The General Magic: The Gathering Thread

A place to talk about standard, casual, limited and everything in between.
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dackwards d
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby dackwards d » 31 Jan 2012, 19:24

Wow, I just counted how many Magic decks I actually have. 16. And I actually use them all semiregularly, although I haven't used the domain deck in a while.

In no particular order:
B Vampires
BR Vampires
BU Infect
U Unblockable Equipment
Rbu Artefact affinity
B Swampwalk
GW Token overrun
B Big stompy monsters
GR Eldrazi
R burn
W lifegain
GWrbu Domain
BRU Nicol Bolas *
GWR Ajani *
GW Knights *
R Dragons *

The last four with asterisks are more or less the same as when I got them from their respective Duel decks, but they have been tweaked a little.
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby JackSlack » 31 Jan 2012, 22:54

So I'm getting back into Magic. I want to make a zombie deck. Pretty simple concept: Lots of low cost small zombies, along with a slew of zombie 'kings' that buff them all up into mid-level size creatures, plus ways to bring them back to the battle if they're shoved in the graveyard.

The cards I was looking at are:

Black Cat: Purely as a mascot, would only put one in there.
Cemetery Reaper: Buffs other zombies, lets me make more zombies (which he then buffs).
Death Baron: Buffs other zombies.
Disentomb: Lets me bring back the buffing creatures if they get lightning bolted or such.
Doomblade: For pesky flying creatures.
Gravecrawler: I can just keep bringing you back over and over again? That's fun!
Gravedigger: Again, lets me bring back the buffing creatures.
Gravepurge: Again, bring back the buffing creatures.
Lord of the Undead: Buffs other zombies, lets me bring back the buffers if they die.
Rise from the Grave: Lets me bring back my opponent's dead creatures to be my own, AS zombies. Thus buffed.
Swamp: Duh.
Zombie Infestation: Torn on it. On the one hand, if I could get that rocking, with only a few buffing zombie kings in play it'd produce massive numbers of powerful creatures. On the other hand, I can't see how I'd get it rocking without any cards to let me draw more cards, and black don't seem to have those.
Zombie Master: Regeneration on all my zombies? Hello!

What do people think? How should I be looking at this?
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phlip
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby phlip » 31 Jan 2012, 23:23

Ghoulcaller's chant is going to be a better choice than Disentomb, for a Zombie deck.
Go for the Throat - you're going to at least want to sideboard this against black decks. Or mainboard it and sideboard in the doom blades against artifact decks. One of the two. My zombie deck has 2 of each in the main deck, and 2 of each in the sideboard.
Diregraf Ghoul is a good one-drop - it can't block the first turn, but after that it's a vanilla 2/2 zombie. And speaking of, Walking Corpse can help fill the 2-drop slot if you need more dudes.
Zombie Infestation I'm not so sure about... it's always seemed pretty weak when I've tried it. It'd probably be better in a U/B zombie deck where you can also get extra card-draw from the blue side. But maybe with enough ways to pull zombies out of the bin it'd be OK? I dunno. You don't want to be running too much recycling when you could be using those cards to play more zombies. It'll take a bit of play-testing to find the right balance there.

Phyrexian Crusader is a card I'm looking into for my own B Zombie deck... not to attack with, having just one or two infect dudes isn't that great for attacking, but as a blocker - first strike infect is a deadly pair to have on a blocker, and the protection is just a bonus.
No Zombie deck is complete without one of either Army of the Damned or Zombie Apocalypse. Just one, for late-game entertainment. In the same category goes Call to the Grave, which is a bit more useful.
Moan of the Unhallowed is also a good card, as is having a couple of Endless Ranks.
While no one overhear you quickly tell me not cow cow.
but how about watch phone?

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JackSlack
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby JackSlack » 31 Jan 2012, 23:37

Ghoulcaller's chant would definitely be better, but I already have three disentombs.

