51

(4 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Alright, fair enough. I'll look through your stuff and see if I can't find anything.

52

(4 replies, posted in Trading Post)

You still working on getting your mono blue then?

I don't want to be taking something that you need as well..

53

(4 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Hey guys!

I'm looking to build a mono blue deck, and am in need of a few copies of the big guys.

2- Thassa
2- Master of Waves
1- Cloudfin Raptor
1- Gainsay

I've got a decent trade list. If you've got any of these cards, i'd love to make a trade.

Thanks!

So I went 3-2 tonight, which is about what I expected. Won game 1 (RW Burn) by countering all of his stuff. Brought in Essence scatters for Boros Reckoners. Won Game 2 against RDW due to the hammer + 2 chimeras. Big attrition match up. Sided in the Essence scatters for Boros Reckoner. Game 3 was against Mono blue. He was playing extremely efficiently, and I was drawing mana like my life depended on it in both matchups. Game 4 was Rakdos Rush (1 drops, spike jesters, exavas...) Won game 1 due to mana flood, won game 2 with the pyromancer and burn spells. Game 5 was against a BUG Midrange list that used MAster Biomancer to beef up Desecration demon, and used prophet of kruphix because why not. This was really the only matchup that I new I would lose going into, this deck just has much better sustainability than mine.

I found myself siding in the essence scatters more than I would have preferred, probably because I didn't have access to the rapid hybridization and essence scatter is just better than curse of swine.

55

(11 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Well, sort of. There's definitely people that will buy from / trade with someone with 0 feedback, just don't expect to sell your alpha Mox Ruby without a good amount of reputation.

If you want to build up your feedback and better your chances to sell, I'd suggest starting off with some casual trading. You may be able to trade up to some cards that have a better chance of selling, or just get rid of things that won't sell at all.

I understand that Tempo is a kind of control, but I feel that they're very different play styles. It seems to me that you're assuming that all I want to do in this deck is disrupt the opponent's plan. When I said "Use a whole turn's worth of mana on syncopate", I mean that I never have the 2-3 mana that it takes early game to cast it. If I play a pyromancer turn 3, I can't cast it. If I drop it turn 4, I might stop a jace. If I do nothing turn 5, I might counter something, but i've also lost tempo in not playing any of my other spells. Syncopate has a very small window of efficiency in this deck. I can only really fire it off on turns 3-5. If the game goes any longer than that, I'll have to spend all of my mana for the turn countering something and not have the option to play my own things.

As for anger, Sure, it's a way to stabilize, but for someone who hasn't been keeping tabs on the board for the last 4 turns. In your argument, I feel that you're assuming that I'm playing like esper control, just letting everyone by while digging for my answers. 90% of the time, i'm popping off creatures the second they hit the field, and I will have my answer in hand already. This makes board wipes pretty useless, in my opinion. I could consider something like Reckoner, but the mana isn't really good enough without my scry land at this point. Perhaps once Born of the gods comes out, i'll have a better shot at making that work. For now, I'd like to stay on the Spells game, to make the chimera and pyromancer as efficient as possible.

In my testing for what I plan to go up against, this deck is very solid as is. I was really only looking for a cheap removal spell that I may have missed. After tonight, I'll do some more experimenting, and will probably end up with at least 2 mortars in the side, but I think i'm going to go with Curse of the swine. It exiles, which helps with the few copies of Scooze that I plan on seeing, It's flexible, and I get to use my piggy tokens. It can also act as a pseudo anthem, turning all of my pyromancer 1/1s into 2/2s.

57

(11 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Rep on this site is only really influenced by number of completed trades. Sure, being an efficient and quality seller will help out in what people say about you in feedback, but simply completing trades / sales will build your feedback and rep.

I'm thinking Mortars, now, though i'll also test curse of the swine throughout the day.

And for Elpablo, this is a tempo deck, not a control deck. I have the hybridization in here because it only costs 1, and takes out anything that I would need to use 2 burns spells on anyway. Plus, when used on myself with a young pyromancer on board, it's a 1 mana 3/3 with no downside. Its a huge help in this build.
I've got dispel over syncopate because there's no option for it to not work. I don't want to be committing a turn's worth of mana to counter something that may or may not be coming (as I have no "Look at opponant's hand" spells). Dispel hits everything in the format that i'm concerned about save Anger of the gods, for just 1 mana. I did consider Magma Jet, but all of my copies are currently in a r/w devotion build that I am loaning to someone. However, between the steam auguries and the Izzet charms, I have a good fistful of cards whenever I need it, and any more draw power would really be a waste of space. And finally, Anger is the last thing that I want to be using in this deck, seeing as it kills 3 of my 3 win-conditions (Hammer, Young pyro, Spellheart).

