926

(3 replies, posted in Reddit MTG Trades)

The real question here is whether you sent your cards or not. 

If you didn't send yours yet, then technically you're not out anything other than some time and the headache of the person reneging on the deal.  Sadly this means there isn't really much recourse for you, but thankfully you're not out the cash.  Personally, I would cancel the trade and definitely leave a negative feedback, but given that cancelled trades don't affect your trade rating (at least to my knowledge) that really wouldn't do much.  You're welcome to ask Sebi to potentially flag the person as an unreliable trader or something. 

If you DID send your cards, my understanding from the other discussions regarding bad traders is that you need to have a Delivery Confirmation number to be able to pursue any sort of mail fraud or anything like that.

An alternative option would be to ask the other trader to either purchase another card and ship it to you, as that was the agreed upon exchange.  But I'm hesitant to believe the person would be willing to go that route.

It really is unfortunate that this sort of stuff happens but there isn't all that much that can be done about it.  The key is whether you sent or not.  If not, count your lucky stars and go from there.

Disciple of Griselbrand can be a lot of fun when paired with Demonic Rising.  You can sack everything and get a 5/5 flying demon in your end step.  Then the next turn you simply sack that one, gain 5 life, and get another brand new one in the next end step.  This also guarantees you're hitting morbid triggers if you have any.

It's a combo I haven't seen used in Standard, but that might be more viable in EDH when you're able to get Demonic Rising out more frequently.

Normally hard removal is far better than soft, but in this particular case, as you have various things to work off of enchantments, making those instances of soft removal multi-purposed.   You Pacify their creature and that both works for your Ethereal Armor and Sphere of Safety at the same time.  Further, from the perspective of dealing with an opposing general, I can think of few more frustrating things than to have it on the board but totally immobilized.

Another thought, Winds of Rath?  There's nothing quite like a more targeted, potentially one-sided boardwipe.  That or toss Indestructibility onto a creature of interest and Supreme Verdict away.

Additionally, both Norn's Annex and Crawlspace could be useful if you're worried about getting overrun before you get the Sphere out.

I'm not even going to pretend that I'm any sort of an expert in regard to EDH, but I can imagine Bruna would still be an effective general as long as you have multiple avenues to give her vigilance - keeping her untapped should keep you safe a lot of the time.

My second thought, where is Sphere of Safety - if you're dropping a ton of enchantments, this will keep your rear covered for long enough that Bruna could lay into people.  But even to that end, I'm only seeing 18 enchantments, don't you want a higher number to really capitalize on her abilities?  To that end I'm not seeing much in the U/W enchantments from RTR in here... Ethereal Armor and Righteous Authority come directly to mind.  But even more pseudo-removal things like Pacifism, Arrest, Paralyzing Grasp, Claustrophobia, and Encrust could be really useful.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

930

(7 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I think my disappointment in the PW is just that the -2 ability is so mediocre.  I normally only run 1x of any PW because they're often so easy to deal with, meaning that more often than not, their ultimate abilities are totally irrelevant.  That said, I would argue Vraska has more uses simply because at that point in a G/B curve, you should be hitting something that can perform multiple removal and protect itself - both of which she does in spades.  Even Jace, Memory Adept's second ability can be very useful, but to make two creatures fight?  I'm just not feeling it.  I could be wrong, it certainly wouldn't be the first or the last time, but I'm not seeing where it'll make that big of a dent in things.

For Borborygmos, I'm having thoughts of Conjurer's Closet paired with Gatecreeper Vine and Borderland Ranger to simply just mess things up once you get him on the field.

Aurelia can be useful in the sense that some well timed flickering can actually result in more than two attack phases.  I actually spoke with a level 1 judge on the topic and asked if you use Cloudshift on her at the resolution of the first attack phase (before damage is dealt) but after her trigger hits, would she be able to attack in the second attack phase and generate a third one.  He said that because she technically leaves the battlefield, her attack in the second attack phase would count as though it were her first attack that turn, meaning you would get a third attack phase.  Pair that with a few other pieces and you can imagine things get pretty nasty, but that's the only combo where I see her being all that powerful.  But she could make for quite the useful piece doing that in a red deck dedicated to using their own creatures against them (could Tibalt actually have a place?).

