised at an LGS), but it's happening ALL the time now.
On the topic of finance, I know I keep an eye on prices every day (so I know when to trade in cards I'm not using for cards I want), but that doesn't change the fact that I really hate all of it. The game has a much higher barrier to entry than it did when I got back into it 6 years ago, which is fine for people making money on it, but not good for casual players or people looking to start playing competitively. We all know it's a hobby, and hobbies cost money, but it's so much more expensive than it has to be.
Damn. This problem could be easily solved if KMC would just make more colors...
Not sure if I made this clear, but I was comparing the standard glossy finish of both KMC and DS.
Yep - I was referring to the slight transparency of the yellow sleeves you were mentioning. I was saying if they would only make yellow Hyper Mattes, I wouldn't need to be so picky - I'd take them even if they were a little see-through.
I have not used yellow, but I was sorting some sleeves and found that both Dragon Shields and KMC have a teal (not turquoise) color that is almost identical for me (slight color blindness), but when mixed in a deck some appeared darker than others. Both were in the same condition, and I found that the only way I could tell the difference for sure was by holding them up to the light. DS were far more translucent (I compared to other dark colors that I knew were DS), which is what caused DS to look different with cards in them. Teal is a dark enough color that I have never feared a double-faced card would show through DS, but yellow would concern me. I have a couple of random yellow sleeves that I have acquired through singles on Puca Trade, and while I don't know the brand of the glossy ones I have they are pretty dang translucent.
Take that for what it's worth.
Damn. This problem could be easily solved if KMC would just make more colors...
Sleeve question - I primarily use KMC Hyper Matte sleeves (plus perfect fits) for all of my EDH decks, and I like to keep them somewhat color-related. I'm a mash shuffler, and KMC Hyper Mattes are easily the best sleeve I've ever used - it's a damn shame they don't offer more color choices, considering how popular their products are among players and how seemingly simple it would be to have other color options.
I was thrilled to find out that there were purple Hyper Mattes when I made my Ulamog EDH because there was the whole "purple as a 6th color" conspiracy, and I felt like they represented colorless fairly well. On the other hand, the only deck I own currently not in KMCs is my 5-color Sliver Overlord deck, currently in yellow Ultra Pros. This deck is becoming one of my favorite pet decks, so I absolutely have to get them out of these garbage Ultra Pros - I was actually always a fan of them until I started using KMCs, but there's just no comparing the two any longer. That being said, I really like the yellow sleeves for my 5-color deck (gold is too cheesy, imo), but KMC doesn't make them in a matte finish and neither does Dragon Shield (never really been a fan of DS sleeves, but their matte sleeves are decent).
I've watched all the TCC videos (as well as a few others around YouTube), so I know I'm left with only a couple options, but I was hoping I might get some opinions from the community. I like to spend my money wisely, so anything will be helpful, but if you've used any of the following products (or have recommendations of your own), I'd appreciate any info you can provide:
Yellow Dragon Shields - I very much prefer the matte finish (regular Dragon Shields are durable and all, but they can't hold a candle to Hyper Mattes in terms of shuffle feel), but these may be one of my best/only options for decent yellow sleeves. How opaque are the backs? They seem pretty solid, but I was just curious, since the Ultra Pros are very easy to see through, and that's something I'd like to avoid.
Turquoise Dragon Shield (or Fusion/Copper as well) - I listed these because of the slightly newer manufacturing technique. They appear straighter, and seem to double-sleeve quite well, but I'm noticing people saying they're not as durable (though still very hard to break), and I'm also wondering how opaque the backs of these are. The turquoise color is another nice color choice I've seen people using on streams before - I'd prefer the yellows, but if these are better sleeves overall, I'd consider using them instead.
Yellow Ultimate Guard Matte - TCC didn't think too highly of the UG mattes, and I'm curious to see what other people thought. How opaque are the backs?
Turquoise Legion Double Matte - I saw these on the TCC video, but I'm wondering how dull foils will look with the matte front? Also, again, how opaque are the backs? It's a shame they don't have these with non-matte fronts...
The last two times I won with Jeleva were both (exile) mill wins - my gameplan with Jeleva is usually like this:
1. Win with casting big spells from libraries (opponents as well) - I'd like to think this is my top win condition, but she gets killed so often that I'm starting to consider it as a stall tactic.
4. If all else fails, go for exile mill - spells can obviously help with control (and may present other ways to win from opponents libraries), but it's all about just casting Jeleva over and over.