Hey guys!

So this week for FNM i'm taking my new brew- Izzet Tempo.
I've been testing it all week, and am fairly confident that it will at least be able to perform.

However, I have hit an issue that I can't quite seem to resolve.

On Monday, I had agreed to a trade for the copies of Rapid Hybridization that I needed for this build. Unfortunately, he didn't send out until today, so I won't have them in time for tomorrow. That being said, I'd like to know if there are any quick, inexpensive replacements for Rapid Hybridization in blue or red that I could throw in here for the night. As it stands, I've put in 3 Mizzium skin, but they're just not cutting it. I'd like some form of removal here instead. I've got plenty of burn spells, and hybridization was my catch-all. Are there any other catch-alls in these colors that I'm just missing?

http://deckbox.org/sets/552732

Thanks for the advice!

60

(9 replies, posted in Reddit MTG Trades)

Someone on TCG / Ebay listed theirs for about $70, which made the price spike.

http://www.mtgprice.com/sets/New_Phyrex … bliterator

I'd say it's still a $20 card.

Bump, still looking for these few things.

Hey guys!

I'm in need of some things for a new deck.

3 - Young Pyromancer
1 - Magma Jet
1 - steam vents

Edited for new things

---

I've also got a bunch of other things on my wish list that i'd love to pick up.
I've got a decent sized trade list, and plenty of extra stuff that isn't on my tradelist, so just start up a trade if you've got any of this stuff!

Thanks!

63

(1 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Bump, still looking for these!

64

(1 replies, posted in General Discussion)

If you read the reminder text on Time to Feed, you'll see that "Each creature Deals Damage equal to its power..."

So yes, it is damage, it just isn't combat damage. Think of it as damage from a burn spell or an ability (lightning strike / boros reckoner).

If a card negates damage from a creature, the fight damage will be prevented because you are making the creature deal damage.

65

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

When I'm playing one-on-one, whomever i'm up against isn't going to have any sort of competitive deck, They're all either very slow and controlling or hastily made without any sort of plan, so I've got only about 2 turns less than I would in a Multiplayer game (on average) to get going.

So to answer your question: I'm gearing more toward a multiplayer-style deck.

66

(1 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Hey guys!

I'm looking to pick up a playset of Voice of Resurgence.

I've got a bunch of stuff for trade, including planeswalkers, shocks, temple lands, and tons of Standard staples and good stuff.

I'm willing to trade up a bit of extra value if you're looking to get a ton of lower end stuff, but i'd prefer to stay around the actual pricetag.

Thanks!

67

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I have 2 groups of varying size, so I could be playing anywhere from 1 to 7 others.

Hey guys!

So for the last couple of months, i've been accumulating things for my Maelstrom Wanderer deck.
http://deckbox.org/sets/550010

I am posting because I would like some opinions on it. I'd like for it to win, but I'm also looking to have a lot of fun with it.

When building it, I had to embrace my inner timmy, who has been ignored since I began playing Magic. I figure that I needed a ton of 7 drops to cascade into, and a bunch of ramp spells to be able to play my things. However, I wasn't really sure where to go for the rest of the cards, so I'm wondering if what ended up happening is something that could work.

I'd really like to hear from someone who has experience with this commander, and find out what sort of thing worked. I've tried deck techs on youtube, but all of the videos that I could find were really just decklists with no explaination of strategy...

I know there's a few guys on here that love EDH, so I'd also just like to hear some opinions from people with more experience in the format than I have.

Thanks for any posts!

So first off, you'll need to offer up a bit more information so that the people responding have an easier time helping you.

-What do you plan to use this deck for? FNM? Casual Magic? SCG Open events?

-What is your expected competition level? Is everyone playing top tier decks? Or will you mostly be seeing decks like your own?

-What is your budget? We need to know whether or not you can afford to put in a playset of archangel of thune before we suggest that you do so.

---

So assuming that you intend to  take this to a mildly competitive FNM, or similar event, and have a modest budget (I see 4 fiendslayers), I'd suggest making a couple of changes.

