776 Reply by HikingStick

(5 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

NullParameter wrote:

Hellrider kind of contradicts the deck a bit, assuming you plan to make heavy use of Exalted.

I think that mana might be better used making sure that one creature you attack with definitely gets through, and maybe some removal.

Faith's Shield
Spare from Evil
and other such things can help you to get through their army, and protect your guys in a pinch.

I do agree Hellrider seems a bit out of place.  With this deck, my ability to use the Exalted mechanic hinges on having Sublime Archangel in play.  It's a bit of a shell game.  Initially (at least during the first hand), it will seem that I am trying to build a typical Champion deck (play Champion of the Parish and build it up with humans and human tokens).  I had Hellrider in there as a way to increase my damage prior to her arrival, for the mid-game, or in case she does not appear.

I do like the cards you suggested.  They'd keep my mana curve low.  Perhaps an artifact or two? Mask of Avacyn or Swiftfoot Boots?

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

777 Topic by HikingStick

(5 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Am I on to something here? Will it work? What does it need? What should be cut (in favor of...)?

http://deckbox.org/sets/205300

4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
2 Lightning Mauler
2 Silverblade Paladin
2 Hellrider
4 Sublime Archangel

2 Cloudshift

4 Captain's Call
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Increasing Devotion
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Thatcher Revolt

2 Intangible Virtue
2 Oblivion Ring

3 Cavern of Souls
4 Clifftop Retreat
7 Mountain
9 Plains

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

778 Topic by HikingStick

(1 replies, posted in General Discussion)

When I opened an M13 Intro Pack, I discovered that the included Legendary foil, Talrand, Sky Summoner, was miscut with square edges.  I know that miscuts can add to the value of a card, as does being a foil.  I also know that square corners is one of the more common miscuts, and does not demand as high a premium as some other production defects. Does anyone have a best guess estimate as to what I should try to value the card at?

My local store has already indicated that they want to buy it, but they needed to formulate an offering price.  I'd like to get some opinions before I next see them on Friday night.

Image file attached.

Go to forum: General Discussion

779 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

imsully2 wrote:

They are nice to get cards faster but you have the beast trackers to get the elderscale wurm and as far as drawing a single card there are better cards than elvish visonary unless you have a way to bring it back to your hand. for a short list, Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, or Forbidden Alchemy. The problem with index is that if none of the next 5 cards are what you want then you just know you're gonna sit the next 5 turns. I'd also use 4 elderscale wurms, it never really hurts to have more when they're the basis of the deck. Also I understand the idea of card draw but it seems like this deck doesn't need it that much but if you want it Soul of the Harvest is probably a decent choice since you should have  plenty of mana available, otherwise sideboarding ground seal could be good or Rites of Flourishing. Even abundant growth could work out

Thanks.  That all makes sense.

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

780 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

imsully2 wrote:

I would personally cut Rewind, use x4 Unsummon or even better Vapor Snag, x4 Negate rather than Essence Scatter, no downpour, no index, no silent departure. Elvish Visionary shouldn't be in there but Birds of Paradise should be, I also don't understand the ring of evos isle, you don't have any blue creatures so doesn't Mask of Avacyn make more sense? also the average 60 card deck uses 24 land and in a mana ramp deck I'd use more. Finally you should consider Gilded Lotus

I appreciate the comments.  What's your reasoning behind dropping Index and Elvish Visionary? I thought they would be useful for getting to some of my important cards faster.

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

781 Topic by HikingStick

(0 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I'd find it beneficial to see the total value for the two Needs lists ("[Member] Needs]", "You Need").  That way, I can start planning a trade of comparable value before I actually start entering cards.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

782 Topic by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I'd like some help whittling this one down to 60 cards--I'm not sure what to cut.

http://deckbox.org/sets/204748

The premise is to ramp up mana to get out Elderscale Wurm and then Infinite Reflection.

I'm most wondering about the supporting sorceries and instants.  I know I might need to stall my opponent a while, though I should be able to eat damage for a few turns, too.

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

783 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Thanks for the feedback.  I have access to most of those other cards (sadly, not more Sublime Archangel at this time).  However, I have just acquired some Infinite Reflection.  They would make every non-token creature on the board a copy of Sublime Archangel.

