The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

[vxicepickxv]

Rafiq of the Many with Whispersilk Cloak is incredibly disgusting in Commander

There are a lot of creatures that are disgusting when they're unblockable. Rafiq is a pretty good one. Phage is better.

[JackSlack]

I am somewhat sad to have had it pointed out to me that my griffin deck is (1) a lot underpowered, and (2) but three cards away from being a pauper deck. I can't believe I didn't notice this.

Still going to FNM tonight with it. If I lose a lot, well, I lose a lot.

[Lyinginbedmon]

To be fair, pauper doesn't inherently mean "bad".

[JackSlack]

No, but it usually means 'underpowered by comparison' to non-pauper decks.

[Lord Hosk]

I didnt loose all my games 0/2 tonight in the draft!

It was a DII draft, I passed 6 cards in the second two packs that would have fit into the 2 or 3 slots, I had 8 1 drop creatures(4 young wolfs)

I hope this shop is making me a better player, even though I loose

[Volafortis]

Rafiq of the Many with Whispersilk Cloak is incredibly disgusting in Commander

There are a lot of creatures that are disgusting when they're unblockable. Rafiq is a pretty good one. Phage is better.

But you can't run Phage as a Commander (well, you can, but it makes you lose.), and needing two singletons in a hundred card deck is inconsistent, to say the least, even with tutors. I'm not saying it's (Rafiq w/ Whispersilk) the best thing in the world, but it's definitely good, particularly when surrounded by a field of Exalted (including Finest Hour), and equipped with a Sword of Fire and Ice as well, to boot.

[DuelLadyS]

Rafiq of the Many with Whispersilk Cloak is incredibly disgusting in Commander

There are a lot of creatures that are disgusting when they're unblockable. Rafiq is a pretty good one. Phage is better.

But you can't run Phage as a Commander (well, you can, but it makes you lose.), and needing two singletons in a hundred card deck is inconsistent, to say the least, even with tutors. I'm not saying it's (Rafiq w/ Whispersilk) the best thing in the world, but it's definitely good, particularly when surrounded by a field of Exalted (including Finest Hour), and equipped with a Sword of Fire and Ice as well, to boot.

*quietly takes notes for the Rafiq/exalted Commander deck she wants to make* Oh, don't mind me... please continue...

[JackSlack]

I lost first round 1-2 (I made a stupid tactical error late), won the second 2-0 (easy win though, he went 3-0) and was DESTROYED in the third. Time to admit mono-white griffin is not a good deck, it's way too vulnerable to sorceries. (Damn you, Terminus!)

[Yaxley]

*quietly takes notes for the Rafiq/exalted Commander deck she wants to make* Oh, don't mind me... please continue...

I actually have a Rafiq/Exalted Commander deck if you want help. Very simple tip number one: About half of the cards with exalted are terrible. Unless you're really committed to the mechanic for flavor, don't drag yourself down with the sub-par ones.

[Lemegeton]

won my first live match at FNM tonight. won 2-1. very chuffed with myself. before that kept getting destroyed by a guy who had a horrible deck that had all of 3 creatures and everything else was built around a shitload of land, counters, planeswalkers and cards that kept making me move cards from library to graveyard every turn. i eventually ran out of cards.

[Rikadyn]

that's a mill. I think the most asshole combo is Control+Mill

[Kapol]

I got destroyed at FNM tonight. Very depressed. Made me look over how much I've spent on the game since I started, which made me even more depressed. Overall, depressing.

[Kyogissun]

Went 1 and 3 at my first FNM ever. Sealed Draft. Had a lot of fun, was happy to at least win one.

I've got an idea of what to do next time and more importantly, this FNM opened my eyes to the appeal of a demon/undead diverse creature deck. Also, bought a playmat and a new deck box. So yeah, feeling good about FNM. Definitely gonna keep going.

[Lord Hosk]

After playing for 4 monthsish now I have come to realize I have no desire to play anything but drafts until Innistrad is the oldest pack. There is just way too many cards.

[Kapol]

It's really too bad the store I go to almost never has drafts. There isn't a single one for this month, and last month only had one (the first I went to). I greatly prefer drafts myself. Much more fun in my opinion because then people can't just buy their way to victory.

[Lord Hosk]

It's really too bad the store I go to almost never has drafts. There isn't a single one for this month, and last month only had one (the first I went to). I greatly prefer drafts myself. Much more fun in my opinion because then people can't just buy their way to victory.

I agree, there is still a skill level involved, and knowing the cards is huge but its so much more enjoyable, I dont have the money or the time to invest in building a semi-pro level constructed deck.

At my shop for FNM they play standard constructed with every Thursday a draft. There is a guy I met who likes playing a control deck and about half his deck foreign language cards. Am I just supposed to memories the rules text on all 1500 cards in standard?

[Kapol]

I don't think my shop does anything like that. And I don't have any friends who play magic, so no friends doing it with one another. I don't care for the MTGO way of doing it (mostly because it seems really... impersonal). Plus, it seems a bit expensive in my opinion. $14 for virtual cards I don't plan on otherwise using is a lot to me. >_> I'd like it if they had a $5 where you don't keep the cards.

[Volafortis]

It's really too bad the store I go to almost never has drafts. There isn't a single one for this month, and last month only had one (the first I went to). I greatly prefer drafts myself. Much more fun in my opinion because then people can't just buy their way to victory.