Festering Newt has been a favorite of mine from the second that it was spoiled. The combo potential that it has just feels like too much to pass up. However, in testing against the big name decks, no matter how I put the deck together, it seems to come up short. Because the witch cannot use its ability the second it hits the field, the deck is at least one full turn slower than other decks. That's just one card. If you plan on running this combo, I'd suggest a much heavier control package. Based on your colors, you have access to the Mono Black Removal package that seems to be doing pretty well so far. Things like Devour Flesh, Ultimate price, Doom Blade, these are all things you should consider running. Sure, the newts have the potential to give -4/-4, but you're going to have a fairly tough time targeting a Blood Baron with that, let alone any X/5 or greater creature. And trust me when I say that these big creatures are both very present, and very able to stomp you. Being in white, you also have access to a lot of good removal, namely Banisher priest. Sure, having a 1/1 flyer that gets you a life every turn (for the 3-4 turns that it'll survive) seems fun, it's not really going to be any benefit when Polukranos is ripping your flesh from your body.

Aside from the lack of proper removal, I feel that some numbers need to be addressed. It is my belief that 4 copies of Angelic accord is too many. This is mostly because you really only need 1 on the field to be successful. Having four means that you are pretty much bound to see 2-3 every game, and that's another 4 mana and another turn that you're spending to cast something that won't affect the board for at least a whole nother turn. I would use 2 here. I also believe that 2 copies of Sanguine bond is too many. I believe that 1 copy of sanguine bond is too many. This is a very tricky card that requires a lot to get it going. In this deck, you don't have the removal capacity to allow yourself to survive long enough against a RDW or white weenie to gain any benefit from sanguine bond.

If I were to make a Newt / Angel deck, this is what I would be doing. http://deckbox.org/sets/549278
Now, I realize that this deck is much more expensive than your current build, and im not saying that you need to stick to it, I'm just using it to give you an idea of what a deck that could work would look like. If the cards that I have pegged as not-great work out for you, by all means, stick to them, but this is coming from a rather competitive perspective. Hope that I was able to help a bit with this.

70

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Alright, awesome. Thanks for the opinion.
And yes, I realize that this does look strikingly similar to a maze's end build. That'd be because it was one last week. lol The mana was far too inconsistent, and the only non-bant cards in the deck were Vraska, Far//away, and Crackling Perimeter, so I figured that going straight Fog Control would be a better option. And though it doesn't look like much, it plays extremely efficiently. The benefit of running it is that it doesn't have the early game vulnerability that most control builds have, and this deck will literally never run out of gas (Unless of course all of my bows get exiled). This deck treats Bow of Nylea as a planeswalker that says: +1 Gain 3 life, and +1 Move 4 cards from your graveyard to your deck. Its extremely effective, especially against my aggro-heavy metagame. Really the only bad matchups this deck has are against Mono Black that runs 8 copies of Grey Merchant, and against the clock (Control v. Control takes a little while). 

And I realize that supreme verdict makes counters unnecessary, and that Elspeth and AEtherling are tanks in their own right, but the counters effect was meant to be used strictly post board when I have elephants and wurms at my disposal.

But thanks for the input, i'll definitely be following your suggestion.

71

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Hey guys!

So I recently made up a Bant Control list, and it's been doing very well in testing. Essentially, its the UW Control shell + Turbo Fog. [http://deckbox.org/sets/547939]
I based the idea around Utilizing Bow of Nylea to its fullest. There is a big Selesnya flavored creature package in the sideboard that I can shift into any time to take advantage of the Deathtouch and +1 counter abilities, though the mainboard is mostly focused on the +3 life and 4 cards from Grave to Deck abilities.

I am currently in conflict over whether or not to add a 3rd copy of the bow. I know that I want to be using it every game, and I will eventually get one, but by running 3, i'm more likely to get one out super early so I can use it for a longer time. However, its legendary status is telling me that I shouldn't be running 3 because its a dead card in hand if I get a second.

So i'd like to have some second opinions on this - Benefits of running 3 legendary utility cards over 2.

Also, Any advice on what to take out for the third if I should add one?

Thanks!

Ah, minotaur Tribal. I love that this isn't the first time i've seen this kind of deck.

Anyway, it looks to me at least that you've got a fairly solid build here. However, there are probably a few things that can be moved around.

What I would do with this build would be:

-2 Minotaur Aggressor
I feel that it's too big and bulky for your quick kill plan.

-2 Thunder strike
-2 explosive impact
-4 Mountain

+2 Minotaur Skullcleaver
+4 Magma jet
+4 Temple of Triumph

The Skullcleavers coming in at 4 on their own, and even bigger with your lords are a huge threat that the opponent needs an immediate answer for, and the magma jets will help you sift through your deck to find what you need.
The Temples will also provide you with red and give you more sifting. You never want to be stuck on lands with this sort of deck, and all the scrying that's available to you should really be taken advantage of.

Other than those minor changes, I think this is a really solid build, and could fare well at a less-than-competitive FNM or similar event.