The Omniscience combo would be nice, but really, that's 21 mana across two turns... I'm just not seeing where you're going to hit that and still be alive - at least not unless they make ANOTHER ramp defender to go with Axebane Guardian.  Otherwise you'd do it once and BAM, they'll be onto you and kill the rampers.

Hellkite clearly was designed for Modern and other formats to deal with people abusing affinity.  For Standard, it's a waste of space.

931

(7 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I was thinking he looks underpowered to me.  Outside of aggro builds (yes, I know that's what Gruul is supposed to run) his +1 doesn't even guarantee a card draw.  The -2 requires you to have a creature to fight with (and is something you can do with Ulvenwald Tracker easily enough.  The only one of his abilities that is worth much in my eyes is the ultimate.  I get that he's a 3 drop, so you could realistically have him/her out on turn two (thank you green), but beyond that, you're not doing much with it.

Rakdos's Return is now gone and I only need 3x Hinterland Harbor.

Still no takers on Jace, Architect of High Value with no Buyers?

933

(7 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I was actually kind of liking Borborygmos - the obvious challenge would be getting him onto the field, but then once he's there, Mulch becomes a crazy burn spell and creatures like Borderland Ranger and Gatecreeper Vine are just sick.

934

(7 replies, posted in General Discussion)

I would imagine that I'm not alone in looking forward to the next set in the block or that I will key "Gatecrash Spoilers" into Google every few weeks to see what, if anything has been leaked.  Imagine my surprise when just a few days ago said search came up with a hit.

For those of you who might not have seen/heard you can see the "leaked" cards here:

http://www.magicspoiler.com/gatecrash-spoiler/

First off, I'm curious, do we all believe these to be legitimate cards or are they really well crafted fakes?

Secondly, if we assume them to be real, thoughts?

Shameless bump.  C'mon people, Jace isn't worth $35-40 because he's pretty... so where are all the people that want him?

Specifically, I have the following notables:

1x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Armada Wurm
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Detention Sphere
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Worldspine Wurm
1x Epic Experiment
1x Rakdos's Return

I'm specifically looking for:

4x Sulfur Falls
4x Hinterland Harbor
3x Steam Vents
2x Temple Garden
2x Overgrown Tomb

I also have a pretty sizable wishlist if you only have one or two and want to work something out.

That's actually not a bad idea there with Wolfir Avenger - I'll have to double check how many I have, but I'm sure I could pick up more easily enough.

I've been mulling over this idea and think it's onto something simply because the wealth of un-counterable spells in RTR have really driven the meta away from countermagic, opening the door to sneak in some massive spells like Craterhoof Behemoth and Primal Surge.  But the question is how to best get there...

Considering the concerns that were raised above I've come up with two alternate builds of the same basic deck.

Green - Build B
http://deckbox.org/sets/262759

Green - Build C
http://deckbox.org/sets/262767

The B build changes pace by dropping all the defenders shy of Tree of Redemption to rely a bit more on pure ramp.  Thus, I've put in Somberwald Sage (you have no idea how much I wish this was an elf) to help with the power ramp into the bigger creatures.  It also provides another possible target for opponent removal, as they won't be so quick as to target the Elvish Archdruid when I have another big-game ramper on the board.  I filled in the mid-range curve a bit more with some Strangleroot Geists and Deadbridge Goliath - who I've learned is quite the handful, who you can then scavenge onto a lowly creature like Elvish Visionary in the event they blast him.  The ramping makes him a turn three drop easily, saying "TAKE THAT" to Loxodon Smiter.  I've also subbed in two Oak Street Innkeepers as they serve a double role of both helping the elf ramp while also offering my rampers hexproof on my opponent's turn, as I can easily just tap them for the mana and let it go to waste if they're about to get blasted.  The rest of the build is essentially the same.

