It's supposed to be lifeless guys. The idea behind these videos is that the people say super sarcastic things or are just ignorant and stupid but are speaking in completely serious voices. That's why they're funny. (Watch the Iphone 4 video - its hilarious)
My problem with this video was that I wasn't sure if the characters were being serious or not through most of it.
Yes Strip Mine stops a land, it also stops a land for you too. You only get 1 land drop per turn, and youve used it as a kamikaze, thus slowing you both down
Could you stop using this argument? It doesnt slow you down. You draw Stripe Mine. Activate it if the drawback of losing a land drop is outweighed by the benefits it gives. Do I have an "answer me or lose situation" on my side of the board (that first turn Kird Ape or Aether Vial is a great example. I dont play Legacy so I didnt even think of those or Crucible for that matter when I first saw this card but I knew it was broken)? If so, I will use Strip Mine to keep my opponent off mana to answer the situation. If you have no such situation, do not activate Stripe Mine. Simply use it for the Mana it provides.
... BUT, here is the balance, like most magic cards, if you do it smartly you might be able to use this to your advantage.
You will never lose a land drop that you need when you play with this card because you decide when it is to be sacrificed. Because of that, it will always be used when the pros of destroying a land outweigh the drawbacks of losing one ourselves.
(You have to assume that the players in the situations used for these arguments are reasonably intelligent and can make the correct play if you ever want to talk about the balance of a card)
The final point I want to address is that while it's obvious that the cards you use will benefit you more if you are a good player, cards like Strip Mine give far too much advantage if used properly (again, we have to assume that is a given). It's not like say... knowing how to use Lightning Bolt in the proper situation. If used properly, Strip Mine can cripple your opponent from the earliest parts in the game and completely lock them out.
Bad for whoever gave up Koth. Day of Judgments are extremely easy to come by - you could have gotten them off of someone else for an equally small set of rares. This basically reads Elspeth for Koth to me and that obviously isn't a fair trade.
Also as a brief aside: I don't buy Fetchlands for the same reason; I just got back into Magic over the summer, and I don't want to invest in sets that aren't staying in standard for two years if at all possible. And by invest I mean drop crazy dollars, like Jace 2.0 money.
The fetchlands are the best things you could invest your money in when it comes to standard because they will always be relevant and will always be worth the current price (unless they get reprinted, etc).
Jace might also rise from where he's at now and you could easily sell / trade him off before he rotates out of standard because he is also good in many formats.
There have been 2 threads on this archtype already, I think.
The problem with the deck is that there is way too much to fit. You look strapped for space but I feel like there's still a lot missing (4th Crab, Birds of Paradise, Molten-Tail Masticore, more playable artifacts). I think a big problem with this deck now that if you want to play Kuldotha Phoenix, you need a good number of artifacts but you dont want a lot of noncreature spells either..
For variety: Necrotic Ooze, Bloodghast and Gigantomancer.
The problem with this for me is that I dont see ramp as a late-game plan. Dropping huge creatures doesn't have the same impact on turn 8 or 9 as it does on turn 4 and 5.
I would drop the Eldrazi completely since there aren't enough good ramp cards that only costs colorless mana. I think you should really just make a choice between ramp and aggro and then try to refine the one.
I just looked through standard legal artifact creatures and the options seem limited.
These all seem okay because they can all become must-answer threats for your opponent. Everything else is overcosted for aggro and would need something like Tempered Steel for support.
Avenger of Zendikar is so good but it's hard to make room. The weakest card in there is Oracle IMO but he helps to guarantee Primeval Titan (absolutely crucial to the deck winning) so you could try cutting Oracle x2 for Avenger x2 / Avenger x1 + Summoning Trap x1 and then cutting another (1-4) Forests for (1-4) Verdant Catacombs to fuel Lotus Cobra but it's probably too risky. You dont want the deck to majorly depend on 2 creatures to win.
So far, it's been great. I was playing with 4 and 3 of Lotus Cobra and Mul Daya, respectively, because they together can make a lot of mana and are more "threats" in that they leave the opponent in a tough position if they've got limited amounts of removal. It's also begs that you play Misty Rainforest, which goes well with Oracle of Mul Daya as well). That was when I didn't have Summoning Traps and All is Dust however (Thanks Online Trading) so now Im currently modifying the deck to make room for both while keeping Summoning Trap consistent enough.
I might just start over from scratch (Kolos's list) and just cut cards for Lotus Cobra. I suppose an easy place to start would be cutting Rampant Growths for them and then going from there.
There, I just did and now I know what Im going to start playtesting:
4 x Everflowing Chalice
1 x Mox Opal
4 x Palladium Myr
You're going to have to basically draw a significant portion of the lands in your deck to play any of the Eldrazi.