Alright, if you're going the tempo route, the suggestions that I gave should lead to a pretty solid build. You'll need a good suite of quality burn spells, Snapcasters, efficient creatures, and disruption.

Have you ever played a tempo build before?

Either way, here's a link to my current UWR Delver build. It is still in the final stages of construction, but it's still able to win its fair share of games. [http://deckbox.org/sets/540433]

In a tempo build, you're going to want to be more efficient in your plays than your opponent. That's why you are playing the efficient one and two drops. The disruption helps to throw off your opponent's tempo by slowing them down, whether that means that they're creatures get removed, or their spells don't resolve. And while their cards aren't able to have any effect, you're laying down a constant beat down with your creatures.

The reason that I'm running Young pyromancer in my build, even though I don't suggest it for you, is because in my local modern meta, people have been playing since these cards were in standard, and know how to deal with this strategy. It also doesn't help that they know that i'm coming with Delver. I put the Pyromancers in to give my deck some variation from the other 2 delver decks there, as well as to give my deck some sustainability in the match ups against people that know how to deal with me. If your local meta is full of scrubs who haven't ever played against a delver deck, don't run the pyromancer because it will slow down your overall plan of attack.

Is this meant to be control, or tempo? There's 2 UWR decks in modern (Mainly), and they're Control and Delver. You are currently sitting on elements of both.

While they certainly are similar, they have very different strategies, and don't synergize too well.

If you were going the Tempo route, you're going to need to eliminate a couple of things.

-3 Sphinx's Revelation
-3 Cryptic Command
-2 Supreme Verdict
-1 Ajani Vengeant

You're going to be wanting to play as much hard hitting stuff as quickly as possible, and these cards really don't cut it. They're more end game material, and you don't want there to be an end game.

Some cards that you could consider using are:

+4 Snapcaster Mage
This guy will help bring back your tempo spells like Lightning bolt and Azorius charm, as well as provide a body that can block a lot of the little stuff in the format.

+4 Steppe Lynx
Since you're running Fetches, this guy will be a huge advantage early on. Turn 2, you can have him swing in as a 4/5 by fetching for a land. Equal to if not greater than Delver's power.

+4 Geist of saint traft
6 power swinging in on turn 4 to end the game? I think yes. This guy is very hard to deal with, and is an awesome finisher in any tempo build.

+4 Lightning Helix
This card gains you back life that you're bound to lose either via early aggressors, Bob, Deathrite Shaman...
Plus, the more burn, the better.

Any mix of these will turn this into a real tempo deck. However, if you wanted to go with the control route, you should be doing something completely different.

-3 Champion of the Parish
-4 Delver
Depending on your preference, you could keep Young Pyromancer in here, but I really don't see the point, what with Abrupt decays and Paths running around in every deck. -3 Young Pyromancer

-3 Azorius Charm
I'm only suggesting this because most of the UWR control decks you'll see will be running think twice in this spot. it's easier on the mana, and you get an extra draw. However, there could be an argument to keep the charm based on the tempo ability. Your choice.

+4 Snapcaster Mage
Again, this is probably one of the best cards ever printed because of it's versatility. Every deck is better with it. However, Young pyromancer makes for a quality proxy if you are unable to get them.

+1 Path to exile, Cryptic Command
These cards are some of the premier cards in the deck, and you want to see as many as possible every game.

+2 Mana Leak
Again, one of the best cards for the format in this deck, you want it all the time.

+1 Gideon Jura (Gideon, Champion of Justice could also take this spot)
You'll be wanting a couple of extra kill conditions, and Gideon is one of the most resilient ones there is. Some people argue that his other abilities are where he shines, but I'm alright with using him as a straight beat stick.

+3-4 Lightning Helix
You're going to be fetching and shocking a lot to get your mana right, and this helps mitigate a lot of that damage. Also, works great on Bobs.

+2 Electrolyze
These can be sideboarded. Included because of Bob, Young Pyromancer, Snapcaster Mage, Lingering Souls, unflipped delvers...

So once you choose which archetype you'll be following, I hope these suggestions helped you out a bit.
I didn't actually look at your sideboard until after I typed all of this, so once you move soe stuff around a bit, you should be all good. Good luck with the deck!

Oh, derp...

The combo needs a Zhur-taa Druid and Elite Arcanist on the field. When casting Elite Arcanist, Exile Triton Tactics, then use the mana from the druid to repeatedly play tactics, targeting both creatures. Each time this is done, the druid pings, resulting in infinite damage.

So I would be looking for standard stuff in the RUG colors.