The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

[Bleydh]

I'm constantly amazed between the 4-copy limit and 100-odd card decks how players manage to pull anything specific, I have enough trouble pulling Ornithopters.

I also am amazed at this, I only have 60 cards in my deck and have played 5 games and there are many cards that I STILL haven't actually even drawn let alone used...

[Seraphroy]

It's always fun to have a staple in your deck (in my case, the ensnaring bridge) and never see it for 5 games straight. I wouldn't even want to know what would happen if I tossed another 40 or so cards in there.

[Cybren]

MYR TRIBAL DECK
7x Plains
5x Islands
4x Seachrome Coast
2x Salvage Scout
4x Preordain
4x Myrsmith
4x Silver Myr
4x Gold Myr
1x Iron Myr
1x Leaden Myr
1x Copper Myr
1x Steel Overseer
1x Deprive
1x Unified Will
4x Myr Galvanizer
2x Palladium Myr
1x Myr Reservoir
1x Grand Architect
2x Cancel
2x Prototype Portal
1x Koldotha Forgemaster
1x True Conviction
4x Myr Battlesphere
1x Platinum Angel
1x Platinum Emperion

This was built using cards i had already had, and a few i found for pretty cheap. The idea is to build up a critical mass of Myr with the smiths, and mana ramp with the mana myr, and if i get it out, the infinite mana combo from galvanizer. I plaid it a bunch vs a friend and his decks, and it does alright. There's more cards i want to get.
MORE Palladium Myr, Myr Reservoir, and Grand Architects. I will play with the numbers of mana myr and them all. I think I might like Grand Architect more than Reservoir, since i can use salvage scout for recursion and the architect allows slightly more mana
ANOTHER Forgemaster, since tutoring is awesome, and it's nice to get your stuff out.

ACQUIRE
Tempered Steel, since it is super awesome.
Stoic Rebuttal, to replace the counter spells used by the deck. Unified Will is another option, as unlike a straight blue deck, i build up a lot of creatures.

Possible Sideboard cards:
Seize the Initiative. The deck generally wins by building up myr as a buffer than rolling you over with battlespheres. If a straight aggro deck can't beat me fast enough, I stabilize by getting out one of the Platinum dudes (not hard considering lots of chump blockers, preordain, and the forgemaster). But Poison might be a problem, if i'm forced to weaken guys that i would want to use for later. Giving my dudes first strike means taking out infect critters before they give -1/-1 counters.

Unsummon. Because bounce.
Super huge dudes, or other annoying guys are problematic if i can't counter them. But now i can get rid of them, either to win the game, or counter them when they go for a recast. It also lets me protect dudes like the platinums, the forgemaster, or a battlesphere (to recast and get ANOTHER FOUR TOKENS!!!1)

Journey to Nowhere Fun fact: my friend kris made a white/blue deck with cards i had lying around and kept winning with it, I got so angry I chewed on my journey to nowhere (from the deck he was playing) in disgust. Fortunately it's not that badly damaged

[Buttons37]

My Vampire Deck:

4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
4x Child of Night
4x Vampire Lacerator
3x Blood Seeker
3x Pulse Tracker
2x Guul Draz Assassin
2x Kalastria Highborn
2x Malakir Bloodwitch
2x Anowon, the Ruin Sage

2x Sorin Markov

3x Feast of Blood
2x Hideous End
2x Blood Tribute

3x Blade of the Bloodchief

4x Piranha Marsh
3x Crypt of Agadeem
17x Swamp

It usually works very well. Let me Know what you think.

[aonomus]

2. Who the heck to play with: in school, you just play over lunchtime, these days I don't know anyone that plays MtG, how should I get started in this again?

Toronto is 3 million people strong, there are going to be people that play.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Multiverse/ has a locator for both stores and events that go on. Friday Night Magic happens in Toronto as well, and there are a number of locations crossing the city that hold it.

Ok, but any thoughts on how to get re-started? I don't have a complete deck anymore as it seems, perhaps some lost in move or given away.