My problem is that of the cards I want, I'd wind up with a 75 card deck. What should be the mix of cards?
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby SilPho » 01 Feb 2012, 06:26

Lemegeton wrote:
dackwards d wrote:Lemegeton: there is actually a very handy thread for Magic questions that SilPho maintains, using his magical judge powers. Not that I think anyone especially minds answering the odd question over here, especially if they come up in the course of the conversation, just letting you know.


yeah i saw that but it seemed to be high level stuff being discussed there so i didn't want to infect it with my 'noob germs' until i got my head around the basic stuff.
lol


For the record, I'm more than happy to help answer any kind of question. Helping players to learn Magic is part of why judges enjoy the work they do. So never be afraid to ask for help even if you think it's a "noob" question. :)

For anyone interested in my DKA pre-release result: 1/3/1 Though the win was actually a bye in the last round. Possibly my worst pre-release performance of all time, but I actually had a lot of fun. This whole block is dripping with flavour and lore, and I really like that.
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Drafter_il_Dal » 01 Feb 2012, 16:47

So, after watching and jumping in with advice (and terrible puns) with the LRR Drafts, I feel my natural home is here.

So. It's awesome that we're in one of the best sets ever produced. (So far.)
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Lyinginbedmon » 01 Feb 2012, 16:54

I'm not so sure about that, I've seen a significantly increased number of absolutely crazy combos in the last couple releases.

And if I ever meet the guy that thought Spirit Mantle was a smart idea...
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby guidance » 01 Feb 2012, 22:30

Hey, any recommendations for a pump deck? ( I don't know how else to describe it). I kind of fell in love with my Green Blue White deck from the pre-release with Mikaeus and 3 travel preps. This deck is for fun so I'm all up for stupid ideas, I'm not even sure if its possible.
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Matt
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Matt » 03 Feb 2012, 11:46

Bought two packs of DA.

Nothing of consequense was pulled.

Bought a playset of drogskol captains though, which I'm pleased as punch to own.

-m
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Duckay » 03 Feb 2012, 11:47

I'm thinking of going to a Magic event today, but I'm also thinking that I may be pretty tired out (from the night shift).

Msgic or sleep? Priorities, priorities...
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Lemegeton » 03 Feb 2012, 14:28

what charges are involved in playing MTGO
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Lyinginbedmon » 03 Feb 2012, 18:33

So looking through the Dark Ascension cards, I'm thinking of the following for sideboard or main for my Steacy Special kuldotha goblins deck.

Burning Oil - Can't use the flashback, but could save me some punishment against a deck running similar strategies
Curse of Bloodletting - More expensive than Curse of Stalked Prey by a wide margin, but turns Goblin Grenade into a 2-card killer and buffs even my smallest of Goblins
Forge Devil - Early-as-can-be field control, same reasoning as Burning Oil really but also means I can clean the field a bit and still have a creature to use turn 2
Hinterland Hermit - Cheap diversion and a beatstick if need be
Increasing Vengeance - Almost identical to Reverberate but with flashback. Even if the flashback never lands I can still treat it largely identical to Reverberate (though it noticeably can't target opponent's spells)
Pyreheart Wolf - Similar idea to Hinterland Hermit, reduces the odds of my Goblins being blocked substantially
Torch Fiend - Artifact removal and a creature, removal in general is something this deck currently lacks
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Duckay
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Duckay » 03 Feb 2012, 23:48

So I ended up going. It was a two-headed giant tournament. Me and my partner came last.

Maybe I should have stayed home after all.
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Robert Merlow
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Robert Merlow » 04 Feb 2012, 03:58

Anyone else as excited about Lingering Souls as I am? W/B Tokens just might be a real thing
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phlip
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby phlip » 04 Feb 2012, 08:09

So, one of my packs I won in the launch party contained: Magehunter, foil Increasing Savagery, and Sorin. Pretty decent booster, all things considered. Sure, the other booster had just Seance, which made up for it a little, but still. And there was a second Sorin in the box I bought.

Is it just me, or are mythics a lot less rare in this set? Innistrad, you'd usually expect around 3 mythics in a box... but I got 8 in my DKA box, and I know that in the 3 boxes the store cracked for their singles stock they got 20 mythics total. Seems to be averaging around 7 per box. One in every 5 boosters. Which is madness.

Anyways, I promised myself that if I got Sorin I'd make a vampire deck... this is what I've come up with so far. Anyone have any suggestions?

