The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

[ZePancakes]

Depends on what style of play you enjoy. If you want to be ahead of the standard cycle curve go either RTR (if you enjoy those guilds) or GTC (for the same reason). Also the shock land cycle is a consideration for RTR block. Innstrad block wise I'd suggest either Innstrad or Dark Ascension (personally, go Innistrad between the two).

[Drecon]

Another option is M13. It's not as flashy as the other expansions but it gives you a lot of good number of tournament staples to work with.

[Jamfalcon]

It depends, do you want to be playing a standard legal deck, or just to make something for casual play? Innistrad will be leaving standard in the not too distant future, so if that's a concern, you might want to avoid it. That said, I think the general consensus is that it is a better set (though I'm not sure I'd agree).

[GNRC_SRNM]

I'm not yet entirely sure what I really want - but I just realized that a real standard deck costs tons of money, so that concern is unwarranted. I think I'll look over the card lists in gatherer again before choosing.

[aeric90]

I think I figured out an Orzhov deck in block constructed. Ill have to test it more but it's unlike anything I've played before. It's a wennie deck that's totally passive where most if not all the extort damage has to be reactive to to your opponent's combat step. Ill post a deck list soon.

[AzureAngel17]

If you have friends to play limited with, Innistrad is fantastic.

[Kapol]

I'm not yet entirely sure what I really want - but I just realized that a real standard deck costs tons of money, so that concern is unwarranted. I think I'll look over the card lists in gatherer again before choosing.

It depends on how competitive you are, your area is, and so forth. There are some really good cheaper decks out there if you want to find them. But it does help to have the more expensive stuff.

I'd recommend Avacyn Restored if you're not planning on playing limited with it. I love AVR. But it's not very good for limited sadly.

[Del]

I'm thinking of restarting to play Magic, and specifically, of buying a box. What expansion would you recommend? I think Innistrad looks cooler than RTR or Gatecrash, but then again Innistrad is already getting old-ish...

Have fun getting Innistrad at a reasonable price now anyways. Box prices have gone up by 45$ in my area in the last week.

[GNRC_SRNM]

Have fun getting Innistrad at a reasonable price now anyways. Box prices have gone up by 45$ in my area in the last week.

Interesting, because yesterday I saw one on Amazon for essentially the same price as RTR or GTC.

Uh, yeah, good criterion: Among those expansions, where to you think are the best or coolest commons?

[Utilitarian]

So, ran into an annoying realization:

A deck I've built (Black/Red control) plays the long game. Lots of creature destruction. Furthermore, it's designed to radically alter in sideboarding to counter particular archetypes.

But the problem is if I lose round 1 (perhaps I'm against a creatureless Esper control) and then sideboard in round 2, I might have near inevitability in round 2, but if it takes long enough to get there I still don't end up winning when playing at FNM because the round goes to time and I'm down a game so the best I can hope for is a draw. -_-

[Lemegeton]

so after a year of playing magic i am going to take the plunge and make a modern and commander deck. going for a red artifact commander deck and a red/black splash white modern vampire deck.
it could all end in disaster but we shall see

[Jamfalcon]

red artifact commander deck

Sounds like my kind of deck. What are you using as the commander?

[Drecon]

Tuktuk might be cool?

[Jenelmo]

Or Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer

[Lemegeton]

still not decided on a commander. ill admit i got the idea for this from the TTC podcast where they mentioned jers deck that has artifacts that turn into dudes. i am not sure about using dioachan though. Would i get tuk tuk token in EDH though cos it skips the graveyard and goes to command zone. ???
Slobad is a real contender.

Also trying to a modern vampire deck is mind boggling. the options are staggering, going to struggle to keep to 60 cards.

[Drecon]

still not decided on a commander. ill admit i got the idea for this from the TTC podcast where they mentioned jers deck that has artifacts that turn into dudes. i am not sure about using dioachan though. Would i get tuk tuk token in EDH though cos it skips the graveyard and goes to command zone. ???
Slobad is a real contender.

Also trying to a modern vampire deck is mind boggling. the options are staggering, going to struggle to keep to 60 cards.

Darn it, you are right. Tuktuk either goes to the yard or to the command zone, so it never really works.