You said you're sticking to these colorless lands because they make the color (or lack thereof) that you need with added benefits. A monogreen ramp deck can also play such lands. Khalni Garden gives you extra chumps to survive while ramping, fetchlands can be used in combination with Lotus Cobra in order to ramp into Primeval Titan (an amazing card that makes the Eldrazi playable) that much faster and you can keep the Eldrazi lands, Tectonic Edges and Mystifying Maze. Even Forests have the benefit of being able to be fetched from the deck and ramped into.
I dont agree on your midranges creatures and removal being able to hold up against aggro. Your removal is slow and inefficient (Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon take too much mana and time that you dont have and Quicksand is the opposite of what you want to do, especially since you dont play any Rampant Growth-like effects to offset losing a land). With the creatures you have, you generally won't be able to make profitable blocks or any blocks at all (Juggernaut cant, Palladium Myr is one of your main sources of Ramp, Steel Overseer is busy bumping dudes, Lodestone Golem has very low toughness and isn't worth anything if it's gone, and the Titans can't be played early on). You will find it contradictory in a couple seconds that my build only plays All is Dust x3 for removal because the logic behind this is that I can ramp into 7 mana by turn 3 or 4 in order to save myself and then I can continue dropping huge threats from there on to swing the game around. You dont have the ramp to do this.
I dont think Ill be able to convince you and Im not even sure if I can put whats in my head onto here to really explain it well enough anyways but you should try out something similar to the following deck:
(I playtested Kolos's Monogreen Eldrazi deck from Nationals and made some edits for myself):
4x Primeval Titan
3x Lotus Cobra
2x Ulamog
1x Kozilek
1x Emrakul
3x Avenger of Zendikar
2x Oracle of Mul Daya
3x All is Dust
4x Explore
4x Cultivate
4x Everflowing Chalice
3x Summoning Trap
4x Khalni Garden
2x Tectonic Edge
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Eldrazi Temple
1x Eye of Ugin
1x Mystifying Maze (You only need 1. It is too clunky to play more than 1-of and is far too large of a mana sink, even in this deck, and this deck plays way more ramp than yours does)
11x Forest
Its something like that - I cant remember straight off the top of my head but try that out.
My problem with this video was that I wasn't sure if the characters were being serious or not through most of it.
Could you stop using this argument? It doesnt slow you down. You draw Stripe Mine. Activate it if the drawback of losing a land drop is outweighed by the benefits it gives. Do I have an "answer me or lose situation" on my side of the board (that first turn Kird Ape or Aether Vial is a great example. I dont play Legacy so I didnt even think of those or Crucible for that matter when I first saw this card but I knew it was broken)? If so, I will use Strip Mine to keep my opponent off mana to answer the situation. If you have no such situation, do not activate Stripe Mine. Simply use it for the Mana it provides.
You will never lose a land drop that you need when you play with this card because you decide when it is to be sacrificed. Because of that, it will always be used when the pros of destroying a land outweigh the drawbacks of losing one ourselves.
(You have to assume that the players in the situations used for these arguments are reasonably intelligent and can make the correct play if you ever want to talk about the balance of a card)
The final point I want to address is that while it's obvious that the cards you use will benefit you more if you are a good player, cards like Strip Mine give far too much advantage if used properly (again, we have to assume that is a given). It's not like say... knowing how to use Lightning Bolt in the proper situation. If used properly, Strip Mine can cripple your opponent from the earliest parts in the game and completely lock them out.
The fetchlands are the best things you could invest your money in when it comes to standard because they will always be relevant and will always be worth the current price (unless they get reprinted, etc).
Jace might also rise from where he's at now and you could easily sell / trade him off before he rotates out of standard because he is also good in many formats.
The problem with the deck is that there is way too much to fit. You look strapped for space but I feel like there's still a lot missing (4th Crab, Birds of Paradise, Molten-Tail Masticore, more playable artifacts). I think a big problem with this deck now that if you want to play Kuldotha Phoenix, you need a good number of artifacts but you dont want a lot of noncreature spells either..
For variety: Necrotic Ooze, Bloodghast and Gigantomancer.
effects that reduced the cost by 2 would reduce something that cost 1R to 0
3 Enclave Cryptologist
4 Vedalken Certarch
4 Thrummingbird
2 Lighthouse Chronologist
4 Lux Cannon
4 Everflowing Chalice
3 Voltaic Key
2 Mox Opal
4 Throne of Geth
4 Steady Progress
4 Semblance Anvil
22 Island
was the initial version. After some playtesting, I switched it up and it now looks like this:
4 Enclave Cryptologist
4 Vedalken Certarch
4 Thrummingbird
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Voltaic Key
2 Mox Opal
4 Lux Cannon
4 Throne of Geth
4 Steady Progress
3 Jace Beleren
2 Prototype Portal
21 Island
I admit, it's more of a proliferate deck than anything else. I also admit that the deck is mainly meant for casual tables.