4x Stromkirk Noble (R)
4x Child of Night (1B)
4x Ray Ksheir (2R)
4x Stromkirk Captain (1BR)
2x Bloodline Keeper (2BB)
2x Olivia Voldaren (2BR)
2x Bloodlord of Vaasgoth (3BB)
(22 Creatures)

4x Vampiric Fury (1R)
2x Go for the Throat (1B)
2x Doom Blade (1B)
2x Increasing Vengeance (RR)
2x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad (2WB)
2x Devil's Play (XR)
(14 Other spells)

4x Dragonskull Summit
2x Isolated Chapel
2x Clifftop Retreat
1x Vault of the Archangel
8x Swamp
8x Mountain
(24 Land)

Sideboard:
2x Doom Blade (swap for Go for the Throat against artifact creatures)
2x Go for the Throat (swap for Doom Blade against black)
4x Blood Seeker (swap for Child of Night against token decks, or other many-creature decks)
2x Ancient Grudge (use against artifacts)
2x Victorious Destruction (use against Wolf Run, or lots of artifacts (along with Ancient Grudge))
2x Slagstorm (in case I need mass removal)
1x Alpha Brawl (ditto, for giggles)

Will go in if I get them:
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Vault of the Archangel (not much point in more than that)
2x Bloodline Keeper

Maybe-cards I'm considering instead:
Markov Blademaster (1RR) (Seriously considering cutting the 2-drop creature slot entirely to put this in)
Nightbird's Clutches (1R) / Crossway Vampire (1RR) / Markov Warlord (5R) (some unblockability would be nice with Noble and Ray)
Falkenrath Noble (3B) / Sengir Vampire (3BB) (make blocking a dangerous proposition too)
Fiend of the Shadows (3BB) + Shimmering Grotto (for the fun of it)
While no one overhear you quickly tell me not cow cow.
but how about watch phone?

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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby DuelLadyS » 04 Feb 2012, 08:30

My fiance's Vampire Deck makes great use of Falkenrath noble and Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage... basically if I don't get rolling fast and hard, I tend to find myself against against a couple 4/4 or 6/6 flyers (depending on how many Lords he got out) and taking 2-3 damage every time something dies. While he's gaining life. That's when I lose. ;)
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Cybren » 04 Feb 2012, 11:32

Matt wrote:Bought two packs of DA.

Nothing of consequense was pulled.

Bought a playset of drogskol captains though, which I'm pleased as punch to own.

-m

Every time someone cracks a pack without drafting it, satan eats two orphans
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby theDreamer » 04 Feb 2012, 11:55

I hate draft.
I can put my hands in my head, and I can laugh it in the face.
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Lyinginbedmon » 04 Feb 2012, 12:30

More of a lager fan Dreamer?
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby theDreamer » 04 Feb 2012, 12:33

That makes no sense.

Draft is a messed up version of the word draught, which is a way of serving beer (I do prefer draught to bottled).

Lager is a kind of beer.
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby notomtolose » 04 Feb 2012, 13:03

So. Now that LRR has addicted me super hard to MTGO, I'm working on a redeemable M12 set. I guess the guys at least know how to get tickets for cards - I do not, so this is knowledge I would like to have!

Better, however, would be anyone who was interested in trading - since I already have a number of duplicate Rares. Where do people go for such things? How are these things even done? MTGO doesn't exactly have a friendly UI...
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby theDreamer » 04 Feb 2012, 13:12

You do know you can have up to 4 of a card in a deck?
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby notomtolose » 04 Feb 2012, 14:16

I take Cybren's admonishment to heart, although I'm still newb enough to prefer Sealed over Draft. I only play with the cards as I open them.

I don't find it interesting to theorycraft, then buy, then build any kind of Constructed decks; way too much effort for too little payoff. I have nowhere near the knowledge or experience to be competitive.

And if I did, it would be with real cards. Hence the need to find one of each Rare for redemption purposes! :)
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby Avistew » 04 Feb 2012, 15:53

Next time, Lying, ask him if his hat isn't keeping him warm enough, instead. Might work better?
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Re: Magic: The Gathering: Whatcha mean, there's no thread ye

Postby theDreamer » 04 Feb 2012, 16:29

You don't put on hats to protect against drafts!

You put on socks (though I always wear socks) or switch from a kilt to pants.\

Seriously guys.
I can put my hands in my head, and I can laugh it in the face.

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