I agree, there is still a skill level involved, and knowing the cards is huge but its so much more enjoyable, I dont have the money or the time to invest in building a semi-pro level constructed deck.

At my shop for FNM they play standard constructed with every Thursday a draft. There is a guy I met who likes playing a control deck and about half his deck foreign language cards. Am I just supposed to memories the rules text on all 1500 cards in standard?

I'm glad that my local shop has weekly booster drafts. Still, I don't think knowing the standard card pool is much of an issue, because you really only need to know the good cards in standard constructed, and it's not really any more expensive, compared to semi-regular drafting, also, the current standard environment is pretty cheap, card value wise, compared to times in the past. You can build budget standard decks for as little as 20-ish dollars that can be viable enough to at least top 8 in a small (30 or less) constructed event.

Also, in response to earlier posts, I feel that the most asshole deck in standard is easily Venser control with an Exhaustion Pool lock. The deck can shut down your attacks by using Venser, the Sojourner to constantly flicker Stonehorn Dignitary to shut down all of your attack phases until they assemble a combo of Curse of Exhaustion and Knowledge Pool, which shuts down the opponents ability to cast spells. At which point you have all the time in the world to win, because your opponent is effectively locked out of the game, unless they play out of the combo (which is only possible with flashback or card abilities on the field.)

Off topic, anyone else around here play during the hey day of Caw-Blade?

[Kapol]

Also, in response to earlier posts, I feel that the most asshole deck in standard is easily Venser control with an Exhaustion Pool lock. The deck can shut down your attacks by using Venser, the Sojourner to constantly flicker Stonehorn Dignitary to shut down all of your attack phases until they assemble a combo of Curse of Exhaustion and Knowledge Pool, which shuts down the opponents ability to cast spells. At which point you have all the time in the world to win, because your opponent is effectively locked out of the game, unless they play out of the combo (which is only possible with flashback or card abilities on the field.)

Off topic, anyone else around here play during the hey day of Caw-Blade?

Couldn't you just replace the planeswalker with a couple of Conjurer's Closets? Seems like it'd be easier.

[Volafortis]

Couldn't you just replace the planeswalker with a couple of Conjurer's Closets? Seems like it'd be easier.

On a budget, it would perform the same lock, but Venser is only 6 or 7 bucks, and does far more for the deck, because Venser's emblem is crazy good.

In other words, yes, you could do the lock with Conjurer's Closet, but Conjurer's Closet is a card I'd really try to steer away from, because it's incredibly narrow, and is absolutely terrible with nothing out.

With Venser, you can flicker a land to untap it for your opponent's turn, retarget an oblivion ring, etc.., and additionally, you can use him to sneak past a defense for an attack, and his emblem is nuts.

In other words, if you have any budget at all, there's no reason not to use Venser. They both cost 5 mana, and Venser does TONS more for you. You don't even need a full playset. 2 copies of Venser is fine for the deck, and they're easy as crap to get. As said, 6 bucks a piece, or one comes in the Venser vs. Koth duel decks. Also, they're incredibly easy to trade for.

[Avistew]

Since the Ask PAUL thread got locked before I had time to say it there...
The land station Paul has is NOT an exclusive. I bought the same one in a game store, actually one that specialises in baseball cards but has some Magic stuff. It is very awesome, each land box is removable from the stand, very handy for drafts.
I'm considering getting another one for tokens, also for drafts.

[Kapol]

Since the Ask PAUL thread got locked before I had time to say it there...
The land station Paul has is NOT an exclusive. I bought the same one in a game store, actually one that specialises in baseball cards but has some Magic stuff. It is very awesome, each land box is removable from the stand, very handy for drafts.
I'm considering getting another one for tokens, also for drafts.

Any idea where to get them online and how much they cost? I'd like to get one as they are pretty awesome.

[Avistew]

Any idea where to get them online and how much they cost? I'd like to get one as they are pretty awesome.

I have no clue where to get them online, and I'm not sure what the product was actually called since I just bought it at the store.
Price-wise though, it comes with 400 lands and was barely more expensive than the pack they sold with just the lands. Since we bought it as a group for drafting I can't remember in more details, expect it ended up being only a few bucks per person.
And if you already have plenty of land, then I guess you don't unwrap it and you sell it, and that would minimise the costs too.

Do you have a physical store that sells magic cards around? They might be able to order it for you more easily than you can find it online.

[Kapol]

Yea, I might have to ask the next time I'm there if I remember. I don't have many lands, but since I largely play by myself (for now, working on getting friends into it) then I might still sell them. The name was the main thing I needed to know because I could only find one thing on ebay for it and that was just for the stand.

Thanks though.

[Robert Merlow]

So, I just went to my first PTQ that so happened to be at the same venue as the lastWorld Magic Cup Qualifier in the US. It was hosted by ChannelFireball and members of the team milled about, and even played in events. One of the events was something called Friday Night Bounty. In the event, for every match win, you get a pack. If you were paired against a member of Team ChannelFireball and won, you got a fat pack. I got paired up against Tom Martell, and won against him 2-0. It was a hell of a weekend, and the ChannelFireball guys seemed like a pretty cool bunch of guys. I got 35th place out of a field of 211 and honestly can't wait to do it again!