I would drop the Eldrazi completely since there aren't enough good ramp cards that only costs colorless mana. I think you should really just make a choice between ramp and aggro and then try to refine the one.
I just looked through standard legal artifact creatures and the options seem limited.
4 Steel Overseer
4 Molten-Tail Masticore
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Precursor Golem <-- Bad synergy with Lodestone Golem..
4 Wurmcoil Engine
These all seem okay because they can all become must-answer threats for your opponent. Everything else is overcosted for aggro and would need something like Tempered Steel for support.
Avenger of Zendikar is so good but it's hard to make room. The weakest card in there is Oracle IMO but he helps to guarantee Primeval Titan (absolutely crucial to the deck winning) so you could try cutting Oracle x2 for Avenger x2 / Avenger x1 + Summoning Trap x1 and then cutting another (1-4) Forests for (1-4) Verdant Catacombs to fuel Lotus Cobra but it's probably too risky. You dont want the deck to majorly depend on 2 creatures to win.
I might just start over from scratch (Kolos's list) and just cut cards for Lotus Cobra. I suppose an easy place to start would be cutting Rampant Growths for them and then going from there.
There, I just did and now I know what Im going to start playtesting:
14
1 Emrakul
1 Kozilek
2 Ulamog
4 Primeval Titan
2 Avenger of Zendikar
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Oracle
19
3 All is Dust
4 Cultivate
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Explore
2 Summoning Trap
27
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Eye of Ugin
11 Forest
4 Khalni Garden
1 Mystifying Maze
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Misty Rainforest
I did the following:
-2 Rampant Growth
-1 Obstinate Baloth
-1 Ancient Stirrings
+4 Lotus Cobra
-2 Summoning Trap (SB the other 2)
+2 Avenger of Zendikar
-1 Eye of Ugin
-1 Tectonic Edge
-2 Forests
+4 Misty Rainforests
I feel like the deck wants to play at least another Avenger of Zendikar but I dont know if there's room.
4 x Everflowing Chalice
1 x Mox Opal
4 x Palladium Myr
You're going to have to basically draw a significant portion of the lands in your deck to play any of the Eldrazi.
You said you're sticking to these colorless lands because they make the color (or lack thereof) that you need with added benefits. A monogreen ramp deck can also play such lands. Khalni Garden gives you extra chumps to survive while ramping, fetchlands can be used in combination with Lotus Cobra in order to ramp into Primeval Titan (an amazing card that makes the Eldrazi playable) that much faster and you can keep the Eldrazi lands, Tectonic Edges and Mystifying Maze. Even Forests have the benefit of being able to be fetched from the deck and ramped into.
I dont agree on your midranges creatures and removal being able to hold up against aggro. Your removal is slow and inefficient (Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon take too much mana and time that you dont have and Quicksand is the opposite of what you want to do, especially since you dont play any Rampant Growth-like effects to offset losing a land). With the creatures you have, you generally won't be able to make profitable blocks or any blocks at all (Juggernaut cant, Palladium Myr is one of your main sources of Ramp, Steel Overseer is busy bumping dudes, Lodestone Golem has very low toughness and isn't worth anything if it's gone, and the Titans can't be played early on). You will find it contradictory in a couple seconds that my build only plays All is Dust x3 for removal because the logic behind this is that I can ramp into 7 mana by turn 3 or 4 in order to save myself and then I can continue dropping huge threats from there on to swing the game around. You dont have the ramp to do this.
I dont think Ill be able to convince you and Im not even sure if I can put whats in my head onto here to really explain it well enough anyways but you should try out something similar to the following deck:
(I playtested Kolos's Monogreen Eldrazi deck from Nationals and made some edits for myself):
4x Primeval Titan
3x Lotus Cobra
2x Ulamog
1x Kozilek
1x Emrakul
3x Avenger of Zendikar
2x Oracle of Mul Daya
3x All is Dust
4x Explore
4x Cultivate
4x Everflowing Chalice
3x Summoning Trap
4x Khalni Garden
2x Tectonic Edge
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Eldrazi Temple
1x Eye of Ugin
1x Mystifying Maze (You only need 1. It is too clunky to play more than 1-of and is far too large of a mana sink, even in this deck, and this deck plays way more ramp than yours does)
11x Forest
Its something like that - I cant remember straight off the top of my head but try that out.