[Seraphroy]

*shrug* Buy one of the premades they release with every expansion set? Those are fairly usable decks, from what I remember of them. The other thing you could do is check out http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?tag=Building%20on%20a%20Budget&description=Building%20on%20a%20Budget , which is a guy going through and trying to find decks that work on a budget of some form. If you like one of those decks, trade / buy for some cards that would augment it and build it on a larger budget, I guess.

[Kag]

MORE Palladium Myr, Myr Reservoir, and Grand Architects. I will play with the numbers of mana myr and them all. I think I might like Grand Architect more than Reservoir, since i can use salvage scout for recursion and the architect allows slightly more mana

Palladium Myr is an obvious 4-of, but I'm not sure you really need more mana. Even if you take out all the off-color mana myr, you probably won't have any trouble reliably accelerating into turn 4 Battlesphere.

Also, Origin Spellbomb is really excellent here, especially once you get those Tempered Steels.

Regarding removal: Brittle Effigy is really good. Instant speed exile in an artifact package. 4 mana would be steep, but you're going to have anywhere from a lot to infinity mana by the time serious threats are hitting the board.

[the_lone_bard]

so, not really sure where to post these.

[Kag]

Went looking for "build around me" rares. Found DoDG, built around it.

Code: Select all

4 Demon of Death's Gate
4 Bloodghast
4 Death Cultist
4 Mortician Beetle
4 Viscera Seer
4 Reassembling Skeleton

4 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
2 Quest for the Gravelord
2 Mimic Vat
2 Grave Pact

12 Swamp
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Bojuka Bog
2 Crypt of Agadeem


Having a 9/9 flyer with trample out on turn 2 or 3 is usually pretty solid, but beetles and quest can handle it, too.

[Ringo803]

I literally just started playing tonight (friend got some free starter stuff from a local card shop), played 5 games, 4 with a Red/Green and 1 with a Black/White. Great stuff.

[Myrph]

Because I'm a cheapskate and don't really want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on new cards at the moment, I decided instead of going out and buying cards and playing with people, I'd download the old MtG game for the PC from 1997. Discovered a bunch of dedicated fans have updated it up to 8th Edition with a whole slew of new cards and general awesome stuff.
Obviously most of it is horrifically out of date now, but I must admit I'm having quite a bit of fun with blue/red/artifact deck called 'Nine-Tenths of the Law'. Cards are as follows:

8 x Mountains
8 x Islands
4 x Diamond Valley
4 x Volcanic Island
4 x City of Brass

4 x Old Man of the Sea
4 x Counterspell

4 x Rukh Egg
4 x Aladdin
4 x Giant Strength

4 x Onulet
4 x Ashnod's Transmogrant
2 x Temple Bell
2 x Fellwar Stone

Because I didn't build the deck myself, it took me a few games to figure out how to actually play it, but as soon as I did its been a really fun deck to play, and its won me quite a few games. The premise is essentially to hijack the opponent's creatures and use them against them, because if you've just stolen all of their creatures, they're not going to have anything with which to defend against them.
Currently its only weakness appears to be against red decks which can kill off Aladdin and OMotS with sorceries, since that doesn't leave you with much to actually fight back with.


I suppose if I were to start playing properly with other people, it might be interesting to see if I could replicate this deck, or at least try and build up something along similar lines, though considering most of these cards are probably obsolete by now, it'll be rather difficult I'd imagine...

[Lyinginbedmon]

Last night, I played against a large White-deck, which was focused on what he described as "last turn redemption", using otherwise poor cards together at the last second to produce a victory. To his credit it worked pretty well, he got a bunch of token-making fliers out and nuked my life total.

Unfortunately for him I started using Sword of Body and Mind early on, netting myself 2/2 wolf tokens and milling 10 cards from his library each time. I then ninjutsu'd Ink Eyes out and used her effect to swipe a Platinum Angel that had gotten milled, so eventually he conceded because he couldn't get rid of his own angel and I kept milling his deck, at -3 Life

[the_lone_bard]

Last night, I played against a large White-deck, which was focused on what he described as "last turn redemption", using otherwise poor cards together at the last second to produce a victory. To his credit it worked pretty well, he got a bunch of token-making fliers out and nuked my life total.