The C build changes even more so in the direction of all elves, all the time.  Centaur's Herald is now included either to help generate 3/3 centaurs, or more importantly to provide another one-drop elf to help the Archdruid pump route.  Primordial Hydra is knocked down to a 2x and Staff of Nin is dropped entirely in favor of Soul of the Harvest who fills a variety of needs for me at the same time, giving me a big beater with trample in the mid-range costs, but also offering a TON of card advantage as the ramping will let me empty my hand incredibly quickly.  Given the increased elf focus and real need to protect the Archdruids, the Innkeeper has been bumped to 4x.

So the question is, which of my three options is best now?  All three are ramping like mad, but, all three are still susceptible to the same major flaws (ones that I don't think mono-green really has any answers for).  The sideboard is now full of anti-flying creatures and you always have to include Acidic Slime for artifacts and enchantments.  But a well placed Bonfire will still mess this up to a significant extent - but, if the cards go correctly, you're already sitting on a moderate sized beater (Deadbridge/Strangleroot/Soul) by turn 3-4.

I'll definitely spend some time this afternoon considering Wolfir Avenger as the regeneration is priceless.  Perhaps there's a mono-green aggro build in there that doesn't even need the ramping... hah.

MrSenium: I'm definitely with you about the threat of a board wipe like that (thankfully they're not prevalent in my LGS meta), but I'm curious what outside of Thragtusk is really going to fit the bill there - god only knows that creature is getting the crap abused out of it.  I know I had the thought of throwing Oak Street Innkeeper in the sideboard to offer a possible hexproof solution to spot removal.  If they target something that can produce mana, I just tap it, and BAM it has hexproof from the stack first and the spell fizzles.  It's also an elf, so that helps with the Archdruids.  But really, is there any way to really prepare against a miracled Bonfire outside of blue?

HikingStick: I have to agree that Predator Ooze isn't seeing nearly enough love out there.  To that end I'm actually trying to pick up more of them to fit into a B/G build that centers around giving them deathtouch and making them fight enemy creatures.  For my purposes here they certainly give me options.

Overall I've struggled with the fact that there really just aren't enough elves to make the ramping work single-handedly up to the 9-11 you need to drop the bombs - at least not unless you pull two Elvish Archdruids and somehow keep them both alive.  My thought to include the defenders was simply to give me another ramping venue - guaranteeing my land drops and helping with even more ramps while offering a more solid creature defense than the elves will offer on their own.  I even thought about going completely U/G defender to ramp into the Surge/Wurms or even Ludevic's Test Subject - but that takes out the option of using Craterhoof Behemoth as it doesn't make much sense to pump a half-dozen defenders which cannot attack.

Outside of Predator Ooze can we think of a few other mid-range green stompers that might make sense in here?

Shameless bump for people actually looking for a Jace

940

(1 replies, posted in Trading Post)

Title is pretty self-explanatory - both are worth about $40.

Well nevermind then.

All Demonic Tutors are revised.  But I don't have any listed in my tradelist, as I'm trying to hang onto the four.

Also not looking to unload any shocks at the moment. 

I'll look to see if you have anything else in your tradelist to make up the other $10-12.

Pretty self explanatory - Jace is right around $40, Sulfur Falls is at $10...

Nah... it can still be Chili (a little Chandra, a little Lily, a little burn...)

I would go with Intangible Virtue long before I would go with Collective Blessing - sure it can win games, but the Virtue provides the tokens (the real focus here) with the bonus AND vigilance, letting them be defenders in the process.

The biggest problem I'm seeing here is that you're open to so much at the start as you're not going to want to block that Loxodon Smiter or other creature with your rampers.  For this purpose, you couldn't ask for a better creature than Doomed Traveler.  Easy blocker who gives you a 1/1 spirit that you then pump with the virtues - yes please.  To that end, Midnight Haunting should probably be a 4x of - do not estimate how powerful flyers are in standard right now.  Most people are running some zombie build or something to that effect and you can easily fly right over the top and beat their brains in (why do you think Delver was so nasty and Restoration Angel is still such a big thing).