The exile mill is helped greatly by Oblivion Sower - he (it?) has been insanely good with Jeleva, steal all the lands previously exiled. The last game I played, I was able to get an Urborg from one opponent, then bounce with Crystal Shard/re-cast and stole Cabal Coffers/Deserted Temple from another (plus ~20 other lands between the two). That mana was enough to recast Jeleva three times (using targeted removal of my own on her) for 10/12/14 to mill everyone out and pass the turn.
Another thing to keep in mind with Jeleva is that just by casting her, you're already winning to some extent because you're constantly stripping cards from your opponents libraries - cards they'll never get to use against you or for themselves. Sure, you could just be hitting lands (which could be a good thing if they're mana screwed), but once you start hitting combo pieces or finishers like Craterhoof Behemoth, you're getting there.
Jeleva voltron isn't something that I'd be going for, but I do also run Quietus Spike as a way to make Jeleva appear more threatening than just a 1 damage creature (and might make people remove her, furthering the mill plan).
A double evasive creature that makes combat math a bit more complicated (because anything interacting at normal strike speed is getting a +1/+1 so some blocks that would seem favorable on paper are suddenly... not) swinging on t4 is pretty good. It isn't stomping out the countryside good but it will not be a thing you wanna see on the other side of the table.
I probably should have put something in about referring to EDH specifically, just seems like a step down in power from her original printing. That said, she's looking pretty good for my 60-card Nocturnus deck as a one-of.
What is the flavor of this new Drana? How is it possible that the original Drana is now this Drana? THe two cards are so different, I just don't get it.
I agree - not sure how gaining first strike and the counter ability while losing her -0/-X ability makes her a 2/3 all of a sudden. Like I said, definitely not what I was hoping for from the leader of the Vampire forces on Zendikar.
When I heard we were going back to Zendikar, Drana was the first thing I was curious about - was she even still alive? Then, Defiant Bloodlord was spoiled with her quote in the flavor text, so naturally I started getting excited. Now, I'm feeling a little letdown to be honest
Edit: I also notice she's no longer a Shaman, unless that was just missed on the initial post...
There you go, the "O-Ring Artifact" is real, its Hedron Network. It's creatures with 5 or greater. Should lend at least some credence to the other listed cards.
Yep - I was hoping Drana was going to be a little more grand than what was spoiled (both the art and going from a 4/4 to a 2/3), but it's looking like I won't be getting my wish.
Would you happen to have your decklist somewhere on this site? Also liking tribal, I'd love to get a look at your build...
I do not have full decklists (I do a lot of tinkering with decks - they're never really "final" because I always seem to stumble on something I like), but I've been looking into making them as blog posts for some time now (since Guild Wars 2 came out, MtG kind of took a back seat), so I'll do that.
In the meantime, I can tell you most of the evoke elementals are in there (replayability), as are all 5 incarnations (Vigor, Purity, etc...), and a bunch of others (Liege of the Tangle, Maelstrom Wanderer).
For artifacts, I run all 10 signets, just because I can, and I like them a lot.
Despite the prescence of a lot of tapped lands, it never really gets mana-screwed (in either colors or total mana), and I might still have Amulet of Vigor in there, but I'm not 100% sure.
Drana: Got back into MtG during Worldwake, saw her in the RotE spoilers and I knew I had to build Vampire tribal around her (at the time, I wanted a normal Vampire deck, but it was sooooo expensive to build). My friend built Scion Dragon tribal to play against, and we had some legendary battles. It was originally a weenie deck, until I learned about what EDH really was. It also almost became Garza Zol (to include UB and BR Vampires), but Drana is the true Bloodchief. Drana is my most-foiled deck to date.
Azusa: After coming back from vacation with $60 leftover, I decided to build a new EDH deck, and I wanted to just be able to drop 3 lands per turn - no combos or anything stupid. Probably my second most-foiled deck, as well as the one that's updated most often.
Kaalia: Saw the precons. Drooled. First game was a 1v1, first Kaalia attack was preceded by asking the group "Dragon/Angel/Demon - which one?". They chose Demon, Demon of Death's Gate on turn 4 (Hall of the Bandit Lord in opening hand). I won that game handily. This is my most cutthroat deck, borderline "dick" because it's only used for 1v1 (or if we REALLY want to stomp the crap out of the horde deck), and the one I'm working on foiling out next.
Jenara: Angel tribal/Aura Voltron. Kaalia is mostly Dragon-oriented, so Jenara is my Angel general. So tempting to just drop Jenara and Aura her up, but also includes other threats for a change in pace.