Another fine card is Bosh, Iron Golem. It has a red color identity (because of its ability) and is an artifact to boot.

[Jamfalcon]

One that might be decent (which I run in a non-artifact focused deck to great success) is Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs. He doesn't have any particular synergy with artifacts, but he's quite defensive for mono-red, which will give you more chance to build up for the higher costed artifacts.

[Lord Hosk]

The distributors received their last boxes Innistrad the first week of March, there are no more in the chain but there are some REALLY good cards in that set so stores are jacking the prices. The owner of the store I love was telling me about it, in February he contacted all his dealers and "ordered" 35 cases. He got 29 now no one else in Northern Illinois can get them.

Yes 29 cases 174 boxes, he sold 3 cases to another store in Wisconsin for $95 a box, and has them on the shelf and on the web for $119, he figures by May he can jack it to $150 and sell off the last few cases.

When I was pack waring we opened what we guesstimated was $250 in cards including two snap casters and four dual lands.

Hell even commons from that have value, Delver is a buck or two.

[ZePancakes]

Oh man, Simic is so under drafted at times. Honestly it is one of the more fun draft decks to do, seeing everything grow and having a draw engine with 2 Zameck Guildmages. Out of the last 4 drafts 3 have been Simic aligned with Master Biomancer as the front runner. Hilarious if Biomancer gets a lot of counters on him as well.

[Dubious_wolf]

It seems like I see simic get passed frequently. I need to try it next time I draft.

[Lemegeton]

ok here is a rough draft of my modern vampire deck. but its very weak to removal and destroy all creature spells. so i want to splash white and put in some cloudshifts and maybe rootborn defenses since i have some token guys. but i cant decide who to cut. would appreciate some insight. which of these creatures would you cut

Anowon the ruin sage
blood artist
bloodline keeper
bloodlord of vaasgoth
malakir bloodwich
quag vampires
skeletal vampire
vampire nighthawk

i def want to splash for cloudshift to protect against removal and also to re-trigger the bloodwich and skeletal. my other instant is urge to feed and then i have a blade of the bloodchief equipment.

so i basically want to a creature base of about 20 from the ones listed. would also like suggestions for any mana ramp

[Lord Hosk]

Any Vampire deck that can should have 4 Blade of the Bloodchief, that thing is awesome.

anything that triggers blood artist also gives you +2/+2

[Lemegeton]

Any Vampire deck that can should have 4 Blade of the Bloodchief, that thing is awesome.

anything that triggers blood artist also gives you +2/+2

yep that was a no brainer from the get go. i have 4 artists and 4 bloodchiefs in like i said. i also like urge to feed for removal as it will trigger blood artist and any vamp equipped with the blade gets +3+3
as for who to cut in terms of mana curve i def wanna keep quag, artist, and nighthawk. its my 2 5's and my 6 drop i need to rethink. skeletal is strong but unless i can find a way to ramp and get him out earlier i feel its a waste.

[aeric90]

Here's that block constructed Orzhov deck I've been tinkering with:

Creatures:
4 x Dutiful Thrull
4 x Thrull Parasite
4 x Basilica Screecher
4 x High Priest of Penance
4 x Syndic of Tithes
3 x Basilica Guards
3 x Crypt Ghast
2 x Obzedat, Ghost Council

Spells:
4 x Smite
4 x Orzhov Charm

Lands:
4 x Godless Shrine
10 x Plains
10 x Swamps

What it does:
Clogs the battlefield with incredibly cheap extort triggers and uses the High Priests and Smite to discourage attacking, chump blocking where necessary. Once the Crypt Ghast hits, use the extra black mana to fuel the extorts as much as possible while the Obzedat pings away. Not a fast deck but might be thoroughly entertaining.

Side Board may contain Beckon Apparition, Gift of Orzhova, Illness in the Ranks, One Thousand Lashes, Rest in Peace, Rootborn Defenses, and Merciless Eviction.

Any feedback is welcome, just remember it's a block deck so no M13 of Avacyn block.

[Drecon]

I am currently in one of the Old Limited Sealed formats and it's awesome

My deck is kind of underpowered, but I definitely have the advantage of having played all these formats before.

First match won, hoping to take them all down (and really happy)