Unfortunately for him I started using Sword of Body and Mind early on, netting myself 2/2 wolf tokens and milling 10 cards from his library each time. I then ninjutsu'd Ink Eyes out and used her effect to swipe a Platinum Angel that had gotten milled, so eventually he conceded because he couldn't get rid of his own angel and I kept milling his deck, at -3 Life

i have a hilarious story of a legacy fnm game with my original angel deck.
we both had about 10 cards left, he had oracle of mul daya on the field and coalition victory was showing, i had an andrakaar valyrie reya dawnbringer 2x cradle of vitality and alot of toher random unrelated things and a platinum angel sitting at 60/60.
he destroyed it and played coalition fictory, thankfully tapping andrakaar valyrie got in before and i brought it back to the field. his coalition victory became pointless as i couldnt loose and he ran out of cards eventually.

[Bleydh]

I played a couple of games yesterday against people I haven't played before, and my deck worked surprisingly well against experienced players. I played against a tournament deck based around lands and counter spells which had almost no creatures, meaning a lot of my cards were kind of pointless (my deck being based around -1/-1 and proliferate), but after a while, he ran out of counters and I just waited for him to draw his last card. I also played a three way game against that same deck and a sliver deck, the first game I was out pretty quickly, but the second game I won, after the all of the slivers on the field were wiped out due to a mix of -1/-1 and some powerful spells from the other player (who was then resoundly beaten) The sliver player conceeded to me.

I also played a couple of games against a blue/white deck which I won, but mainly due to him conceeding due to only pulling lands and nothing useful most of the time.

My deck is still working well against my girlfriend's White/Artifact deck, out of the 4 games we played yesterday I won 3 of them. Though She is starting to get the hang of her deck and now she is actually using her Myr Battlesphere and Origin Spellbombs she is getting to be a tough opponent. I think I only have the advantage because I have bought more boosters.

I've since edited my deck to include more creatures with infect, and I now have 3 Thrummingbirds, and that's basically how I plan on winning, though I haven't had a chance to test it all out yet.

I'll post my revised deck list if anyone would like to see it.

[RytelCSF]

Okay, this is going to be a major tl;dr for most of you, but since I know there are a few EDH players out there, I present:

The Warriors of Darkness Commander/EDH Deck
Organized by thematic category and converted mana cost

The Warriors of Darkness
Ulric: Kaervek the Merciless (General)
Ragnar: Godo, Bandit Warlord
Krull: Commander Greven il-Vec
Derek: Cabal Patriarch

Steve
Homura, Human Ascendant

Assorted Underlings
Dragonmaster Outcast
Viscera Seer
Reassembling Skeleton
Spiteflame Witch
Wall of Souls
Big Game Hunter
Cadaver Imp
Cemetery Reaper
Corrosive Mentor
Pawn of Ulamog
Stronghold Assassin
Tuktuk the Explorer
Viashino Heretic
Eastern Paladin
Lord of Shatterskull Pass
Mortivore
Oxidda Scrapmelter
Sengir Autocrat
Western Paladin
Anarchist
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Shriekmaw
Rapacious One
Steel Hellkite
Hateflayer

Arms and Armor
O-Naginata
Nim Deathmantle
Rakdos Riteknife
Loxodon Warhammer
Sword of Vengeance
Grafted Exoskeleton
Sword of Kaldra
Argentum Armor

Death and Destruction
Terminate
Aggravated Assault
Ashes to Ashes
Pillage
Sudden Spoiling
Agonizing Demise
Barter in Blood
Chain Reaction
Wild Ricochet
Extinction
Void
Wound Reflection
Inferno
Phthisis
Rolling Earthquake

Infernal Rituals
Soul Stair Expedition
Sign in Blood
Victimize
Promise of Power
Enslave

Magic Items
Expedition Map
Nihil Spellbomb
Armillary Sphere
Rakdos Signet
Crystal Ball
Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII

Lands
Akoum Refuge
Barren Moor
Bojuka Bog
Crypt of Agadeem
Evolving Wilds
Forgotten Cave
Graven Cairns
Kher Keep
Leechridden Swamp
Molten Slagheap
Rakdos Carnarium
Shadowblood Ridge
Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Smoldering Spires
Spawning Pool
Springjack Pasture
Sulfurous Springs
Tainted Peak
Temple of the False God
Terramorphic Expanse
Urborg Volcano
Vivid Crag
Vivid Marsh
6 Swamp
5 Mountain

Damn did that all that ever take a while to link.