I would also suggest lowering the counts of Parallel Lives/Collective Blessing to either 2x of each or 3-1 in whichever direction you prefer.  If you consider that as a turn 3 or 4 drop (even with the ramping), you're still looking at trading an enchantment that doesn't give you any immediate benefit for their ability to play something much bigger (i.e. Deadbridge Goliath, Splatter Thug, Geralf's Messenger, etc).  They're nice, but in reality you want to swarm them as quickly as possible.

I would also say to lower Sundering Growth to 2x in the mainboard and save the other two in the sideboard - sure you can use it for a quick populate fix, but if you don't have artifacts or enchantments to target, you could easily have something better there.

Also, looking at the sideboard (not sure if you're trying to keep this standard legal or not), but Surgical Extraction rotated out.  So that'd be a no-go.

You also want to get this down to 60 cards if at all possible.

So, in sum, I would do the following:

-3 Wayfaring Temple (or at least -1)
-3 Sundering Growth (and then +4 in the sideboard)
-2 Akroma's Memorial (with any luck, by the time you have 7 mana you're doing a LOT more, making creatures and are overwhelming them)
-1 Growing Ranks
-1 Parallel Lives
-2 Grove of the Guardian (the 8/8 is nice, but he's slow and hard to get out - the colorless mana doesn't really help you either as almost everything is a white or green symbol)
-2 Forest
-1 Plains (You really will need Temple Gardens to be competitive)

+1 Midnight Haunting
+3 Intangible Virtue
+1-4 (however many you can get) Temple Garden
+3 or 4 Doomed Traveler

These changes SHOULD lower you down closer to 60 and would really hone in more on the idea that you're going to overrun them.  I would then make up the sideboard out of removal and stuff (i.e. Pacifism) as your goal isn't to make a bigger creature than them, it's to make a LOT more than them and slide in for the victory (which sort of makes those spirit tokens that much more important).  But I've found that without some sort of card draw, anything over 65 cards just won't give you the consistency you want.

And it's alright to be struggling with the idea, as I have a populate build that I'm still working the kinks out of.  You can see it here:

http://deckbox.org/sets/239316

946

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I totally understand on the dual lands, I just didn't know if anyone had thoughts beyond those.

Null - it's actually funny you have suggested taking it more green with the ramping and whatnot, given that I just had it in that form and it performed terribly.  People would be quick to pick off the rampers and then you're sitting there waiting to hard cast a big angel while they beat on you.  To some degree, that's why I decided to take it to W/U with the prospect of CttK helping cheat the bigger angels out. 

The idea behind Emancipation Angel is simply that it's the cheapest angel that I could find in the format that you can play on turn three (Serra Avenger is the other option, but you have to wait until turn four for it - at which point you might as well play Seraph of Dawn).

I'm thinking, would it perhaps make more sense to fit in some Invisible Stalkers and Call to Serves?  Then I can make hexproof "angels" to attach CttK to, which then helps me cheat the bigger ones out.  The catch is that's requiring a LOT of cards in the middle to get that working.  I could, in theory, add Angelic Armaments too as another way to give them the angel creature subtype.  In that scenario I would likely drop a fair number of the other cards and really focus on the BIG angels as I'm going to be cheating most of them out anyway.

Perhaps another thought - if I'm going to splash red at all (to meet Gisela's casting cost), I could just as easily slide in some draw/discard effects to let me cycle the bigger angels out of my hand and then have the good ole Elixir of Immortality ready to cycle them back in.  To that end, that's why I have Jace in there, as he can not only slow the game down until I'm dropping the angels, but he can also help control some card draw in a manner that I can choose not to get stuck with one of my off colored angels in my hand.

Hrm... a lot to think about...

947

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So given that my gf REALLY wants an Angel deck that is at least moderately competitive and the fact that the W/G Descendants' Path idea didn't work so well, I've tried to figure out a new idea here.