Another thought I had was to try to build an exalted deck that incorporates the green Wolfir cards (Silverheart and Avenger).  Silverheart soulbonded with Silverheart is already a 12/12, so adding exalted to that attacker would be simply sick. Now just to add an artifact (or enchantment) that conveys Trample...

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

784 Topic by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I drafted this forty card deck today and took first place.  I'd appreciate your feedback, both on the deck itself, and on ways to expand it to be a 60 card standard deck

http://deckbox.org/sets/202705?s=n&o=a

Thanks for taking a look!

Andrew
a.k.a. HikingStick

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

785 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Thanks for the feedback.  Now that 13 is in the works, I think RW will keep my attention, especially with cards like Odric, Master Tactician in play.

However, I am tempted to go black since I pulled a foil Lilly and Nefarox himself during prerelease.

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

786 Topic by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Please take a look at my decks named Primal Fight and Champion's Tokens and let me know what you think.  I'm looking for ideas how to improve them.

Primal Fight: http://deckbox.org/sets/191929

Champion's Tokens: http://deckbox.org/sets/174141

I took 5th at a FNM event in June with the Red-White deck before tweaking it to it's current state, and I took 4th last night with my green Primal Fight deck last night. [I might have done better last night had I remembered to use my sideboard during one of my latter matches.]

I'm headed to the 2013 pre-release in a few hours and am out of town next week, but will be glad to review your comments when I return.

Thanks!

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

787 Reply by HikingStick

(2 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

Just want to bump this one.  I think it would be a great feature.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

788 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I just want to bump this one.  I still would love to see all token types listed, even if they do not have art.  I collect tokens  along with my cards (some for play with specific decks, and some simply for the artwork).  I would like to keep a count here, rather than in an offline database (in MS Access).

Go to forum: Site Discussion

789 Reply by HikingStick

(26 replies, posted in Announcements)

Glad to have you back.  You guys ROCK!

Go to forum: Announcements

790 Reply by HikingStick

(150 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

nightride wrote:

will windows phone 7 get some love? big_smile

I'm using the (as of this writing) current version of Windows 7 phone on a Nokia Lumia 710.  While a mobile-specific site would be great, I find I can use the site--as it is--quite well.  The newest version of  Windows 7 phone does a great job with zooming to column width (just double-tap a column), and it makes general zooming in and out easy.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

791 Reply by HikingStick

(9 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I was just thinking of something along this line, too.  I just bought someone else's collection, and wanted to finish off mine before passing the rest of the cards on to the wife and kids.  I wanted a list of all the cards in a block, populated with the total number I have and no quantity (better than a printed zero) where I do't have any.

To meet my immediate need, I filtered by block (e.g., Innistrad), then copied and pasted the screen output into a spreadsheet. [The export to CSV function is great, but for the few pages of Innistrad cards I had to start with, the copy/paste solution was easier than mucking with the results in Excel.] Once there, I trimmed to only Quantity and card name, and added another column for the number of cards I wanted or needed (typically, to bring my collection up to a quantity of four of each).  The next step is where this feature would have been helpful.

I had to get a complete card list and add rows for each other card in the set I did not have.  Sometimes I pull them from online lists, but this time I had a complete card list from a Fat Pack, so I used that. Then I manually populated all the additional rows.  In the end, I had a complete list of all the cards in the Innistrad block, with three collumns:

Qty. on Hand / Card Name / Qty. Needed

Go to forum: Site Discussion

792 Reply by HikingStick

(1 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

The closest you'll get right now is the advanced card add tab (after clicking "Add Cards", its the one with the chromatic circle image).

If you can generate a printout of your current collection, it makes things easier, but will still take a while.

Even a feature to limit entry options based on the release block would be helpful.  That way, only cards in the selected block will come up once you start typing names (and the appropriate edition will automatically pre-populate).

I love the advanced card options feature, but it is a minor pain when entering cards from older blocks that have appeared in multiple blocks, since it always defaults to the most recent block.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

793 Topic by HikingStick

(0 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I think it would be great if the site would present counts (total number, and number of unique cards) when filtering.  That information already shows up for the entire inventory, but I often want to know how many cards I have in a specific block or edition.