Anyway, I'm still tinkering with this deck, so any advice, thematically or competitively, is appreciated. However, keep in mind that this deck is built for Commander on MTGO, and is designed to be inexpensive. (Yes, Rolling Earthquake in a budget deck; online it's just another crap rare.)

"What about my knitting?" "No knitting!"

[Bleydh]

Hey guys, I got this card recently and I'm not exactly sure on what the rebound effect of this is exactly. Can someone explain it to me better?

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=198298

[Lyinginbedmon]

Once you cast it, the card is removed from play rather than going to your graveyard. The next turn, it is played again for no cost, and without any option on your part of whether or not to play it (Meaning, it HAS to be used), and then just stays removed from the game.

It's sort of an echo or boomerang effect.

[Seraphroy]

Hey guys, I got this card recently and I'm not exactly sure on what the rebound effect of this is exactly. Can someone explain it to me better?

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=198298

Basically, when you cast the card, remove it from the game. At the start of your next turn, you can play it again without paying for it's mana cost. Effectively, you get to use that card twice over two turns while only paying for it once.

[RytelCSF]

The next turn, it is played again for no cost, and without any option on your part of whether or not to play it (Meaning, it HAS to be used), and then just stays removed from the game.

Actually, it states "You may cast [blah blah etc.]" so you don't have to play it if it would be disadvantageous for you to do so. (It also prevents the good ol': "Oh crap, I forgot about that!" "So you forgot." "But it was mandatory. I had to do it!" TIME PARADOX)

In addition, I believe it does go back to the graveyard after it's played the second time, though I'm not 100% on that.

[Bleydh]

Thanks guys, that's what I thought, but I wanted to be 100% before I used it at all. That's a pretty useful card then, especially for only 1 black mana.

[Bleydh]

Sorry, I've got another noob question, this time about infect. I understand the basic principle, about creatures with it dealing damage in -1/-1 or poison counters. My question is that if you attack a player for poison counters does it also do damage to their life, e.g. a 2/2 infect, would it deal 2 damage and a poison counter, just a poison counter, or 2 poison counters?

The same question but related to -1/-1 counters as well.

[Lyinginbedmon]

No, you just add -1/-1 counters and poison counters. The power on a creature with Infect just determines how many are added.

[RytelCSF]

Sorry, I've got another noob question, this time about infect. I understand the basic principle, about creatures with it dealing damage in -1/-1 or poison counters. My question is that if you attack a player for poison counters does it also do damage to their life, e.g. a 2/2 infect, would it deal 2 damage and a poison counter, just a poison counter, or 2 poison counters?

The same question but related to -1/-1 counters as well.

The damage is in done in the form of -1/-1 or poison counters. So:

Scenario A: You attack with a 2/2 with infect. Your opponent doesn't block. He gets 2 poison counters, but stays at whatever life he was at. Poison does not affect the life total.

Scenario B: You attack with a 2/2 with infect. The opponent blocks with a 3/3. The 3/3 gets 2 -1/-1 counters and is effectively a 1/1. It does not, however, put any other sort of damage on it, so it stays alive.

Note however, that damage dealt by infect is still damage, which means it still works with abilities that care about damage being dealt, like lifelink and deathtouch, and also any "whenever this thing deals damage, stuff happens" abilities. Not affecting the life total isn't relevant.

[Bleydh]

I'm glad I found this thread. haha. Thanks a lot guys, it's really helpful.

And that should be the last of the noobish questions for a while. Hopefully.

[Kag]

In addition, I believe it does go back to the graveyard after it's played the second time, though I'm not 100% on that.

It does.

Re: Infect. An important detail that isn't stated explicitly is that having 0 toughness is a different SBE than taking lethal damage. Which means creatures with infect (or wither) can kill indestructible creatures, and creatures it kills can't be regenerated.