Enter Call to the Kindred (CttK) you're looking at one more cost and the need to enchant a creature, BUT, now I get to dig through the top five cards (not just one), put an angel onto the battlefield for free (it doesn't even count as being cast - take that counter magic!), and then put the remaining four cards on the bottom of the library in any order.  Admittedly the enchant creature part of it worried me, until I remembered the oft-forgotten angel of AVR, Bruna, Light of Alabaster who could easily hit the field and soak up any CttKs that might've been sacked.

So with those as the new centerpiece, here's a new build I'm trying to figure out:

http://deckbox.org/sets/249158

Again, the idea is to drop cheap angels and then cheat the others out.  But I'm struggling with a few problems. 

First, I'm thinking Seraph of Dawn is making more sense than Angel of Jubilation at the moment because of the lower need for white mana symbols - especially given that it's the second cheapest angel in the deck.  Thoughts on this move?  I don't really need the pump/anthem effects of the Jubiliations because angels are typically big enough on their own.

Second, thoughts on Serra Avenger?  It's only two to play, but can't be played in the first few turns of the game.  It gives me another cheap angel, which is good, but doesn't really speed up my curve because of the turn restriction.  That and the fact I currently don't have any of them is a bit of a problem.

Third, I cannot get the mana base to work in a manner that I don't end up getting stuck with Sigarda or Gisela stuck in my hand without the colors to hard cast them.  I currently have Amass the Components to be able to recycle those angels into the deck and Chromatic Lantern as a last resort; but I don't think that's enough.  Sigarda and Gisela could be dropped, but they really contribute to the real power of the deck - hexproof for Sigarda means I can put as many CttKs on her as I like with relatively no threat they'll disappear and Gisela plain out wins games.  So I'm inclined to keep them in, but it just doesn't work as it's currently constructed.  Any thoughts?

Fourth, given that CttK is subject to removal, I could run with Elgaud Shieldmate to provide some hexproof for the enchanted angel(s).  But now I'm adding more to a build that's currently sitting at 64 cards already.  Mizzium Skin performs this function currently and is way cheaper, but also only a spot fix.

Lastly, I'm somewhat tempted to go with a three color build that has some green for Axebane Guardian or Somberwald Sage as a means to help if CttK goes nowhere, but then again, the Sages are awfully easy to pick off and the Axebanes require more defenders to really help much.  Perhaps I should focus more on W/G/U defenders and have the angels as the final goal?

So I'm asking you guys (all what, four or five of us) for some input.  I really want to make this work, but I'm currently at a loss on how.  I think CttK is a MAJOR upgrade over Descendants' Path, but given that there aren't exactly any one-drop angels out there... yeah

I like the fact that someone else is running some Rakdos love.  Lord knows it seems to be the forgotten guild from this set because they don't have a shiny new planeswalker and the unleash mechanic seems hard to wield properly.

That aside, I'm liking this as the start of a deck, but not the finished product as I've seen the more outright aggro decks getting bogged down really heavily as of late.  The real question is, given your strategy, will you consistently finish off your opponent before turn five?  If not, you're going to have to adjust the plan as the prevalence of Thragtusk simply makes the strategy fail (nevermind someone running 4x Centaur Healer).

So, having said that much, what do you do when they start dropping their bombs? 

I see Murder which is definitely an underrated removal, but that only deals with four creatures.  Personally, I'm a fan of Annihilating Fire over Searing Spear - I see the advantages of being one cheaper, but man, with undying, scavenge, and the herd of Gravecrawlers out there, getting rid of something for good always seems like the better option.

Your creatures need to have a few big ones for your side.  Once you run out of Murders you're relying on multiple burn spells or even copying them to drop anything with a toughness higher than four.  Without anything bigger than a 2/3 by default (Cryptborn Horror can be big, but only under the proper conditions), you're really going to want some added punches to get those last few life as I can easily see you getting them down to 6-8, maybe even a few lower, and then you're just sitting there mostly screwed (trust me, I did it for an entire tourney with a Rakdos build, it's no fun).  Then again, Desecration Demon fits this bill nicely, as he provides a big flyer at only four cost, and even in a worst case scenario provides you with removal of their creatures.