As an example, if I search MTG cards and filter for only cards in the Dark Ascension set, I currently get the appropriate number of pages of results, but I have no way to see how many cards in total I have in that block, or how many uniques I have in that block.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

794 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Brightblade wrote:

Looking for folks in Minnesota to trade with.

I'm in Minnesota.  Most members of my family play.  Just search the member list to find us Minnesotans, dontcha know.

Go to forum: Trading Post

795 Topic by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but many, many tokens are missing from the MTG card list.  I have quite a collection of them, and have been gathering them from different blocks (buying them on sites like coolstuffinc.com).  I would really like a way to track them all in inventory.

One problem I see is that the tokens that are in there are listed in a couple different formats.  It would be good to standardize on one, e.g., "Token-[token name]".  Personally, I don't care whether or not you can pull the various renditions of the card art.  I just want my tokens in my inventory, because my inventory list is what will get submitted to my insurance company if I ever need to submit a claim on the loss of my collection.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

796 Reply by HikingStick

(4 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

sebi wrote:

Hello,

Right now sadly there is no way to see the prices right now, in trades you have to personally account for it and discuss it with your trading partner.

We do intend to make the system display prices for specific editions of a card, we're pretty close to implementing that. (It will still not account for foil / condition though I'm afraid).

What about adding a value override field in the advanced card information screen.  Leave it blank and the system will use the default value (the option set in settings).  If filled in, the system will use that price for that specific card instance.

Go to forum: Site Discussion

797 Topic by HikingStick

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

When I first picked up the Knights vs. Dragons duel deck, it performed very well.  One of my sons has the Elves deck (from the Elves vs. Goblins duel deck).  He tweaked it over the past few months to rapidly speed his card deployment.  Within about five turns, he had me far outnumbered, even though I was able to get six Goblin tokens out in the first three turns.

I'm looking for ways to improve the Dragons deck, to speed up my deployment of some of its power cards. Aside from Seething Song, what other cards might I include to improve the deck's playability.

Don't get me wrong.  It is still a great deck.  When the cards fall just right, I can still stop most opponents, but it often (perhaps more often than might be expected) leaves me wanting.

What have you used, or what might you suggest?

Go to forum: Decks and Deckbuilding

798 Topic by HikingStick

(2 replies, posted in General Discussion)

When I first started playing MTG, I purchased around 500 Ultra Pro clear sleeves.  They are heavier (thicker) than others that were available at the time and all those I've been able to find today.  I remember the packaging touting how shuffleable they were (and they've proved to be so).  Other sleeves I've bought since then tend to separate (front from back) after lots of play, but those originals are still around.

Does anyone know if those heavier sleeves are still available? Does anyone remember any details for the product line (e.g., a specific name)? I seem to remember them coming 100 to a pack (rather than 50).  I've contacted several resellers, brick-and-mortar and online, and most remember having them at one time, but they do not have them currently.

Go to forum: General Discussion

799 Topic by HikingStick

(2 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Does anyone host informal tournaments or open play sessions with friends or in your communities? There are formal Friday Night Magic events about a half hour from where I live, but my wife, the kids, and I have been playing for years with whatever cards we've managed to collect.  We mix and match between versions--old cards, new cards, duel-decks, theme decks, built from scratch decks--whatever we have around.  We find it a lot of fun, and are a bit intimidated by the formats that require the recent sets (since the family budget has limited funds for buying new sets).  What are you doing? Have any of you hosted your own informal tournaments?

Go to forum: General Discussion

800 Topic by HikingStick

(1 replies, posted in Site Discussion)

I've been looking at the card database and found how I can learn which other players have specific cards.  When I click through to them, however, I can see which player have specific cards, but all those I've checked so far have them in inventory and not on their tradelist. This makes searching for available cards a bit tedious. 

It would be nice to be able to search all active tradelists for cards.  Just the tradelists, not the entire database.

Including some search options would be helpful, too:
- trade type (available -or- wanted)
- include or exclude locations (e.g., by country, by state)
- advanced card features (e.g., foil, version, condition, language)

And, of course, top it all off with a link to let you notify the player that you'd like to commence a trade.

Go to forum: Site Discussion