Horde of Notions: Or, "Norde of Hotions", as known in my group. I'm a tribal whore, this one screamed WUBRG elementals without a doubt in my mind. Completely even in land makeup, with full cycles of lands (Vivid, Shard, WW Manlands), but slower and a little janky. I've been able to beat very good decks with it because it has an answer for everything.
I had it in my very first Azusa build, and I was able to get 9 or 10 wolves off of it... but they're still only 2/2's. Sure, 18-20 power total, but in a format full of fatties, not too impressive.
What eventually replaced it was Gelatinous Genesis, which scales with your mana pool rather than a specific type of land. The famous play came with a Mana Reflection/Caged Sun/Extraplanar Lens in play, where X = 26. That's 26 26/26 Ooze tokens... Totally an overplay, but it's one of the most epic plays I've ever had the pleasure of playing, and it lives in legend to this day.
I'm curious if they'll come back to it in the future, but with a name like "Explorers of Ixalan" instead of something more generic like "Magic the Gathering: Explorers", it doesn't feel like they will.
Just a word of warning for anyone looking to get KMCs - I'm still a fan of them for their shuffling feel, but their quality seems to be taking a dive.
I know $149 is an insane price, but it's a convenience thing for me - getting them all in one neat package. Tracking down the other ~50 single planes I need at $2-3 each (average TCG price), plus the promos (one of which goes for $20+) and shipping would easily be $100-150+ alone, so buying the Anthology and trading away the reprints that I'm not using only puts me ahead of where I'd be otherwise.
Not to mention the inclusion of Magic in more mainstream culture like South Park and the Forbes investment article - they may bring in new players, which is always great, but I'm sure they're also attracting the attention of people looking to exploit the game (or its players) as well. I see articles posted every day about people having their items stolen, usually because of a mistake on the victim's part (leaving items in their car or unsupervised at an LGS), but it's happening ALL the time now.
On the topic of finance, I know I keep an eye on prices every day (so I know when to trade in cards I'm not using for cards I want), but that doesn't change the fact that I really hate all of it. The game has a much higher barrier to entry than it did when I got back into it 6 years ago, which is fine for people making money on it, but not good for casual players or people looking to start playing competitively. We all know it's a hobby, and hobbies cost money, but it's so much more expensive than it has to be.
Yep - I was referring to the slight transparency of the yellow sleeves you were mentioning. I was saying if they would only make yellow Hyper Mattes, I wouldn't need to be so picky - I'd take them even if they were a little see-through.
Interesting - so the turquoise sleeves have a little bit of a texture... That makes me curious enough to look into them.
Damn. This problem could be easily solved if KMC would just make more colors...
I was thrilled to find out that there were purple Hyper Mattes when I made my Ulamog EDH because there was the whole "purple as a 6th color" conspiracy, and I felt like they represented colorless fairly well. On the other hand, the only deck I own currently not in KMCs is my 5-color Sliver Overlord deck, currently in yellow Ultra Pros. This deck is becoming one of my favorite pet decks, so I absolutely have to get them out of these garbage Ultra Pros - I was actually always a fan of them until I started using KMCs, but there's just no comparing the two any longer. That being said, I really like the yellow sleeves for my 5-color deck (gold is too cheesy, imo), but KMC doesn't make them in a matte finish and neither does Dragon Shield (never really been a fan of DS sleeves, but their matte sleeves are decent).
I've watched all the TCC videos (as well as a few others around YouTube), so I know I'm left with only a couple options, but I was hoping I might get some opinions from the community. I like to spend my money wisely, so anything will be helpful, but if you've used any of the following products (or have recommendations of your own), I'd appreciate any info you can provide:
Thanks for any opinions/recommendations!
1. Win with casting big spells from libraries (opponents as well) - I'd like to think this is my top win condition, but she gets killed so often that I'm starting to consider it as a stall tactic.
2. Win with Vela the Night-Clad/Rite of Replication (kicked - 30 life loss to opponents, 36 if using old legend rule)
3. Win with Army of the Damned/Rise of the Dark Realms
4. If all else fails, go for exile mill - spells can obviously help with control (and may present other ways to win from opponents libraries), but it's all about just casting Jeleva over and over.
The exile mill is helped greatly by Oblivion Sower - he (it?) has been insanely good with Jeleva, steal all the lands previously exiled. The last game I played, I was able to get an Urborg from one opponent, then bounce with Crystal Shard/re-cast and stole Cabal Coffers/Deserted Temple from another (plus ~20 other lands between the two). That mana was enough to recast Jeleva three times (using targeted removal of my own on her) for 10/12/14 to mill everyone out and pass the turn.