If your creatures aren't really big enough, what's the win con?  Copying burn spells?  If that's the plan, the Blistercoil Weird - Dual Casting combo would be more effective, as you can essentially triple cast spells.

Lastly, and here's the clincher for most low-end cost decks like this.  What happens when you're top-decked?  You're going to be drawing 2/1 creatures while they're drawing Resto Angels and larger items.  Sign in Blood is a necessity here.

So having said all that, personally, I would:

-2 Reverberate
-3 Cryptborn Horror
-1 Chandra, the Firebrand
-1 Liliana of the Dark Realms

+3 Desecration Demon
+4 Sign in Blood

If your creatures still aren't getting the job done, or if you really like Cryptborn's trample, Bloodfray Giant guarantees a 5/4 trample for only one more.

Anyway, that's some food for thought... good luck with it.

So after pulling a third Worldspine Wurm at a two-headed giant event (and not being able to play it, despite seeing it EVERY ROUND) I started wondering, is this just another wasted mythic or can the Great Sarlacc actually see play?  Obiviously, to pull it off you'll need some serious ramping, but I was able to come within one mana of casting one against a mono-red aggro deck using my since scrapped "So That's Where Boba Fett Went" B/G deck (http://deckbox.org/sets/238538).

But then it hit me, green is the source of all ramping these days and the tricky part has been trying to weave other colors in there.  After all, an Arbor Elf is useless if you're using Woodland Cemetery or Sunpetal Grove, so why not just go mono green and kick the ramping into overdrive?

Enter, my new deck idea "It's not easy being green"
http://deckbox.org/sets/257423

The idea here is quite simple, you ramp like mad into one of a few pieces that essentially end the game for you.  Option one is to ramp into Primal Surge which, as you'll note, can only be broken by hitting another Primal Surge - presumably after your board presence has exploded.  Option two is to ramp into Craterhoof Behemoth and chuckle at how the 5-10 rampers all of a sudden become huge, deadly attackers (c'mon, a few 10/10 trample Arbor Elves attacking for the win would be funny).  Option three is to use the ramping to drop a considerable Primordial Hydra that can just keep growing while you keep ramping to something else.  Option four is the Great Sarlacc (aka Worldspine Wurm) who provides the most solid path to victory - even if they kill him, you STILL get 15 points of trampling wurmy fun.

Ramping comes from both the elves and defenders.  An optimal draw features the elves first because they have the one drop in Arbor Elf.

Turn 1 - Forest, Arbor Elf
Turn 2 - Forest, Elvish Archdruid
Turn 3 - Forest, more elves or defenders (Gatecreeper Vine helps to ensures the third turn land drop)
Turn 4 - even without another forest, you're sitting on somewhere between 6-10 mana already - nevermind if you drop a second Archdruid.  At this point you can either put an 8/8 Hydra, or potentially already set off Primal Surge

There are the obvious problems here in that flying defenses for green typically are lacking - enter Silklash Spider for whom you'll have the mana to lay waste to ANYTHING in the skies.  Beyond that, if you go with a weak elf draw and get to Craterhoof Behemoth via a defender draw, you can't really attack with the defenders - BUT, they give you the added ramping option in case they drop an Archdruid via Axebane Guardian.

I'm thinking the sideboard will focus on things to disrupt their flow like Acidic Slime, but I'm not sure what else to drop in here.

But before I spend much more time thinking about this, what do you guys think?  Is this even viable?  In the post-RTR world of 2-4 color decks, can a mono-green make the cut?  (Before anyone says anything, yes Thragtusk and Rancor have crossed my mind, but neither helps with the ramping, nor does either provide a big enough threat to outright win games - Deathrite Shaman MIGHT make the cut because he's an elf and can give me life gain when creatures hit the graveyard).

Thoughts?

I'm still digging around but cannot propose with Niv included on your side as he's not currently listed in either your inventory or tradelist...