Another thing to keep in mind with Jeleva is that just by casting her, you're already winning to some extent because you're constantly stripping cards from your opponents libraries - cards they'll never get to use against you or for themselves. Sure, you could just be hitting lands (which could be a good thing if they're mana screwed), but once you start hitting combo pieces or finishers like Craterhoof Behemoth, you're getting there.
Jeleva voltron isn't something that I'd be going for, but I do also run Quietus Spike as a way to make Jeleva appear more threatening than just a 1 damage creature (and might make people remove her, furthering the mill plan).
It's like how EVERYONE seems to say "Harbringer of the Tides" instead of "Harbinger of the Tides" - I shudder every time I hear it.
I probably should have put something in about referring to EDH specifically, just seems like a step down in power from her original printing. That said, she's looking pretty good for my 60-card Nocturnus deck as a one-of.
I agree - not sure how gaining first strike and the counter ability while losing her -0/-X ability makes her a 2/3 all of a sudden. Like I said, definitely not what I was hoping for from the leader of the Vampire forces on Zendikar.
When I heard we were going back to Zendikar, Drana was the first thing I was curious about - was she even still alive? Then, Defiant Bloodlord was spoiled with her quote in the flavor text, so naturally I started getting excited. Now, I'm feeling a little letdown to be honest
Edit: I also notice she's no longer a Shaman, unless that was just missed on the initial post...
Yep - I was hoping Drana was going to be a little more grand than what was spoiled (both the art and going from a 4/4 to a 2/3), but it's looking like I won't be getting my wish.
I do not have full decklists (I do a lot of tinkering with decks - they're never really "final" because I always seem to stumble on something I like), but I've been looking into making them as blog posts for some time now (since Guild Wars 2 came out, MtG kind of took a back seat), so I'll do that.
In the meantime, I can tell you most of the evoke elementals are in there (replayability), as are all 5 incarnations (Vigor, Purity, etc...), and a bunch of others (Liege of the Tangle, Maelstrom Wanderer).
For spells, it's mostly the multiple-mode spells like Mortify, Putrefy, etc... Also, changeling spells Crib Swap/Nameless Inversion are awesome.
For artifacts, I run all 10 signets, just because I can, and I like them a lot.
Despite the prescence of a lot of tapped lands, it never really gets mana-screwed (in either colors or total mana), and I might still have Amulet of Vigor in there, but I'm not 100% sure.
I'll post it up and PM you back later today.
Drana: Got back into MtG during Worldwake, saw her in the RotE spoilers and I knew I had to build Vampire tribal around her (at the time, I wanted a normal Vampire deck, but it was sooooo expensive to build). My friend built Scion Dragon tribal to play against, and we had some legendary battles. It was originally a weenie deck, until I learned about what EDH really was. It also almost became Garza Zol (to include UB and BR Vampires), but Drana is the true Bloodchief. Drana is my most-foiled deck to date.
Azusa: After coming back from vacation with $60 leftover, I decided to build a new EDH deck, and I wanted to just be able to drop 3 lands per turn - no combos or anything stupid. Probably my second most-foiled deck, as well as the one that's updated most often.
Kaalia: Saw the precons. Drooled. First game was a 1v1, first Kaalia attack was preceded by asking the group "Dragon/Angel/Demon - which one?". They chose Demon, Demon of Death's Gate on turn 4 (Hall of the Bandit Lord in opening hand). I won that game handily. This is my most cutthroat deck, borderline "dick" because it's only used for 1v1 (or if we REALLY want to stomp the crap out of the horde deck), and the one I'm working on foiling out next.
Jenara: Angel tribal/Aura Voltron. Kaalia is mostly Dragon-oriented, so Jenara is my Angel general. So tempting to just drop Jenara and Aura her up, but also includes other threats for a change in pace.
Horde of Notions: Or, "Norde of Hotions", as known in my group. I'm a tribal whore, this one screamed WUBRG elementals without a doubt in my mind. Completely even in land makeup, with full cycles of lands (Vivid, Shard, WW Manlands), but slower and a little janky. I've been able to beat very good decks with it because it has an answer for everything.
What eventually replaced it was Gelatinous Genesis, which scales with your mana pool rather than a specific type of land. The famous play came with a Mana Reflection/Caged Sun/Extraplanar Lens in play, where X = 26. That's 26 26/26 Ooze tokens... Totally an overplay, but it's one of the most epic plays I've ever had the pleasure of playing, and it lives in legend to this day.